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"How can I protect myself from computer
viruses?"
The most important thing you can do to protect your computer from computer
viruses is to have up-to-date anti-virus software running
on your computer (up-to-date means that the software has
been regularly updated since it was first installed and has been updated
within the past week). If your computer came with
anti-virus software, you should examine the software and review any
manuals that came with your computer to make sure the software is working
and is up-to-date.
If your computer does not have any anti-virus software, or you do not
know how to use the anti-virus software that came with your computer, you
can get anti-virus software from the University of Maryland. This
software is available to University of Maryland College Park students,
faculty, and staff for free if you download the software or for $10 if
your purchase a CD containing the software. There are web pages on-line
that will instruct you how to download, install, and update the software
so that the software can be kept up-to-date very easily. You will be able
to keep the anti-virus software even after you leave the university.
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To learn more about getting the University of Maryland anti-virus
software, click here.
Once you have up-to-date anti-virus software running on your computer,
there are other things you can do that will also greatly decrease the
chances of your computer being infected by a computer virus
(remember, even up-to-date anti-virus software can only identify
KNOWN computer viruses). For example,
many viruses are spread in email messages as attached files. Once a
computer is infected with the virus, it sends out those virus-infested
messages to all of the email addresses on the computer, so the
virus-infested email may look like it has been sent to you by a friend or
colleague. Because of this, it is a good idea to NOT open any email
attachments unless you are expecting an attachment from that
person. It never hurts to check with the sender to make sure they
actually sent you the message.
- To learn other things you can do to protect yourself from
computer viruses, click here.
To learn how to sign up to receive alerts via e-mail about any new viruses
that threaten the university, click on the Virus Notification Page.
To return to the main VNP web page, click on the the Virus
Notification Program FAQ.
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