The past several weeks have probably been the worst ever for virus activity. As you have seen in the news reports, businesses, government agencies and organizations of all sizes have been extremely hampered by these new viruses, including Netsky, Beagle, and My Doom.

More information about these particular viruses is given at the Symantec site at http://www.symantec.com/avcenter. If you scroll down to “Top Virus Threats” there are links to information on each virus and instructions on how to remove them if your computer becomes infected.

This situation is certainly no reason to discourage people from using e-mail. However, there are some precautions you may wish to take to guard against viruses and intruders:

1. Ensure that you are using anti-virus software to protect your PCs and get daily updates.
2. Ensure that the PCs at your site do not have the Windows security vulnerabilities. Visit Microsoft web site to assess if your PC needs any software updates: http://www.microsoft.com/security/
3. Make sure you have file extension viewing enabled:
   Do this by opening My Computer. Click ‘Tools’ | ‘Folder Options’ | ‘View’ tab | uncheck the box for ‘Hide file extensions for known file types.’
4. Don't open files that have double extensions like: FILENAME.BMP.EXE, FILENAME.SCR.DOC or FILENAME.TXT.VBS
5. Be wary of attachments with .exe, .bat, .vbs, .scr, .pif suffixes. These suffixes identify programs that will execute when selected - so that when you click the file to open the attachment, the program automatically gives the go-ahead to start running on your computer and spreading the virus.

Click here for an illustration of how some of the latest viruses use a technique called ‘spoofing’ to spread themselves to unsuspecting users.