This is a topic that most persons don't understand completely.
If genealogists have a flaw, and I am not saying we do, of course.
But that flaw would be the unremitting thought that,"this could be the info
with the gold mine!!"
So many of us are so very excited and anxious upon recieving info,even
though we know we should we don't really always STOP and really look at that
attachment before opening.You may not want to admit it even to yourself but
we have all been guilty of it.
Most mailing lists frown on the Virus Warnings type of posts and mainly
because alot of these are Hoaxes.
But in this series of tips, I think it is very pertinent and essential.
I would like to say that in all fairness, some persons passing along viruses
are totally unaware of the situation.I try my best to watch for it on the
list and unsub anyone who is passing them along.(Their request for subbing
usually will carry some warning.)
I would also like to stress that I have seen many times that persons WITH
updated virus scans and protections have still incurred damaging through
some glitch in the system, so some of the alert is up to us.I found the
following piece on the
Ancestry.com site and it seems to me to be the best
explanation of the how and why. There are also links to sites for virus
protection.This is not to dissuade any of you from exchanging files, just to
info about the types not to accept.
@-------->--------->-------------<-----------<-----@
Genealogists are great at exchanging information with one another. We mail
photocopies back and forth, take photographs of cemetery markers, post
information on message boards, exchange e-mail, and even send extracts from
our computerized genealogy databases on disk or as attachments to e-mail
messages. Despite all these good intentions, sometimes our exchange of
electronic information carries a little 'bonus' as well--a computer virus.
Imagine your horror at having all your years of computerized family history
research destroyed in just a few moments by a computer virus. If you
consider the time, energy and love that has gone into your research, I can't
think of anything that would make you more heartsick than losing all of that
effort in one fell swoop.
WHAT IS A VIRUS??
A computer virus is generally defined as a program, which replicates and
transmits itself from one computer to another. Viruses are created by people
with a variety of motives, from the novice programmer who wants to prove
his/her mettle to the outright cyber-terrorist wishing to wreak malicious
destruction on computer users and their equipment. Some viruses act as soon
as they are introduced into your computer, while others lurk until a
specified date and time before activating themselves. Some viruses are
benign, more of an annoyance than anything else. Others, however, may do
irreparable damage by corrupting programs or deleting files. In a worst case
scenario, a virus may reformat your hard disk, destroying all of your
programs and data, and then go beyond that, altering the essential system
code on the BIOS chip on your computer's motherboard. In that case, there is
little hope for your computer other than to replace the motherboard and/or
BIOS chip and then reinstall every program again. And hopefully you backed
up your essential data. Otherwise you will have lost all your valuable
data -- including all your computerized genealogical research materials --
forever!
HOW ARE VIRUSES TRANSMITTED?
What you must first understand is that computer viruses are executable
programs, and their file name extensions are most often .exe (for executable
program). Others are .com (command files) and, occasionally, .ovl (overlay
files). UNDERSTAND TOO THAT THEY ARE NOT TEXT FILES -- those with a file
extension of .txt in their name. THEY ARE ALSO NOT GRAPHIC FILES such as
those with file extensions of .gif, .jpg, .bmp, .tif, or .tiff, and a
variety of other graphics format files.
Computer viruses can be transmitted between computers in several ways, all
of which allow the executable files to be introduced and to run on your
computer. There are literally thousands of viruses floating around in
cyberspace, all acting a little differently.
1. A friend, colleague, or fellow researcher may provide you with a disk
with documents or files on it. You may place this in your computer's floppy
drive (A:) and copy the files to your hard disk. If there was a boot sector
virus on the disk, one that affects your system's start-up files, you just
introduced it to your computer. The next time you try to start your
computer, you're dead.
2. Perhaps you didn't copy the files. Instead, perhaps you opened a GEDCOM
file from your A: drive. There isn't a problem -- yet. However, you turn off
your computer, leaving the disk in the floppy drive. If there's a boot
sector virus there, the next time you turn on your computer, it tries to
start itself with system files on the floppy disk in the A: drive. It then
reads the virus and introduces it to the computer.
3. You have been exchanging E-mail with someone about your surname and they
agree to share their GEDCOM file. When you receive the E-mail with the file
attached., you notice the file is named JONES.EXE. You download the file to
your hard disk and open it. Surprise! There's a file-infecting virus inside,
and it may start working immediately to alter or destroy files on your
computer.
4. Another person sends you a file that they tell you is compressed in a
.ZIP format. ZIP files can consist of one or more files that have been
compressed to eliminate spaces and therefore improve storage and transfer
time. You download the file, but unfortunately this JOHNSON.ZIP file also
contains a self-extracting facility that immediately starts the virus (that
was also included in the little package) and devastation is on its way.
5. Another researcher sends you a Microsoft Word document as an attachment
to an e-mail. At first glance, it looks great. The file is named WILSON.DOC
and you download and store it on your hard disk. When you go to open it, a
box is displayed asking you whether you want to Enable Macros or Open
Without Enabling Macros. You select 'Enable Macros' and someone has just hit
you with a virus, one that uses an advanced feature of MS-Word to run a set
of program instructions that can wreak havoc on your computer.
All of these are pretty scary. Not only can these scenarios happen, some
viruses combine multiple techniques and attack in multiple ways. Some even
hide in your computer's memory (RAM) or alter themselves in size and rename
themselves to avoid detection.
HOW WILL MY COMPUTER STAY VIRUS FREE?
While there are many ways to catch a virus, there are a number of ways and
places you will not contract a computer virus.
1. Prepackaged software sold in retail stores or from reputable locations on
the Internet will not have viruses. If you go to a store and consider
purchasing prepackaged software that has been opened and is on sale for a
bargain price, think again. The person who returned the merchandise may have
infected the software, on purpose or unintentionally.
2. Software and data files that you find at reliable genealogy sites such as
Ancestry.com, the Genealogy Forum on America Online, CompuServe, and
Prodigy, and some other sites are rigidly checked for viruses. You can
download these files with confidence that they have been screened and that
any viruses have been eradicated.
3. Files attached to e-mail that are text type files, bearing file names
with the extension of .txt, are not executable programs and are therefore
not viruses.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
The most effective way to protect yourself against viruses is to know your
source. Be careful about accepting disks and files from strangers, and be
wary about where on the Internet you download files.
Second, purchase and use a reputable anti-virus software program and check
every single file you introduce to your computer, regardless of its
location. The major software packages on the market are McAfee's VirusScan
(
http://www.mcafee.com/), Dr. Solomon's Anti-Viral Tool Kit
(
http://www.drsolomon.com/), and Symantec's Norton Anti-Virus
(
http://www.symantec.com/). A good anti-virus software package will detect
different types of viruses, alert you to their presence, delete them and/or
try to clean infected files.
Make sure you obtain frequent updates/upgrades from these companies' Web
sites or periodically purchase new versions of their software. With hundreds
of new viruses discovered annually, you cannot afford to be lackadaisical on
this subject.
Third, make an emergency boot disk. In the event that a virus infects your
system, you will be able to bypass the infected or damaged system files and
restart your computer. See your computer manual or Windows 95/98 Help files
for instructions. It's easy!
Last but not least, back up all your important data on a regular basis. If a
virus destroyed your genealogical research information stored on your
computer, you would probably never be able to recreate it all. Invest a few
minutes regularly to back up your data and you might save yourself many
months of reconstruction and reentry of data.
Be Prepared!
Now that you understand what a virus is and what one can do to your
computer, make certain you are prepared against this insidious form of
cyber-terrorism. Invest the time to learn more about viruses, purchase and
use anti-virus software, know your sources, be vigilant in your
virus-checking routine, and regularly back up your data. This is another
important way to preserve your family history.
Debbie Jennings
debj(a)comsys.net
"Following the footprints through time"