Among the many viruses that are circling the Internet at the moment there is one in particular that we have come across quite a bit recently.

The Trojan Virus goes by the name of W32/FakeAV and seems to be disguised as a mail ZIP attachment from UPS (but this could also appear to come from other companies). When you open the ZIP file it seems as if nothing happens, but the Trojan installs itself in the Windows directory and creates a process. This then alerts you, constantly, saying that you have been infected with a Virus, but then informs you to click here to install Anti Virus Software. This of course is a hoax as it actually modifies many parts of Windows that only a complete system re-build will resolve.

If you receive suspicious mails, with an attachment, from an unknown contact do not open it!

Most systems Axon IT support have Anti Virus scanning of e-mails prior to them getting to the users mailbox, but as ever there is a potential risk that it could get through. Remember; if you're not sure just delete it!

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Some people still think that antivirus is an optional extra when setting up a computer system.  

There are a number of ways a virus can spread and cause problems, and if the infected system is used for business, it can cause nightmares like loss of data, corrupt files or the embarrassment of infected or even spoofed emails to your business contacts.

A standard Computer Virus is a small piece of software that opens in other programs. For example, attached to a MS Word file, when the document opens, the virus runs too and it can spread to other programs or cause problems with your computer.

An E-mail viruses travels as an attachment to e-mail messages, and can spread by mailing itself to contacts in your e-mail address book.

A Trojan horse is a computer program that claims to be something it's not. For example - a 'game' that wipes your hard drive when you run the program.

A worm is software that uses computer networks and weaknesses in security to spread. A copy of the worm scans the network for another computer that has a specific security flaw and copies itself to the new computer.

We generally use  F-Secure Anti Virus, but there are a number of good products on the market.  The main thing to remember is to keep it up-to-date because new viruses are being developed all the time.

For further information about how you can protect yourself against computer viruses, check the hints and tips page. 

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Axon have become a reseller of F-Secure Anti Virus, we love the centralised admin features of the Small Business Suite with its easy intergration for Spam Control for Exchange. 

When we have ran into any problems, the support we have recieved from F-Secure has enabled us to resolve any problems quickly. 

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