Computer Viruses A guide to virus protection,detection, and removal for the average computer user

The Team:  Ross Smith  Computer Engineering  Andrew Freed  Computer Science  Emily Brucker  Computer Engineering  Matt Peter  Computer Science  Greg Williams

Goals  Background on virus definitions  Protecting your computer  Identifying computer viruses  Instruct on removal of viruses

What is a Computer Virus?  Logic Bomb  Triggered by certain event/date  Trojan Horse  Bad software ‘masquerades’ as good software  Worm  Tries to spread over networks by duplicating  Virus  Uses good software as a host

Virus Protection  Virus protection software program  Norton AntiVirus  McAfee VirusScan

Virus Avoidance  Monitor Electronic Mail  Check the Sender’s Name  Unknown Sender  Check the Subject of the Mail  Keywords

Virus Avoidance  Visiting Websites  Reputation of site  Downloaded material

Identifying Viruses Before They Strike 1) Keep up with technology news for impending attacks 2) Visit Symantec’s virus calendar and encyclopedia to learn about lesser publicized threats

How to Detect an Infected Computer 1. Abnormal Activity 2. Visual Signs 3. Decreased Bandwidth

Best Method of Virus Detection … is definitely virus software. Source : Download.com

Removing a Virus – Places to Check  Websites  Symantec (Norton) –  McAfee (VirusShield) –  Windows Tools  Safe Mode  System Configuration Editor  System Configuration Utility  Registry Editor

Removing a Virus – Safe Mode  Safe Mode is a basic configuration of Windows – used primarily for debugging  Minimum number of items are loaded  This means no extra programs can start – AIM, AOL, or viruses !  If a virus doesn’t start up, you can find the file and delete it

Removing a Virus – System Configuration Editor  A look at system files  Look for ‘run=‘ and ‘load=‘ lines that might initialize a virus

Removing a Virus – System Configuration Utility  A more intuitive look at system startup  Interesting tab is ‘Startup’  Shows you programs that load automatically – do any look out of place?

Removing a Virus – Registry Editor  Difficult – not for the faint of heart!  Must be very careful in the Registry  Viruses often affect the same Registry locations - Startup - Executables

Questions/Comments?