Staying Safe

Files can be added to a computer by:- when users are copying files from a USB stick or CD/DVD - downloading files from the Internet - opening attachments. Sometimes, files can contain harmful code – these are called viruses Once a virus has ‘infected’ your machine it may cause harm in some way.

Anti-virus software are used to check files that are coming onto your computer. The anti-virus client that runs on your computer needs to update with the main anti-virus server and it will add any new virus definitions to make sure the database on your computer is up to date. These programs will provide a massive database of all the know virus programs that might cause problems. It then scans the files on your computer to see if any are harmful If it finds any, the anti-virus program will put these harmful files somewhere where they cannot do any damage.

Firewalls are programs that run on your computer and check all the sites that users try and access on the Internet. Most Firewalls will block websites and companies block certain file types that might cause problems. More sophisticated firewalls allow key words to be blocked so if a web site contains them the site cannot be accessed. Policy – the best way to keep people safe whilst online is to educate them. Most Companies will have policies that will state what users can and cannot do when using computers.