AsiaLIFE

I have met countless traumatised clients with computers infected by viruses over the years as an IT service provider. Many of these say that Cambodia seems to be especially rampant with viruses, and that they experience more attacks here than elsewhere. Viruses can cause a lot of stress and drama, especially when they prevent you from getting your work done or worse still, eat up your files or disable your computer. Because viruses are such a regular occurrence you should take all possible steps to avoid them and protect yourself from attack. There are lots of things you can do to protect your computer from viruses. The most important here in Cambodia relate to the use of the USB drives that everyone carries with them and uses frequently. Sometimes known as a thumb drives or flash sticks, whatever you call it, these small but potentially deadly tools of technology are how the majority of viruses are spread.

The first and in some ways the most effective way to safeguard your computer is little known – turn off the autoplay feature in Windows. Autoplay is a link file that tells Windows to open a CD ROM menu, start playing a movie or some other automated action. Virus writers utilise this function to automatically start running a virus on your computer. You plug in your USB and your computer sees this file and executes a programme associated with it. If it’s a really sneaky virus, its first action might be to turn off your anti-virus programme, leaving your system wide open. By disabling the autoplay feature, you can stop viruses before they get a chance to wreak havoc.

Install a fully supported anti-virus programme and keep the virus definitions up-to-date. Purchasing a licensed version of anti-virus software will keep you better protected than a free version. I recommend NOD32 from eset.com to my clients because it is light and very powerful. Unlike Symantec, McAfee and Norten Anti-Virus, NOD32 does not clog up your RAM (this is one of the main components that affects your computer’s operating speed). It may seem excessive, but you should update your virus definitions everyday. Always scan your USB drive with an anti-virus programme before opening anything on it. If you’ve used your USB on any other computer, it might be infected. Beware especially of public computers such as those at photo processing shops and internet cafes. They are almost always infected! Don’t use pirated software – software disks from the Russian Market can be infected. This is a tough one to avoid I know, but it’s for the best, really. Don’t double click on your drive when you first plug it in. Browse through it first and see if there are any suspicious files. Don’t open email attachments from unknown senders, and don’t follow links in emails or IM as these are a source of some spam-based phishing schemes (more on spam in future articles).

The most important thing you can do to save yourself a lot of pain and suffering is to backup your data. Get an external hard drive and copy your information to it regularly. You might even want to save your most important data to a CD ROM or DVD in the rare case that your computer and hard drive break down at the same time. Follow these tips and always stay alert. You never know when you might be attacked.

Sok Yeng is the technical manager at NETPRO-Cambodia. This company provides IT solutions for the home or office. He can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Visit: www.netpro-cambodia.com for more information.