Internet Security and Privacy

nMacro viruses: Macro viruses are contained in document files, such as Microsoft Word or Excel files. These files can contain macros that can automate your work—but macros can also be written to do damage to your PC. Macro viruses are activated when you open an infected document file.

nA final word should be said about hoax “viruses,” which are not viruses in the strictest sense of the term. A hoax virus replicates a hoax, spread by misinformed (if well intentioned) e-mail claiming that if you download a certain file, or if you receive an e-mail with a certain subject line, you will infect your PC with a virus. E-mail messages are always safe; they are simple text files, and cannot contain viruses. Attachments to e-mail messages (an attachment is a file that a message sender attaches to a message—it is downloaded to your PC when you retrieve the message) can contain viruses. (If E-mail file access is turned on in Virus Sentry, McAfee Internet Security automatically scans e-mail attachments before you open them.)

How can my PC become infected with a virus?

An important thing to keep in mind is that viruses are spread only when you run an infected application (or open an infected document file, in the case of macro viruses). A virus cannot travel over your telephone line and infect your PC on its own. You must first download or copy an infected application and then run the application in order to infect your PC with a virus.

The only way to entirely avoid virus infection is to do nothing—don’t use the Internet; never download a file; never accept a diskette from someone else; never share Word or Excel files. Of course, this draconian “Robinson Crusoe” cure is unrealistic in today’s computing environment, where sharing data is the norm and accessing the Internet is an everyday occurrence.

TIP

McAfee Internet Security offers comes with McAfee VirusScan which is easy to use. It automatically scans your PC for signs of virus infection, and investigates suspect files before they have a chance of infecting your PC.

Viruses are spread when infected diskettes are shared between PCs, and when you download and run infected files from online services, bulletin boards, or the Internet. Another potential (but remote) route for virus transmission is when you access Web pages that use Microsoft ActiveX technology or Sun’s Java. Web pages that use ActiveX, for example, can automatically download programs to your PC, and these programs might be infected with a virus. Although there is no known case where ActiveX and Java have spread viruses, there is still a possibility— remote as it may be—for your PC to encounter a virus in this way.

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McAfee 5 manual How can my PC become infected with a virus?