1. Viruses, Worms, Spyware, and Other Perils of an On- Line World Computer Services Tech Talk September 23, 2003

2. What is a Virus? A computer program designed to self- replicate Often contain “payloads” ranging from annoying (displaying messages) to disastrous (deleting/altering files) Viruses are written and distributed by people, they do not just appear Even “nondestructive” viruses use up system resources and time

3. How Viruses Spread Boot sectors Documents (Macro viruses, VB Script viruses) Email attachments Peer-to-peer apps (KaZaa, Morpheus) System vulnerabilities (Microsoft DCOM)

4. Virus Hoaxes False reports about non-existent viruses Often claim to be issued by software or virus companies (AOL, Microsoft) Often claim to do impossible things Usually contain instructions for the user, e.g. send email to others, delete a file

5. What Computer Services Does Scans all email messages for viruses Protects servers against known vulnerabilities Operates firewalls and gateways to block virus activity Maintains virus scanning software for campus use Monitors virus activity on the Internet, and alerts the College whenever a virus poses a threat to campus users

6. Spyware Software that monitors your activity – web sites visited, files downloaded Reports activity to the “mother ship”, usually so information can be sold to advertisers Almost always installed without your knowledge Can record information silently, or cause a variety of problems, e.g. pop-up messages, browser hijacking Almost all file sharing apps come with spyware

7. Protecting Your Computer Find updated information at http://www.wabash.edu/technology/ http://www.wabash.edu/technology/ Patch your computer (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com) http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com Scan for viruses (scanner on scholar.sys) For home computer, install (and regularly update) virus scanning software Install and run Spybot Search and Destroy to find and remove Spyware