Computer Virus FAQ

Q: How did this virus get to me? I don't recognize this email address!

A: Most viruses spreading over the internet are capable of self-replication. They are programed to search the PC they infect by searching for email addresses. They look through documents, address books, and other emails to get email addresses. They then send themselves out to these addresses.

Now, lets suppose you get a forwarded joke from a friend, and he/she sends it to 30 other people. And those 30 people forward it to 30 more people, and lets say it happens a 3rd time. 30 x 30 x 30 = 27,000. Your email address is now stored on the computer of 27,000 people, the large majority of which you don't know. From one email forwarded in 3 waves. Pretty easy for your email address to get into hands you don't recognize.

Q: Why did I get this notice that I sent a virus? I don't have a virus!

A: Often people get notices that they sent a virus. They perform a virus scan and come up with no results. How did this happen? Some viruses search computers as described above, but in addition to sending to these addresses, they send as if they were FROM these addresses. This makes them harder to clean up, as we cannot tell who really has the virus. So it could be someone has a virus, and the virus is using your email address to send out as if it were from you. How do you stop it? Well, that is the hard part. Who really has the virus? Most of the time you can't stop it, you just have to wait until the person cleans up their computer.

Q: Why am I getting so many viruses lately?

A: Because there is a new virus out. When a new virus is introduced, it spreads rapidly because computers are not updated to stop this virus. So they get infected, and the virus sends itself out, and we see a rash of viruses. As people update their computers and clean the viruses, it dies off until the next one.

Q: How do I best protect myself?

A: If you use your Pennswoods email address and only your Pennswoods email address, you will not get a virus through your email. you can get viruses from downloading infected files, so be careful of what you put on your computer.