Abstract--February 03, 2004-- By now you've at least heard about the latest worm flying around the Internet.

The industry reacted quickly to this worm, with definitions available within hours of its discovery. But yet, the worm flew around and became the biggest worm to ever spread across the Internet. So what happened? Is there still a large portion of users without updated antivirus software? Maybe. But I think there's a very fundamental thing everyone's missing that actually has the best chance of preventing a computer from becoming infected in the first place.

Let's start with a very simple question: In your defenses, such as antivirus software, antitrojan software, firewall software, and etc., which do you consider your first line of defense? Antivirus software is a good first line of defense in that when possibly malicious code enters the system, the antivirus program can stop it dead in its tracks and prevent it from spreading. The antitrojan software has the same effect. And your firewall prevents malicious users from gaining unauthorized access to your system.

But, after this last worm spread, and I looked around various online forums, I noticed something was missing. A very big piece of the puzzle. The one piece that has the largest influence on preventing things like viruses and worms from entering the computer and doing anything in the first place.

Scan & Delete Spyware

So what was your answer to the question? If you didn't say the first line of defense was you, the user of the computer, it's time to rethink your security strategy.

Users hold the largest chance of keeping malicious code like viruses and worms off their systems by one extremely easy method, and many fail to exercise it. Instead, they rely on their antivirus program to catch anything suspicious. The method only takes a few seconds to do, and it can prove wonders in preventing system infection and preventing the spread of such items. If you receive something in your email, whether it's from someone you know or someone you don't, and it contains an attachment, and it looks suspicious in any way, your very next step should be to click Delete.

How do you tell the difference between a suspicious and non-suspicious email? The days of judging this by the sender and the sender only are long gone. Most worms will use your friends' email addresses for sending, in an effort to get you to open it. Your first step should be to see if it just looks strange. You know your friends better than anyone else. Look at the writing style of the email. Does it look like something they'd write? If not, then proceed with caution.

A method that some use when sending attachments is to send an email beforehand, letting the other person know they're about to send an attachment, along with what type of file it is and what it contains. This can help greatly in figuring out if something's safe or not, but of course, don't go on this alone. Perhaps in an Instant Message or a telephone call one could let the other know of the pending email containing the attachment.

Where can I get the latest Anti-Virus software?

One of the best things you can do is trust your instinct. If it looks suspicious, delete it. You can always ask the sender what they sent and have them resend if necessary. But if you do believe it's safe to open, and it turns out not to be, then make sure your next layer of security, such as your antivirus software, is updated and monitoring, and be prepared with backups of your important files in case that layer of security fails.

What industry insiders call a mailstorm.

"What we have seen in the numbers are millions, literally millions of e-mails traveling around the Internet today," says Vincent Gullotto of McAfee AVERT, "with this worm placing itself, or trying to place itself from one machine to the next."

Experts estimate the MyDoom worm will cost computer users -- big and small -- millions.

The costs can be substantial as in the past week we have a situation with the doom virus that will cost into the millions of dollars to clean up.

In the meantime, don't open any suspicious e-mail attachments, even from people you know. And make sure you have a computer firewall in place and your anti-virus software is updated. You must act fast to protect yourself from the bug called MyDoom. It's not over yet. Is your back door protected?

Click here for the orignal Mydoom virus news release.

Click here for the Part 2 Mydoom virus news release.

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