As filesharing programs have grown in popularity, so has the prospect of allowing computer viruses onto one's personal computer. With this increased risk come a great deal of misconceptions and myths about viruses, so here we will answer some broad questions about viruses.

A virus is a self-replicating program written intentionally to enter a computer without the user's permission or knowledge. Viruses can attach to files or boot sectors and replicate itself thus continuing to spread. Though some viruses do little but replicate, others can cause serious damage or affect program and system performance. A virus should never be assumed harmless and left on a system regardless of what symptoms (or lack thereof) your computer demonstrates.

Allow us to cover quickly some ways that you will not get a virus on your computer: You don't get viruses by simply downloading your email. You don't get viruses by just connecting to websites. Those are the two most common ways that people think their systems get infected. However, while simply loading plain text cannot infect your computer, you put yourself at risk every time you run unknown programs on your PC.

The most common source of viral contamination on Resnet is email attachments. This is due to a rise in the number of viruses that automatically send themselves via email to a user's email contact list. This automatically sends messages containing the infected attachment to friends and family members who may assume that the attachment is safe. A good rule of thumb is that you should never open attachments that you do not specifically request.

The second most common way is improperly set up File and Print Sharing (FPS). People allow other computers to upload and execute programs to their shared folders. This can potentially infect your computer. To find out how to stop this please see our report on FPS.

By following a few simple rules, you can keep your system free of viruses and prevent the hassles involved in removing them.

1. Get a good anti-virus program. Some good scanners are put out by Network Associates (McAfee), Norton, and InoculateIT.
2. Keep your anti-virus software up to date. Unless you keep your computer's virus definitions current, you leave yourself open to infection by newly created viruses.
3. Do not open email attachments unless you know what they are.
4. Do not download programs unless they come from a trustworthy site (warez sites are NOT trustworthy).
5. Do not let people upload any files to your computer, either via FTP or through Windows File and Print Sharing.
6. Do not accept randmon files from any type of chat/Instant Messaging program.

In the case that your computer gets a virus, you should make sure that your virus scanner is not contaminated and attempt to clean your system. You should also use our Virus Report Form so that we can set up appropriate filters to keep the virus from spreading via email. For more information, see our Security FAQ.