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SAFETYSEND™
Benefits > Virus Protection
VIRUS PROTECTION AND REMOVAL
With your SafetySend account you not only receive powerful
computer security tools including secure email but you also get
the following:
- MAXIMUM VIRUS PROTECTION -
SafetySend's proprietary anti-virus solution is the best
combination of secure network, encryption and spam and virus
filter protects your computer from hackers.
- REAL TIME VIRUS UPDATES -
With SafetySend you never need to worry about virus updates.
SafetyMail updates "real time" as viruses become known
without any effort on your part. When you send or receive a
secure email with SafetyMail have confidence that your
computer is secure.
- VIRUS REMOVAL UTILITY - Use
the best online virus detection and removal utilities as
many times as necessary on any computer you need and feel
secure about your computer security.
How does our Virus Protection
work?
- GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS - Our
partnerships with the global leaders in virus detection
technology provide is with virus detection schematics in
"real time" meaning our secure server can block and remove
new viruses within minutes of their release.
- MULTI LAYER DETECTION- Our
advanced virus detection can even detect viruses within
archived files such as ZIP. Every file is thoroughly scanned
as it passes through our secure email server for maximum
virus protection.
- PROTECTION AGAINST OTHER
TYPES OF VIRUSES - SafetyMail also protects your computer
against other types of viruses including PHISHING, HTML,
MACRO, TROJAN HORSE and other malicious code that could
compromise your computer security.
Why is our Virus Protection a
better value?
- STOPS VIRUS BEFORE THEY
REACH YOUR COMPUTER - Most virus programs do not stop
viruses until they REACH YOUR COMPUTER. By that time it may
be too late.
- Virus Protection SafetySend
blocks email viruses before they get to your inbox.
- Ad-Free No annoying ads. Nor
do we sell your personal information to anyone.
Computer Virus Information
1. What is a computer virus?
A computer virus is a program designed to spread itself by first
infecting executable files or the system areas of hard and
floppy disks and then making copies of itself. Viruses usually
operate without the knowledge or desire of the computer user.
2. What kind of files can spread viruses?
Viruses have the potential to infect any type of executable
code, not just the files that are commonly called 'program
files'. For example, some viruses infect executable code in the
boot sector of floppy disks or in system areas of hard drives.
Another type of virus, known as a 'macro' virus, can infect word
processing and spreadsheet documents that use macros. And it's
possible for HTML documents containing JavaScript or other types
of executable code to spread viruses or other malicious code.
Since virus code must be executed to have any effect, files that
the computer treats as pure data are safe. This includes
graphics and sound files such as .gif, .jpg, .mp3, .wav, etc.,
as well as plain text in .txt files. For example, just viewing
picture files won't infect your computer with a virus. The virus
code has to be in a form, such as an .exe program file or a Word
.doc file, that the computer will actually try to execute.
3. How do viruses spread?
When you execute program code that's infected by a virus,
the virus code will also run and try to infect other programs,
either on the same computer or on other computers connected to
it over a network . And the newly infected programs will try to
infect yet more programs.
When you share a copy of an infected file with other computer
users, running the file may also infect their computers; and
files from those computers may spread the infection to yet more
computers.
If your computer is infected with a boot sector virus, the virus
tries to write copies of itself to the system areas of floppy
disks and hard disks. Then the infected floppy disks may infect
other computers that boot from them, and the virus copy on the
hard disk will try to infect still more floppies.
Some viruses, known as 'multipartite' viruses, can spread both
by infecting files and by infecting the boot areas of floppy
disks.
4. What do viruses do to computers?
Viruses are software programs, and they can do the same things
as any other programs running on a computer. The actual effect
of any particular virus depends on how it was programmed by the
person who wrote the virus.
Some viruses are deliberately designed to damage files or
otherwise interfere with your computer's operation, while others
don't do anything but try to spread themselves around. But even
the ones that just spread themselves are harmful, since they
damage files and may cause other problems in the process of
spreading.
Note that viruses can't do any damage to hardware: they won't
melt down your CPU, burn out your hard drive, cause your monitor
to explode, etc. Warnings about viruses that will physically
destroy your computer are usually hoaxes, not legitimate virus
warnings.
5. What is a Trojan horse program?
A type of program that is often confused with viruses is a
'Trojan horse' program. This is not a virus, but simply a
program (often harmful) that pretends to be something else.
For example, you might download what you think is a new game;
but when you run it, it deletes files on your hard drive. Or the
third time you start the game, the program E-mails your saved
passwords to another person.
Note: simply downloading a file to your computer won't activate
a virus or Trojan horse; you have to execute the code in the
file to trigger it. This could mean running a program file, or
opening a Word/Excel document in a program (such as Word or
Excel) that can execute any macros in the document.
6. What's the story on viruses and E-mail?
You can't get a virus just by reading a plain-text E-mail
message or Usenet post. What you have to watch out for are
encoded messages containing embedded executable code (i.e.,
JavaScript in an HTML message) or messages that include an
executable file attachment (i.e., an encoded program file or a
Word document containing macros).
In order to activate a virus or Trojan horse program, your
computer has to execute some type of code. This could be a
program attached to an E-mail, a Word document you downloaded
from the Internet, or something received on a floppy disk.
There's no special hazard in files attached to Usenet posts or
E-mail messages: they're no more dangerous than any other file.
7. What can I do to reduce the chance of getting viruses from
E-mail?
Treat any file attachments that might contain executable code as
carefully as you would any other new files: save the attachment
to disk and then check it with an up-to-date virus scanner
before opening the file.
If your E-mail or news software has the ability to automatically
execute JavaScript, Word macros, or other executable code
contained in or attached to a message, I strongly recommend that
you disable this feature.
My personal feeling is that if an executable file shows up
unexpectedly attached to an E-mail, you should delete it unless
you can positively verify what it is, who it came from, and why
it was sent to you.
The recent outbreak of the Melissa virus was a vivid
demonstration of the need to be extremely careful when you
receive E-mail with attached files or documents. Just because an
E-mail appears to come from someone you trust, this does NOT
mean the file is safe or that the supposed sender had anything
to do with it.
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Some general tips on avoiding virus infections:
1. Subscribe to SafetySend to protect your incoming files and
use our online virus detection and removal utility frequently to
ensure your computer is properly protected.
New viruses come out every single day; an anti-virus program
that hasn't been updated for several months will not provide
much protection against current viruses.
2. In addition to scanning for viruses on a regular basis,
install an 'on access' scanner (included in most good a-v
software packages) and configure it to start automatically each
time you boot your system. This will protect your system by
checking for viruses each time your computer accesses an
executable file.
3. Virus scan any new programs or other files that may contain
executable code before you run or open them, no matter where
they come from. There have been cases of commercially
distributed floppy disks and CD-ROMs spreading virus infections.
4. Anti-virus programs aren't very good at detecting Trojan
horse programs, so be extremely careful about opening binary
files and Word/Excel documents from unknown or 'dubious'
sources. This includes posts in binary newsgroups, downloads
from web/ftp sites that aren't well-known or don't have a good
reputation, and executable files unexpectedly received as
attachments to E-mail or during an on-line chat session.
5. If your E-mail or news software has the ability to
automatically execute JavaScript, Word macros, or other
executable code contained in or attached to a message, I
strongly recommend that you disable this feature.
6. Be extremely careful about accepting programs or other files
during on-line chat sessions: this seems to be one of the more
common means that people wind up with virus or Trojan horse
problems. And if any other family members (especially younger
ones) use the computer, make sure they know not to accept any
files while using chat.
7. Do regular backups. Some viruses and Trojan horse programs
will erase or corrupt files on your hard drive, and a recent
backup may be the only way to recover your data.
Ideally, you should back up your entire system on a regular
basis. If this isn't practical, at least backup files that you
can't afford to lose or that would be difficult to replace:
documents, bookmark files, address books, important E-mail, etc.
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Dealing with virus infections:
Other malicious software could be causing the problem. Most
people confuse the behaving our Spyware as a computer virus.
SafetySend safely scans and detects both types of malicious
software code and helps you remove them safely.
"Just because your computer is acting strangely or one of your
programs
doesn't work right, this does NOT mean that your computer has a
virus."
1. If you haven't used our free online and up-to-date anti-virus
program on your computer, do that first. Many problems blamed on
viruses are actually caused by software configuration errors or
other problems that have nothing to do with a virus.
2. If you do get infected by a virus, allow our online virus
removal utility to remove or clean your computer. If you are
having problems use our online computer security tools and
tutorials to assist you in cleaning your computer..
3. For assistance, check our web site computer security tools
and support services for your other potential solutions.
Note: in general, drastic measures such as formatting your hard
drive or using FDISK should be avoided. They are frequently
useless at cleaning a virus infection, and may do more harm than
good unless you're very knowledgeable about the effects of the
particular virus you're dealing with. Even if you format your
hard drive you will still be vulnerable to viruses once you
restore your computer. SafetySend can restore your computer and
protect you from future infections.
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What is the best anti-virus software available?
Why SafetySend of course! Get the best of our technical
expertise and flexible secure email solution all for one low
annual price.
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