tranfree issue 31 - 15 May 2001

Computer Viruses: Tips For Defense And Combat

Part 1 of 2

by Mary Maloof

It's happened to me, it's happened to you, it's happened to all of us. We click on an innocuous-looking file attachment, and that single mouse click turns our lives upside down. We as translators work within a very time-sensitive industry. Having a virus that incapacitates our PC and hobbles our response capabilities for just one hour can mean the difference between...

• getting a translation job and losing it to another translator
• turning in a project within the deadline or past the deadline
• keeping our clients or losing them

There are two ways to deal with viruses and keep them from jeopardizing your translation business: defense (prevention) and combat. The tips below fall into these two categories.

Defense

1) Always, always use an updated virus protection program! Not only are new viruses being created and disseminated daily (even hourly), but older ones have a habit of morphing into progressively nastier versions of themselves. This is why your defense against viruses is only as strong as your latest update. If your virus protection software is not updated on a regular basis, it is much less effective. Download updates at least once weekly, if not every day.

My personal favorite is Norton AntiVirus (http://www.symantec.com), but there are also other good packages out there, like McAfee (http://www.mcafee.com). If you want to save money, you can try downloading a very good (and free!) virus protection package from http://www.grisoft.com.

You can find other free virus protection software packages at Tucows (http://www.tucows.com). Read the Tucows reviews on each product very carefully before downloading to see what you're getting.

Personally I think Norton AntiVirus is the best program. I use it as a part of Norton Internet Security suite, which also gives protection against hackers while online.

In 1999 when I was writing edition 1 of How to Earn $80,000+ per Year as a Freelance Translator I got a virus which McAfee did not find. I sent the eBook file to Cathy Flick for editing and she was using Norton, which spotted the virus immediately. I switched to Norton at that point and there's been no looking back. I like the LiveUpdate facility too. Update as often as you like.

Incidentally, I received a copy of the HomePage virus from ******* (someone who should know better) and NAV immediately recognised it for the despicable little bug that it was and deleted it

2) Most of us know not to click on attachments from people we don't know. But many of us, when receiving attachments from people we do know, mistakenly assume that they are okay. We forget to scan them with antivirus software to make sure that they are safe before opening them up. Especially with the new, dangerous types of email "worms" (like the Navidad virus that was on the rampage a few months ago), our friends and colleagues could be sending us viruses unknowingly. Again, here it is absolutely crucial that you keep your virus protection software updated.

3) When opening up attachments, most of us know that we should be extremely careful with executable files that have an .EXE or .COM file extension, because these are the most common file types for viruses and worms. But we should also be very wary of executable files that DON'T have an .EXE or .COM file extension and don't look like an executable file, such as .VBS (Virtual Basic Script), .SCR (for screen savers) or .PIF (Program Information File). These file types are an increasingly popular mode of transmission for new, dangerous types of email "worms." Even picture files such as .JPGs, .GIFs or .BMPs are known to carry viruses.

This is because the filetype can be 'cloaked.' A real .jpg or .gif file cannot contain executable text (which is needed for a virus). But there are ways to make it look like a program file is a jpg or gif file. Nasty stuff!

4) HTML email is fast becoming a popular mode of transmission for viruses. There are two ways to protect yourself against the viruses attached to HTML emails...

• disable HTML emails in your email preferences. All HTML emails will be converted to plain text when being downloaded from the server. You won't be getting any snazzy-looking HTML emails any more, but at least you'll be protected.
  
  
• when subscribing to mailing lists, subscribe to them in digest mode. All emails are usually stripped of their attachments - including viruses - when they are automatically compiled into a digest.

5) At least 75 percent of the virus warnings that are circulated are actually hoaxes. Verify their validity at Symantec's Anti Virus Research Center (http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/). Symantec, the maker of NAV, has extensive virus archives that document virus hoaxes as well as the real thing. If you find that the warning you have received is not a hoax and announces a bona fide virus, make a note of the file name that is mentioned as the carrier of the virus. This way, you'll know to delete it if something that looks like it finds its way into your mailbox.

Part 2 "Combat" will be in the next tranfree edition.

Mary C. Maloof is a certified Spanish > English translator who resides in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. She is the founder and moderator of "SpTranslators," an Internet mailing list for Spanish translators, founder and moderator of "Legaltranslators," an Internet mailing list for legal translators, director of The American Web for International Languages, a worldwide job referrals network for translators and interpreters, and owner of Maloof Language Services, Inc., which offers a wide range of translation and interpretation services. For more information about her work, please contact her at mmaloof@sprintmail.com
Mary also offers consulting services to translators - contact her for more details.

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