Every day customers ask us what they can do to avoid getting infected; some get upset at having been infected in spite of having purchased an antivirus product. It happens so frequently that I thought I'd inagurate our new website (and the new technician's blog feature) by addressing the issue. Most people wonder why it is that their computer got infected in the first place, in spite of having an antivirus product installed. We try to explain as graciously as possible the following truths about the Internet.

Truth #1
The Internet today is the new Wild West - anything goes and there is no governing body to police what goes on. Even if there were a body to police the Internet, enforcement would be near impossible due to the different legal environments in countries around the world. The bottom line is that the Internet is here to stay and for the foreseeable future will remain unpoliced and unmonitored.

Truth #2
The days of hackers writing viruses for fun are long gone. Today, virus and scamware authoring is a lucrative industry making millions in an ever-growing and thriving Internet black market. On this market stolen identities and credit card numbers are sold in bundles for meager amounts to fraudsters who use the information for personal, illegal financial gain. This means that hackers and fraudsters are highly motivated to write effective stable viruses specifically designed to steal our personal information.

Truth #3
In their ongoing efforts to make their fraudware products more pervasive and effective, hackers acquire the very same antivirus products we rely upon, for the purpose of studying them. Using the infromation they gather from studying our preventative security measures they are able to write effective viruses specifically designed to circumvent those measures. This results in an ongoing game of cat and mouse as new viruses present new problems which are then fixed, only to have more new problems arise. The bottom line is that for the last few years the security community has struggled to keep up and will for the foreseeable future. While new security features introduced in Windows 7 and the benefits of virtualization will help, the fact remains that as long as users remain ignorant of safe habits for using the Internet, the bad guys will always find a way to infect our machines.

In our attempts to communicate these truths to our customers, I begin by comparing their online activities to that of a war zone. I say to them that surfing the Internet while relying solely on an antivirus product is analagous to dawning body armour, running through a battlefield and expecting not to get shot. The reality is that antivirus products are considered a last line of defense against Internet threats in the same way that a soldier relies upon his armour.

We tell users that their first line of defense is their user habits. In the coming months we'll talk about some of those habits and how you can put them to use to keep you and your computer safe.

Sven Thomas
Network Specialist
E-Z-TECH Computers Inc.