Penn State Virus Page Expanded

Penn State's virus page at http://cac.psu.edu/infotech/virus.html on the Web has been expanded. The site is intended to help students, faculty, and staff protect their computers and files from computer viruses and other forms of malicious code. The following topics are presented: what a virus is, what viruses do, how to protect your machine, how to find news and information about viruses and hoaxes, how to receive automatic notification about virus threats, and how to get help.

How should I protect myself?

• Install virus-protection software. Make sure to update the product at least once a week. Because an increasing number of viruses cannot be "cleaned" by simply running the "latest" virus checker if you are already infected, preventing infection is the wise course of action.
• Beware of e-mail attachments. Do not open any e-mail attachment unless you are expecting the file and know it is from a reliable source, especially if you are using Microsoft Outlook, a Windows e-mail software package.
• Back up your files. On a regular basis, back up your files (somewhere other than on your machine). This can save hours, days, even years of work should you lose data because of a virus problem.
• Make a rescue disk. If you own an IBM-type system create a bootable floppy disk, put the antivirus software on it, and set the write-lock tab. This may be useful later.
• Stay informed. Keep up with the latest news about viruses.
• Don't spread rumors. Do not pass along rumors or unverified notices regarding computer viruses. This does more harm than good.

Getting Help

For more information, guidelines, and software recommendations, see Penn State's virus page at http://cac.psu.edu/infotech/virus.html on the Web.

If you receive mail that you believe contains a virus, or think your machine may already be infected with a virus, contact the Center for Academic Computing (CAC) Help Desk at (814) 863-1035 or (814) 863-2494. For locations and hours, see the CAC's consulting services page at http://cac.psu.edu/consulting/consult.html on the Web.