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Once upon a time, not very long ago, the biggest danger to the security of data on your computer was a physical failure of the hard drive. About the only way you could get a virus was from an infected floppy disk, and that made the transmission of infections so slow that antivirus software was adequate protection, even if you were lackadaisical about keeping it up to date.
Hardware has gotten a lot more reliable, but pervasive networks have vastly increased external threats. The "Love Bug" worm in early May was the first massive attack that actually destroyed significant amounts of data. Such attacks are almost certain to continue and are very likely to get worse.
There is no magic bullet that can protect your computer and your data against a dangerous world, but here are five simple, common-sense steps you can take for safer computing:
Keep Windows up to date. Microsoft has been inexcusably slow to respond to the threats, but the company is getting its act together and is quickly making available repairs for security holes. If you run Windows 98 or Windows 2000, regularly click on the "Windows Update" icon on the start menu. This automatically takes you to a special Web page. (Windows 95 and NT 4.0 users can go there manually by entering the URL windowsupdate.Microsoft.com in Internet Explorer. This site will not work properly with a Netscape browser.) The first time you go to this site, you download a small program that automatically checks your system to make sure you have the latest updates.
You can also subscribe to a service that notifies you automatically of the availability of "critical updates," which are almost always security-related. If you really want hard-core instant information, subscribe to Microsoft's Security Notification Service.
Adjust your outlook. Microsoft Outlook, that is. Check it during the week of May 22 for a download of about 1 MB at the Windows Update site that will give your system some long overdue protection against e-mail attacks (see BW Online, 5/15/00, "Post Love Bug, Microsoft Trades Flexibility for Security"). You'll suffer some loss of convenience, such as you'll no longer be able to receive certain dangerous types of e-mail attachments, and you'll have to click a button to tell Outlook that it's O.K. to sync with your Palm or Windows CE handheld every time you want to update the address book. But the inconvenience is well worth it. A patch for Outlook Express will be available later.
Keep on top of viruses. Antivirus software is not automatic protection. The Love Bug got past the guardians because it spread much faster than virus-detection files could be updated. But it is very foolish to go unprotected. McAfee and Norton are the leading suppliers of retail antivirus products. Either is fine, but I find Symantec's Norton AntiVirus somewhat easier to keep up to date. These days, it's wise to make sure your antivirus files are updated weekly.
Close the backdoor on Microsoft Office.
Innocent-looking Microsoft Word documents or Excel spreadsheets have the capacity to wreak havoc on your ystem if they include hidden programs or "macros." Word and Excel can prevent macros from running, but some older versions had this protection turned off by default. In Word or Excel 97, click on "Options" on the "Tools" menu, select the "General" tab, and make sure "Macro virus protection" is checked. Office 2000 offers finer control. Click on "Macro" and then "Security" on the "Tools" menu, and make sure your security is set to "high" in Word, which will prevent any macros from running, and at least to medium in Excel, which will cause the program to ask your permission before running a macro. Why the difference? There's just about never any reason to run a macro in any Word document you are sent. Some spreadsheets, to work properly, require these programs. But don't just blindly click O.K. when asked for permission. If in doubt,
open the spreadsheet with macros disabled to make sure it is what you are expecting. You can always enable them later.
Don't take candy from strangers. The most important rule of all is don't do anything that doesn't seem quite right. Was it actually reasonable that several co-workers would send you messages with the identical subject, "ILOVEYOU," with a love letter attached? Hardly, but hundreds of thousands of people opened attachments that should have instantly made them very suspicious. Being attached to the Internet is a bit like walking around a big city at night. You're pretty safe most of the time, but you have to keep your eyes open and your senses alert. What will ultimately cause attacks like Love Bug to fail is not a technological solution but users developing the Internet equivalent of street smarts.
Wildstrom is Technology & You columnist for Business Week EDITED BY DOUGLAS HARBRECHT
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