Directors and staff, please contact me if you are having problems and/or questions about posting on your page. I can be reached at clsmith@ohwg.cap.gov, or instant messaged on AIM: sardog96th.

posted by C.L. Smith  3:10 PM

Folks, the Internet has become a war-zone. There is so much spyware and virus activity that it seems like as soon as there is a fix, another problem pops up (no pun intended).

There is no simple solution. My recommendation is to make sure you use a reliable virus protection software, and have the most up to date virus defenitions. Those of you on a dialup connection often don't take the time to update those definitions. That can be a real easy opening for a virus to infect your computer. Sometimes, once you have it, the virus disables your ability to run your virus protection. All of this boils down to an expensive fix of your machine (in either money or lost data).

Another problem is spyware. Programs that install on your computer while you are on the web and you don't even reallize they are installing. These programs then collect data on what you are surfing the Internet for and send this info back to their home office to be used for marketing products to YOU. A firewall WILL NOT protect you from them. There are a lot of free programs out there that will allow you to scan your computer. You can also subscribe to their updates. As with viruses, those geeks out there are writing new spyware programs every day. You will be surprised how many of these are in your system right now!

Though we don't endorse one product over the other, here are a few spyware removers I recommend:

Ad-aware
Spy Sweeper
Spybot Search and Destroy

I also recommend visiting your software store and picking up a copy of either Norton Anti-Virus, or McAfee Virus Scan, if your system is not running an anti virus program.

The war continues. Remember Pearl Script!


Lt Col Chris Smith
OHWG Webmaster
clsmith@ohwg.cap.gov

posted by GLR ITW  11:33 AM