Learn How to Protect Yourself From Viruses
Malicious viruses like Melissa, Explore.zip, and LoveLetter have
proven that viruses can spread very quickly, causing incredible amounts of damage. In short, prevention from infection is
absolutely essential.
In this section, we help you:
Protect Yourself
Protecting your computer from viruses is a combination of common sense and security technology. Without installing major security and protection tools, (see the ICQ terms of service)
there's a limit to the number of precautions you can put in place. However, by observing these basic guidelines, you can reduce security risks on ICQ and other systems:
- Scan all the files you receive with anti-virus, malicious code prevention, detection & repair programs.
- Upgrade to the most recent version of ICQ for better protection.
- Protect your ICQ password. Never tell anyone your password. Be cautious of someone claiming to be associated with ICQ who asks for your password. The ICQ staff will NEVER ask for your password.
Your password should include a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers.
- Alter your ICQ security level to block files transferred to you by users not on your Contact List, or if necessary block files from all users:
Click 
-> Security & Privacy Permissions under Permissions -> Communications -> File.
Change the Receive File from setting and click Apply to save your changes.
- Check before opening file attachments:
- Never accept files (via email attachments, file transfer etc.) from people you don't know. If you are in doubt, ask the sender to verify they are who they claim to be.
- Examine the e-mail message before opening any attachments. If the attachment is suspicious or simply out of character with the sender, instead of opening it, reply to the sender and ask for clarification.
- Be wary of .exe files. If you aren't certain that an .exe file is 'clean', delete it. Watch out for disguised .exe files e.g. "Mypic.jpg.exe". Unless you check, the final ".exe" extension may only appear after you save the file onto your hard drive.
- When a Word attachment contains macros, always choose to disable them (select Disable Macros).
- Never put a diskette or CD into your computer that you did not create or that did not come from a trusted source (e.g., a product manufacturer).
Understand Viruses
A virus is generally defined as a program that infects documents or systems by inserting or attaching a copy of itself
or by rewriting files entirely. Viruses operate without a user's knowledge or consent. When an infected file is opened,
the embedded virus is executed. In order to propagate a virus must be carried by infected e-mail attachments, diskettes,
or shared files.
While a simple virus may propagate itself but allow the program to run normally, many viruses are malicious by nature.
For example, a virus may be programmed to display an offensive screen message, modify certain documents or do irreversible damage
by deleting all the files on a machine. Viruses are categorized into Simple, Encrypted, Polymorphic and Macro Viruses, Trojan Horses
and Worms. Be prepared - viruses aren't fun!
