Hackers of the world, rejoice! I read recently that eighty percent of the small business community have obtained free virus protection, which is widely available on the internet, and those same hard-charging business warriors do not anticipate having their computer systems becoming infected with malware of any type. Even though attacks on businesses are growing every year by the tens of thousands.
Actually, some of these small business owners have indeed been infected but the malware that infected their computer systems chose not to leave overt signs. The hackers out there sometimes would rather just enjoy their breaking and entering and they want to be free to re-enter at will. They will at least have bragging rights. Keep in mind that the people they brag to will want also to get into your private areas and may just decide to not only do serious cyber damage, but may also be sure to send all kinds of malware to people from your address book and make you look like a dope.
So today let's talk about some of the signs of being infected with a virus or viruses. How can we tell if it happened if your hackers don't leave an advertisement of their entry?
You may wake up tomorrow and have a few favorite customers call and laugh about the animations on your web site. You might even have pornographic cartoons moving about your site. There is all kinds of ways to make you look incompetent and these people are quite well versed in their Black Arts.
But back to our discussion. How indeed can you tell? What are some of the tell-tale signs that we might notice, at least before the porno figures begin cavorting wildly?
SIGNS OF A VIRUS INFECTION IN YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM!
You might notice a change in the length of some of your programs.
It will be pretty obvious that your time loading will increase significantly.
You will note slower (sometimes much slower) system operation.
Watch carefully as you will notice changes in the file date or time stamp.
You will see reduced memory or disk space.
You will note bad sectors on your floppy (many systems use these).
You will find unusual error messages.
You will possibly have unusual screen activity.
You will find failed program execution.
You will note failed system bootups when booting, or accidentally booting, from the A: drive.
You will find unexpected writes to a drive.
Please keep in mind that when you find one or more of these, you might not have been violated by malware. Sometimes strange things just happen and glitches do happen for sure.
It is of the utmost importance that you know what to do if you suspect you have been violated by viruses. Your IT person can give you a lot of possibilities, but it is important to determine if you have been infected by viruses or not.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE A VIRUS INFECTION
If you conclude that you do have a cyber infection, the normal reaction is to use a new anti-virus program and depend on it to clean up the infected file. Bad idea! Most experts I know suggest that you replace the program with an original clean version.
Why take chances? You probably became infected by depending on one of those free anti-virus programs available widely on the internet. They are free and often worth that exact amount.
If you know it or not, viruses are out there and viruses want you. And they will have you if you don't take steps soon. YOU have to do this. No one is coming to protect you. Only YOU can do it.
Next time we will discuss some exact steps to take after you determine that you do indeed have a malware infection. Malware can be quite complex or it may be simple. It doesn't matter. You must address the problem.
Protect what you've built! Stop them today! Your computer system depends on you to protect it. It has no one else. Can you step up to the task?
Small Business Owners: Whether you have taken the time to notice it or not, a veritable army of Cyber Criminals has declared war on you and intends your eventual destruction. There is no Santa Claus. The government is not coming to save you.
Only YOU can stop it. Or you can just let them destroy all you have worked for.
YOUR CHOICE.
