Virus Protection: Frequently Asked Questions

It is especially important for medical practices to keep computers and sensitive data secure. Because of this, you need to understand how computer viruses spread, and how to protect your office from viruses that may infect your programs and files without your knowledge.

Where do viruses come from?

Viruses are commonly spread through e-mail, the Internet, and removable media, such as USB drives, CDs, and floppy disks. Viruses and malware can be passively loaded onto your computer just from visiting some Web sites, however they occur more frequently when you download something from the Internet or your email. Free programs are tempting, but watch out, you may get more than you bargained for!

Is text-only e-mail safer?

Yes, text-only e-mail programs, such as pine or elm, help keep you safe from viruses.  Many viruses arrive through e-mail and are installed on your system when you "give your permission," such as when you click on a web link in the e-mail message or open an e-mail attachment.  Most viruses depend on human nature or on the security flaws built into windows-based mail programs, particularly Outlook and Outlook Express. To make it easy for you to use text-only e-mail programs, PCC sends e-mail to you that is readable in your text-only e-mail programs. 

What if I want to use a graphical e-mail client?

If you use a graphical e-mail program (like Outlook, Netscape, Thunderbird or Mozilla) you need to be particularly careful about opening attachments. Opening attachments from an e-mail program is one of the most common ways to infect your PC with a virus. Your graphical e-mail programs should be configured to require your permission to open attachments: never configure attachments to open automatically! Being careful about opening attachments means that you need to educate yourself about the most recently discovered and most popular viruses so you can identify messages that contain viruses and delete them without opening them.

PCC does not normally send you attachments. On the rare occasion when we need to send you an attachment, we will let you know to look for it. Do not open an attachments unless you are expecting them.

How do I know if my computer has a virus?

If your machine begins to behave strangely, give you messages that do not make sense, slow down considerably, or otherwise act in a manner you do not expect, you may have a virus.

Symantec is an anti-virus company that has a useful site to notify you about recent threats. You can use this site and other similar resources to educate yourself about the most recently discovered and the most "popular" viruses. Click on the name of any virus  to view more information about how each virus presents itself so you can learn how to identify these viruses and delete them before they can infect other computers on your network. Information about what to do if your system is infected is also provided.

What do I need to do to prevent viruses?

First and foremost, each and every PC in your office needs to have virus protection software loaded on it. PCC recently reviewed a number of anti-virus products to provide you with recommendations on products that are effective, easy-to-use, and compatible with PCC software. Although we do not yet endorse a specific product, some of our favorites include Kaspersky AV 2009 or ESET's NOD32 v. 4. See our article on anti-virus software for more information. 

Second, PCs that access the Internet without using your PCC Partner Server should have some kind of firewall installed. Your PCC Partner Server provides firewall protection for you, but many offices do not take advantage of it. 

Third, and most important, make sure that all of your anti-virus, firewall, and PCs operating system software is updated frequently - and that means weekly, at least. PCC routinely finds PCs on which the Windows Update feature has not been used in months, if at all.

(To access Windows Update, look in the Start Menu on each Windows machine, and under all programs. Go back and run it repeatedly until it indicates that you are out of updates!)

Some Helpful Definitions:

Firewall: A set of security rules built into a program that blocks certain electronic attempts to access a computer system.  

Malware: An umbrella term that encompasses different forms of malicious computer software, including but not limited to: viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, adware, and software based keyloggers. This is software that does anything you don't want it to do, haven't asked it to do, or are unaware of, though its presence has a negative affect on your computing. 

Network: Devices like computers, printers, and access points, interconnected by cabling so they can communicate with one another.  

Operating System (OS): The backbone of your computer. This is a collection of software that manages the essential functions of your computer and tells other programs on your computer how to interact. Examples are Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. 

Server: A computer that manages the functions of a network and provides access to certain resources available to the computers on that network. 

Software: the programs that you use on your computer or that make your computer run.

Virus: A program that replicates itself on a computer and may have a negative affect on the function of that computer. 

Windows Update: All operating systems need software updates to fix vulnerabilities; a Windows update is Microsoft's version of this. It is a program built into the Windows operating system that needs to be run in order to assess what updates are needed, then downloads and installs these updates.