The 'Love Bug' has hit...How to Protect Yourself From It

By Terry Dean

The "Love Bug" has hit...and it has done billions of dollars worth of damage already just in the past two days. Many major Fortune 500 companies have already been taken down by it, and other companies have stopped all incoming email to halt its progress.

Reports of this new virus are sweeping the world. You can't turn on your daily news today without seeing the story.

It has been called the "Love Bug" because it has been coming on emails with the subject "ILOVEYOU" containing an attachment called LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.VBS

Users have found that if they click on the attachment, it immediately infects their system overwriting mp3 files, deleting .jpg image files, and destroying Visual Basic Files.

If your computer uses Outlook Express for your email software, it will then email itself to everyone in your address book. This is where the greatest danger lies in this virus (also called a worm because of it's spreading nature).

You will probably receive it in an email from your friends and associates before they even know they are affected.

Several variations of this same virus have already been spotted, and more will be seen in the near future.

For example, another variation of the same virus came with the subject line "FWD: JOKE" and contains the infected attachment VeryFunny.vbs.

"Mother's Day Order Confirmation" is the subject of still another virus attack which says that your credit card has been charged for an order and to click the mothersday.vbs file to get the invoice.

We should see more variations coming out on this virus within the next couple of weeks.

Those of us who rely on our computers and the Internet for our daily living must learn how to handle the dangers of the ecommerce world.

It wasn't too long ago that the 'Melissa' and the 'Happy' viruses spread around the Internet (I have been sent the happy virus several times even in the last month).

We can expect that the future will hold even more dangerous viruses that we absolutely must avoid to keep our businesses running smoothly.

Below are a few Practical Principles for Protecting Yourself from these Business Destroyers:

1. Don't Ever Open Unknown Attachments

People used to say that you shouldn't open email attachments from people you don't know. With the nature of today's viruses though, most of them will be sent to you by your friends, family, and business associates.

The virus infects their computer and it sends itself out without them ever even knowing about it. Most of the viruses that my Anti-Virus software has picked up and destroyed came from respected business associates of mine.

So, rule number one is to never open an attachment sent to you by email unless you know exactly why they sent it beforehand.

2. Install Anti-Virus Software

If anyone who sends you any type of attachment has a virus on their computer, it can infect yours.

So, you also must have Anti-Virus software on your computer. This is no longer a suggestion. This is essential if you want to survive on the Internet.

These programs already detect thousands of viruses, and every new virus attack brings a host of free updates to your software.

Currently, I have several different programs on my computer to protect it including:

"Inoculate It" which is available for free to personal users and home businesses at: http://antivirus.cai.com/

"Anti-Viral Toolkit Pro" is my favorite program and a free evaluation version is available at: http://www.avp.ch/

"Norton AntiVirus 2000" has a tryout version available online at:
http://www.symantecstore.com/Pages/TBYB/index.html

3. Backup Your Important Files

It generally takes the Anti-Virus companies a day or two to detect and create solutions for new viruses which pop-up, so you are still at risk of contracting a brand new virus on your 'protected' computer.

So, you should always protect your important files by backing your computer. Back up your web sites, email software, merchant software, customer lists, and other important business tools.

Viruses aren't the only things that can cause you to lose important files. You could also experience a Windows crash, hard drive crash, or some other type of problem.

I use a rewritable CD drive to do my backups. Since we create CD-ROMS in our business, this is the tool we have hooked up to our systems. A simple CD burner costs under $200 and can use rewritable CDs holding 640 MB or more.

Zip Drives are another solution that can accomplish the same purpose. They hold less information (100 MB to 250 MB), but they are just as effective as a backup solution.

Tape backup drives create a way to back up your entire system at one time. Most web servers and businesses use these to provide complete backups of their computer systems.

One Additional Safety Precaution: Don't Use Outlook Express

Outlook Express currently is the most susceptible email client for these problems. You can still get the virus/worm through other email programs, but they currently don't pass them along to your address books.

Most of the recent viruses/worms have been created specifically for attacking Outlook Express. So, this gives you a slight advantage in not passing along virus to others if you are using a different email program.

There are several other good email programs out there such as Eudora, Pegasus, or Calypso. I have used Eudora for the past two years and recommend it highly.

You can download the Eudora Light 4.3.1 free version by doing a search for it at http://www.download.com

What to Do If You Are Already Infected

The easiest way to clean these viruses from your computer is to use your Anti-Virus software. The programs I recommended above along with most other major programs come with fix utilities built in.

The McAfee Online Clinic also gives you a free 2-week trial of their online cleaning utilities available at: http://www.mcafee.com

Then, follow the rules to make sure it doesn't happen again!