Aaachooo!

As the winter draws (slowly) to a close, you or someone you know has probably experienced an illness a time or two this season.  There is nothing worse than catching a nasty cold or flu virus and having to fight off the debilitating symptoms that go along with it such as sneezing, coughing, sore throat, aches and pains, chills, fever, and more.

Not much is worse than that…unless your computer happens to be the victim of a malicious virus.  After all, computer viruses have the power to corrupt or delete data on your computer or even DELETE EVERYTHING on your hard drive. So, in order to prevent those nasty little critters from spreading, here are some tips to help prevent them from wreaking havoc on your computer.  As for preventing a human cold or flu virus, you’re on your own!

Loren Brewer
President, Wingenuity


Virus Protection Commandments:

• Guard Thy Email:  Since viruses tend to spread most easily through email, you’ll want to make sure that you don’t open any emails, attachments, or files from unknown sources.  Even if the email appears to have been sent by a friend, don’t assume that it’s safe.  If in doubt, don’t open it or verify that the sender did actually send you an email.
• Junk Thy Junk Mail: It goes without saying, but junk mail and chain emails should be deleted immediately.  If the subject line of an email is questionable, then trust your gut and just hit delete.
• Surf Thy Net Safely: When you download and install files from the Internet, make sure they are from reputable sources.  There are many malicious websites out there that are harboring a plethora of cybernasties.
• Install Thy Virus Protection: If you don’t have anti-virus software installed, then we recommend you take that first step in guarding your computer.  Running a computer nowadays without anti-virus software installed is just simply asking for it!
• Update Thy Virus Protection:  The second step, once you have virus protection, is to configure it so that it automatically checks for updates each day.  With hundreds of new viruses being discovered each month, there is a good chance that the older version of your anti-virus software might not catch these new critters, which leaves your computer vulnerable.  Many people think that just because they have anti-virus software installed on their computer that they are safe.  You are only safe if you have the updated version of the software on your computer.

If you need help implementing any of these suggestions or if you have already contracted a nasty virus, we would be glad to help you.  Simply call us at 574-848-5234 or email us at info@wingenuity.com and we'll take it from there!