The Information Age is here! Search the world’s databases in a few seconds. So much knowledge at one’s fingertips… unprecedented in human history. Truly, the benefit to society is incalculable (though I'm sure some “think tank” has tried). But as any toddler who has read a fairy tale knows… with so much good, there has to be a dark side. Enter (use your best Darth Vader impression) the Cracker, the Hacker, the Virus Creator, the Bomber, and the importance of computer virus protection.

The Cracker is one who tries to “crack” codes to get into your computer to access your personal codes i.e. credit cards, etc. Profit motive is definitely involved here.

The Hacker is one whom wants to gain access to a system just to see if they can do it. They will “crack” computer security systems to do it but usually there is no profit motive. It's sport. “I broke into the Pentagon”. Fame, but no profit.

The Virus Creator is what the name implies. They create two types… the virus and the worm. A virus is a program that replicates and keeps replicating until your computer shuts down (read that as a crash). No profit motive, but pleasure at knowing that one created havoc.

A Worm grabs one’s email address book and replicates itself by sending the same infection to your friends. It then grabs their address book and does the same. Suddenly the planet is inundated with gazillions of infected emails, tying up servers and slowing down the web. Some worms create a “hole” that allows spammers to steal info (i.e. addresses), so there may a profit motive (depending on the worm) to create an address list for spammers.

The Bomber is the latest craze. A group of web-masters get together and mass their combined links to Google (or any search engine) with one phrase in mind. As a group they can actually change search engine results. For example go to google.com. In the search field type “French Military Victories”… click on “I Feel Lucky”. The result is a joke. No profit motive…just good old fun. Frankly, I’d rather they engage in Google Bombing than creating the next virus.

What can you do about computer virus protection? A few basics. Never ever, ever, ever open an attachment in your email that you were not expecting or from someone you do not know. If you follow the news, and hear about a current attack, include people you know (i.e. a virus has grabbed their address book and is sending the same virus to you).

Install anti-virus protection. We recommend Norton Anti-Virus 2004. Do not purchase the bundle that includes all sorts of additional software, as there are some compatibility problems with different operating systems. Just get Norton Anti-Virus. There is a feature called live-update that allows you to download the latest updates for whatever the most recent virus might be. That trait is good for 1 year, at which point you will be notified that you need to renew.

When you download the update, restart your computer, making sure that your computer sees the most recent update, then start a virus scan. Depending on how much info is on your computer, this can be a lengthy process. My virus scan takes one and a half hours.

Set the “options” so that Norton scans incoming and outgoing email. Go to Norton Antivirus. For the budget minded you can also purchase at Amazon.com. It will be cheaper. You can also purchase a previous year and still be eligible for the current updates.

We update twice a week to stay current, but bear in mind that updates can only be created after a new virus has emerged.

For additional computer virus protection, we also recommend Trendmicro.com. This is a shareware program that is constantly updated. It is free. It actually caught a worm that Norton missed. We run this program twice a month. (Use both Norton and TrendMicro.)

If that’s not enough, one must worry about “cookies”and spyware. As you surf the web, small, invisible identifiers are inserted into your computer. They transmit usage data back to whoever inserted the cookie or spyware. Spammers and hackers use them, so delete them. We recommend Adaware for this purpose. Another shareware product, it scans your computer and lists all cookies. You can then decide whether to “keep or delete”.

For Mac users the shareware info above is for PCs. This has to do with the fact that Macs rarely come into attack. Why? Probably because they don’t have as much of a market share as PCs and are not targeted. Still use Norton.

A note on firewalls. They are a good thing; they can restrict access to your computer from outside elements. However, do not put too much faith in them. If a hacker can get into the Pentagon what makes you think your firewall can stop him/her?