Viruses

The plague of the internet, computer viruses can cause irreparable damage to a network. They reproduce, move around, are contagious, and spread themselves with the intent of causing harm. Once they have penetrated you network you better pray they don't bring your computing environment crashing to a halt.

Not more than a simple piece of coding, viruses attach themselves to any bit of software they find. It could even be your boot sector or macros in your word documents.

Organizations can catch a computer virus as easily as you can catch a cold on a freezing winter day. CD's, email and USB storage devices are all easily susceptible to being incubators and transporters for viruses. Add to that the fact that users can get infected with a virus simply by surfing to malicious and contaminated web sites, and you have a full time position for a network security expert.

Anti virus software is an absolute must for both the home user and the system and security professionals of organizations. Not running workable, efficient, effective, and constantly updated anti virus programs is tantamount to committing digital suicide. Watch out for hoax solutions such as Norton's Corporate Edition of anti virus software. Their just pulling wool over customers' eyes (I know from experience).

Today almost all companies, organizations, and institutions use content filters at their internet gateways. The idea is to prevent viruses form even reaching computers and servers on the network. By filtering all inbound (and outbound if so desired) traffic for viruses, an extra layer of protection is realized.