Do you leave your computer on all the time and never shut it off, letting it go into sleep mode? Don’t remember when your antivirus program last did a scan? Then you are always connected to the Internet and should read this.
Without even trying, you hear about hackers, spammers, and computer viruses. Because it has become so commonplace, the time needed to guard your computer files has increased. Even the International Space Station is not exempt from computer viruses. (See Cosmonaut carries computer virus aboard International Space Station).
We have a number of devices we use in our business to check to see what our work looks like on different types of systems. We have various security software installed, updated constantly, and is operating live 24 hours a day every day. We run scans with the programs we have at least twice a week plus anytime it seems we might be having a problem, i.e., the computer slows down, does something strange, etc.
Last year, due to some problems we had somewhere between the computer, our router and our Internet Service Provider (ISP), we came across a program called Microsoft Safety Scanner. It is a program that you download and run with a file named “msert.exe”. It does not run all of the time like your antivirus program does, and Microsoft tells you up front that it is not to be considered as a replacement for your antivirus and/or antimalware programs. After running the program, which is only good for 10 days after you download it, we noticed something odd.
One of the things we found out is that anti-virus programs do not operate as you assume they do. We had always thought that the anti-virus program was checking all of the files on our computer when it scanned the computer. It does not. It only scans those files that are essential, such as Windows 7 operating files, and the computer files that run your computer system.
To check things out, we ran a test scan with our antivirus program. By the reported numbers from each program and using both programs on one computer, the antivirus program scanned 492,530 files. When we ran the Microsoft Safety Scanner on the same computer, it scanned 2,378,403 files. It found four malware files that the antivirus program did not.
Note: Microsoft Safety Scanner can run 2-3 hours, depending on the amount of files you have on your computer. You should not do anything with the computer while it is running. We usually run it at night after we are done with the computer, check the results in the morning and reboot.
To put it into perspective, let me give you a scenario. I like science fiction movies and one of them, Independence Day, is one of my favorites. A scene in the movie has a line that sticks in my mind. The military forces that are in a deeply underground bunker are about to be attacked by aliens with a powerful weapon. One of the main characters asks a military person, “How bad is it going to be?” The person says, “We’re pretty far underground so it should be safe for us.” Then she asks, and this is the key line, “What about them?” while pointing to a screen showing hundreds of people that are above ground and will be wiped out. His stunned expression is priceless.
The point is, with the proliferation of viruses, Trojans, malware and the like, and the fact that computers are coming with larger and larger hard drives with many more files, the bad stuff can be hidden anywhere. Therefore, while the systems files are checked all the time, and your antivirus program is keeping them safe, there are many more files that can have the bad stuff attached. The complete hard drive needs to be scanned periodically just to be sure.
What you have to consider is how much trouble will you have if your hard drive is hacked and no longer functions? How many things on your computer are indispensable?
As I mentioned before, we spend a lot of time making sure the computers are operating safely. You have to spend the time because if you do not, it will take a lot more time to get some of your data back. From experience, you will not get it all back.
Therefore, you want to make sure your antivirus program is installed, updated regularly, and operating in real-time, that your scans are run at a bare minimum of once a week, and periodically, run a scanning program that will look at your entire hard drive, not just the system files.
Oh yes, some additional advice most of which you have heard. Do not open attachments to emails from people you do not know.
Moreover, a new one is coming around in email. If the email system you have asks you about an email you just opened, “The email has been modified. Do you want to save it?” just say NO. You will be glad you did.