May 16, 1997
! ! ! Virus Alert ! ! !
How many of you have received e-mail alerting you to a new virus on the Internet? I have received two just this last month. Below is the approximate contents of one message that I received:
SUBJECT: VIRUS ALERT
AOL4FREE - This virus alert later was learned to be a hoax. If you receive mail offering free stuff then don't open it. I did and my hard drive got infected and eaten up before I could do anything about it. The virus completely destroyed all the information on my hard drive.
The message went on with all the gory details....
Then there was another big virus scare on the Internet last year where the news told everyone that the virus (I forget the name) would take effect on a certain date and would infect your hard drive and destroy everything you had. Well the news was a little off and scared everyone on the 'Net and on that particular day everyone thought that they should stay off the 'Net so that they didn't get the virus. In reality this virus had already been transmitted to users' systems and the date that was listed was the date that the virus would infect the system and had nothing to do with people accessing the net on that day or any day after that.
Everyone can avoid virus infections if you take a few simple precautions. First of all any time that you download a program, do a virus scan to make sure that the program you downloaded is not infected. If it is then you simply delete it from your system. The virus will only infect your system if you run the program. Viruses will not show up in simple text files, they are activated by (exe) programs. Which means they only infect the system when a program that has a virus is run on your machine.
Also, the many messages that you receive telling you that your e-mail has a virus and will destroy your hard drive, are short a little information.... Simple e-mail text files can not conatain a virus. The only way you will get a virus is from a Macro inside a document written by a word processor. This means that a virus can be contained in a document attached to e-mail, but not the e-mail itself. So to be safe, don't open and read attachments to e-mail unless you know who they are from and you won't have a problem.
In conclusion, to be safe you should have a good virus protection program to check your system for viruses periodically. Windows and Dos contain virus protection programs, and you can always go to the McAfee Site to download the latest version of their virus protection program. They even have a program which will run on your system all the time and continually check all programs you use for viruses. So don't let the virus alerts scare you into thinking you can't read your mail or you might get a virus. Just take the proper precaustions and you will be fine.
The address for McAfee is http://www.mcafee.com/ You will find more information about viruses here.
|
(NASA), IITA
The Future is Now! Multimedia libraries at your fingertips. Remote sensing databases of the earth and the universe. Classrooms on the Internet allowing students to interact with scientists and engineers. All of this and much more. From this page you can go to all NASA related sites.
Internet Public Library
The IPL has several areas such as Reference Center, Youth Services, Teen Services, Librarian Services, Exhibit Hall, Reading Room, and Classroom. Also a MOO (Multi-user Object Oriented) environment for interactivity.
The Historical Text Archive
This site brings together historical documents from around the world. Not just one server, but several that have come together to serve those interested in History. A clear leader in it's category.
Crayon
Create your own Nespaper- Pick from hundreds of resources and lay out the paper any way you wish. You can name your paper and Crayon will save it for you. Crayon will always have the newest news at your keyboard fingertips. "It's FREE"
Law Self Help
Legal Information Institute Cornell Law School. Legal Material grouped by Subject and Topics. You can find just about every subject imaginable. Topical Overview. Summaries with links to key primary source material and off-net references. The best starting point for any of your law questions.
|
Educational Resources
