Avoiding Viruses

There are many kinds of viruses, and many ways that viruses may infect your computer system, including installing software or booting your computer from floppy disks or CD-ROMs. This document focuses on avoiding virus infection from your Internet connection, specifically from checking email, browsing the web, and downloading software from the Internet.

In an effort to protect users from the onslaught of email viruses cropping up daily, Cape.Com installed in May 2002, Kaspersky Anti-Virus software on all of its incoming and outgoing mail servers. In January 2005, Cape.Com completed a migration from Kaspersky to an open source virus system called Clamav (see www.clamav.net). Since Clamav is a license free and open source product, Cape.Com will also be deploying it on our web servers. We will then be able to scan a user's web files for viruses/trojans/worms etc. There is no charge to new or existing Cape.Com customers for this value-added protection.

However, Cape.Com does not guarantee this anti-virus software to be flawless. Please read the following important information about protecting your system from debilitating viruses.

• Back up anything important on your computer on a regular basis.
  
  
• Don't open email attachments unless you trust the person who sent them; even then be careful (they could be infected themselves and not know it.)
  
  
  • Why?: Virus code must be executed to have any effect. This means that just reading a plain-text E-mail message or a Usenet post is safe; so is viewing graphics and sound files such as .gif, .jpg, .mp3, .wav, etc., as well as text documents in .txt files. However, Word or Excel documents (.doc or .xcl) contain macros; executable code which could contain a virus. (Be wary of .exe ,.zip , or .vbs files, too, which also contain executable code. In addition, be aware that, if your computer is set to hide file extensions, a file that appears to have a safe extension could in fact contain executable code.)
    
    
  • Keep in mind, just reading a plain-text email that has a Word or Excel attachment is safe; unless you actually open the attachment, the code isn't executed. If you wish to open the attachment, run a virus scan first. (See below).
    
    
• Install anti-virus software; up-to-date anti-virus software can detect and remove most viruses you could have on your computer. Many good virus programs are available; Cape.Com uses Clamav Anti-Virus on its Linux gateway mail servers and McAfee Viruscan, available at www.mcafee.com, on its individual workstations.
  
  
• Be sure you're running up-to-date virus detection software before activating any scripting.
  
  
  • Why?: HTML documents such as web pages or HTML email messages may contain Java, JavaScript, or other kinds of executable code.
    
    
  • How to Disable Scripting:
    
    
    • Windows 98: click Start, Settings, Control Panel, then double-click Add/Remove Programs. Click the Windows Setup tab, double-click Accessories, then uncheck Windows Scripting Host.
      
    • Netscape Communicator: click Edit, Preferences, Advanced, then uncheck any options for enabling Java or Javascript.
      
    • Internet Explorer 5: click Tools, Internet Options, Security, Internet, Default Level, High. Then click Custom Level. Set all ActiveX settings to either Disable or Prompt. Set Java Permissions to Disable or High Safety. Set Active Scripting to Disable or Prompt.
    
    
• If you download software from the Internet, BE CAREFUL. Do it from a well-known and reputable source, for example http://www.tucows.com . These sites devote a great deal of effort to ensuring that they are safe from viruses. If you download software from Joe's Internet Site, on the other hand, you are on your own.
  
  

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