Every so often there appears a virus that grabs the attention of the media. Sometimes, this may just be hype by the media and other times it is a genuine threat to computer users. However, if you wait until the press inform you of a loose virus in the wild, it may be too late for you. To give yourself peace of mind, you should make sure your systems are adequately protected.
Just a point to make, when I refer to a virus here, I am referring to all variants, i.e. Worms, Trojans, adware and malware.
How serious are these threats? One time I built a Windows XP system. The version of XP I used had no service pack and I had no disc available. I thought I'd be clever and connect the PC to the internet and run windows update which would install the latest service pack and updates. I didn't even get that far. Within 15 minutes the machine was unusable. It took that long for various malware to download and install.
Why did that happen? I was in a home using a simple broadband router which only had a very basic firewall setup. Being the original copy of Windows XP, I had no firewall on the PC. This also meant that no windows patches had been installed, so all the security flaws were wide open for attack. I also had no anti-virus software installed so there was nothing scanning the websites and files I was accessing.
Fortunately, in this instance, I did lose any data as this was a new build PC. I only had the inconvenience of wiping and rebuilding the computer.
What lessons did I learn? One was always to carry a copy of the latest service pack and AV software with me. Now, when I build a PC, I will ensure the Windows firewall is enabled before connecting to the Internet.
Sometimes, you have to learn the hard way.