The Virus Threat

Lesson 1: Introduction to Viruses

How common are viruses

ICSA, an organization that studies viruses and gives virus protection companies source code for any viruses they detect, does a survey every year about the prevalence of viruses. ICSA surveys a number of companies to find out as much information as they can about viruses. The results for the 2002 study are quite interesting.

• Every single company reported at least one virus encounter.
• 1.2 million encounters were reported during the 18-month period.
• 105 infections per 1,000 computers, that is 10.5% of computers were infected.

The only completely safe system is one that is never turned on, or at least has no software on it. That means that in order to have a completely safe computer you can never install an operating system such as WindowsXP, or any programs whatsoever. The second you put a disk in your computer, or open an email, or download a program you are at risk. Viruses are everywhere. This does not mean you should not use a computer, or that the situation is hopeless. You just have to know how to protect your computer, and how to deal with an infection once detected.

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