Keeping worms out of your home network
Keeping worms out of your home network
No auntie Sookie, not earth worms, computer virus worms that can
get to you computer and slowly dig deep into your files and eat
them away. Put that eggnog down and I'll tell you some more
about these new worms.
This worm is a self-replicating (makes a copy of itself, aunt
sookie!) program that reproduces itself over a network. It can
be hidden in an email attachment from an unknown sender, a movie
download from a suspicious website, or an application sent from
someone you don't know. Once on your computer it then can
replace a single file, like a winsock.dll or many files and send
copies of itself along with email or newsgroup messages that you
can post.
The following are ways to keep these type of worms out of your
network:
a) Never, I said never (for emphasis) connect an unpatched, non
updated computer or other Internet related device to the
Internet. How do you update and patch a computer without
connecting to the Internet? Get a cd from Microsoft with the
latest and greatest patches and updates, then connect the device
and then check for updates while connected to make sure you have
protection.
b) Always, I said always (yes I am being redundant) use a
firewall between your network of computers and the Internet.
Even if your network of computers is 1 or 2 computers, it is
still a network and needs a firewall to protect it, really
protect it. A single computer connected to the Internet is now
part of a world wide network thru it's Internet connection and
is therefore vulnerable without protection. Get a firewall, a
real firewall.
c) Educate and train anyone who uses your computer(s) network.
Many times an infection is invited by careless users who
download infected email, visit infected sites, or bring infected
machines (laptop's, pda's) into a network from outside.
d) Patch and update, patch and update, patch and update
(redundant, oh yeah). Yes it's a pain, and it requires time to
do and verify that it's actually patched and updated. However
it's definitely simpler and cheaper than trying to fix an
infestation, or explain to everyone why the network is down or
their computers won't work because a worm is eating through
everything they have worked hard to save and protect.
e) Make sure up-to-date anti-virus software is on every machine,
everything connected to the Internet. Anti-virus packages aid in
protection and detection against worms.
f) Establish security rules for your network and educate
everyone who touches the network. They must be enforced, daily.
g) Frequently check your network for vulnerabilities. Visit
vulnerability website's, take advantage of free scanning tools
on the Internet to test your machines. New vulnerabilities and
new exploits are released constantly, and you can't protect
against what you have no idea what is coming your way.
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