It's a Valentine's Day version of a computer virus that's been around the Internet before. What changes is the spam email that links the victim to the virus. In this case, it's a Valentine's Day themed email.
Are you worried about your vulnerability of getting infected with a computer virus? Here are 6 tips that will keep these harmful viruses from infecting your machine:
- Install virus protection software from McAfee, Norton or Microsoft. Yes, there are others that work just as well. But those software giants listed above have proven products for users who don't care to know a whole lot.
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Keep your virus protection updated. That means either setting the software to update it's list of known viruses automatically, or consistently updating it yourself when it tells you it's time.
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Secure your home computer. Especially if you run a WiFi network at home, it should be locked down so no one other than those you allow are able to access the Internet (or your computer!) through your home network.
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Watch out for attachments that end in ".exe" Such attachments are software programs! I would never open a .exe attachement sent to me in an email. It does not matter who sent it to me.
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Don't click on a link in any email that is not from a trusted source. Trusted sources are people or businesses that you are used to receiving email from. If you did not excpect to receive a particular message, don't recognize the sender, and it asks you to click on a link...do not do it!
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Use an Apple instead of a PC. I hate to say it, but Apples are far less susceptible to viruses than are Windows machines.
Any other common sense tips to avoid getting infected with a computer virus? Please leave them in the comments section.
