Computer viruses and spyware cost U.S. businesses around $266 billion in downtime and repair this year.

Viruses & Spyware slow down your systems, destroy important files, and can share sensitive corporate and personal data with unauthorized third parties.

The right Anti-virus & Spyware solution will improve and speed your systems performance and will increase productivity to save you time and money.

Even if you have anti-virus or spyware utilities on your computer, they must be updated and maintained on a regular basis as they only defend what they know: new viruses and spyware programs are created by hackers and deviants every day.

What is a computer virus?

There are a few different file corrupting programs and below you will find a short list of helpful definitions:

• Computer virus - a program that infects a computer without permission or knowledge of the user and then rapidly spreads from one computer to another. The virus will attack files, applications and hard drives, depending on the intent of the person who created the virus.
  • For example, the “ILOVEYOU” virus of 2000 copied itself to two critical system directories and added triggers in the Windows registry to ensure it ran every time after a restart. The virus deleted files, such as excel or word documents as well as JPEGs and MP3s, then replaced them with a fake file with a similar name.
• Trojan horse – Malicious code is hidden in a computer program or other files which may appear to be useful, interesting, or harmless to an unsuspecting user. When launched, the malicious code is also executed resulting in the set up or installation of the Trojan horse program.
  • A simple example of a Trojan horse would be a program named "waterfalls.scr" which claimed to be a free waterfall screensaver. When run, it would instead open computer ports and allow hackers to access the user's computer remotely.
• Computer worm – A self-replicating computer program which is self-contained and does not need to be part of another program to propagate itself. They are often designed to exploit the file transmission capabilities found on many computers.
  • An example would be the Sasser (computer worm) which spread by exploiting the system through a vulnerable network port. This showed it is easy for a worm to spread without the help of a user.

What is spyware?

Spyware is software that covertly gathers user information through an Internet connection without their knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. Once installed, the spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else. Some spyware can also gather information about e-mail addresses, passwords and credit card numbers.

History of Computer Viruses

Viruses have been around for longer than you might think. Below is a brief history of computer viruses:

• 1986 - The first PC virus created was the Brain virus which was a boot-sector virus, meaning it only infected the boot records of 360K floppy disks, but not hard drives.
• 1988 - The first anti-virus was written, designed to detect and remove the Brain virus as well was immunize disks against Brain infection.
• 1988 - The Cascade virus was found in Germany. It was the first encrypted virus, meaning it was coded so that it could not be changed or removed.
• 1991 - Symantec releases Norton Anti-Virus software
• 1999 - The Melissa virus appears, using Microsoft Word to infect computers and was passed on to others through Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express e-mail programs.
• 2000 - The "I Love You Virus" wreaks havoc around the world. It is transmitted by e-mail and when opened, was automatically sent to everyone in the user's address book.
• 2005 - The newest virus species, the Cross-site Scripting virus, is used to bypass access controls.

How Do I Get Viruses & Spyware?

Spyware usually enters your machine through user action, like clicking a button on a pop-up window, installing a software package or agreeing to add functionality to your Web browser. These applications often use deception to get you to install them. Here are some of the general ways in which Spyware finds its way into your computer:

• Piggybacked software installation - Some applications (particularly peer-to-peer file-sharing) will install spyware as a part of their standard install. If you don't read the installation list closely, you might not notice you're getting more than the file-sharing application you want, like Kazaa.
• Drive-by download - This is when a Web site or pop-up window automatically tries to download and install spyware on your machine. The only warning you might get would be your browser's standard message telling you the name of the software and asking if it's okay to install it.
• Browser add-ons - These are pieces of software that add enhancements to your Web browser, like a toolbar, animated pal or additional search box.

There are several ways the creator of a computer virus can sneak a virus into a system. Some examples are:

• Phony emails - contain enticements to open an attachment, such as an important word document, image, or video as well as through html graphics. The virus sends emails to everyone in the hosts address book and continues to infect the network.
• Instant messages - one may have a link to a web site sent from a friend or contact. However when you click on it you are directed to a web site that contains a virus.
• Unlicensed games, music, or software - after downloading and running the program for the first time, the virus is released into the system allowing it to cause its intended damage.

What Viruses & Spyware Cost Your Company

All businesses face a risk of infection with a virus or spyware. Managing the infection risk involves preparing for the potential impact of a security incident and the cost of reducing that risk to an acceptable level.

The chart below is a breakdown of potential company cost because of a virus or breach in security due to user actions in a typical company.

Typical Threats	Avg. Risk of Breaches per Year (per 1,000 users)	Avg. IT Staff Hours per Breach (Respond, Resolve and Forensics)	Avg. Business and Collateral Damage per Breach
Virus / Worms / Trojans	2	4 hours per infected asset	$24,000
Denial of Service	2 serious incidents	32 hours per system	$122,000
Data Destruction / Damage	1	120 hours	$350,000
Physical Theft Disclosure	1 in 4 former employees leaves with assets	2 hours	$5,000
Information Theft and Disclosure	1	180 hours	$250,000
Errant User Behavior	15	2 hours	$20,000

Solution: Defend Your Computer Systems

With the right software and hardware, you can fight spyware and viruses to save your business time and money.

Though every business environment is different, the basic approach we take is similar:

• Evaluate your needs by industry, existing technology and office environment
• Research and propose specific hardware and software that is right for your needs
• Install, Train, Synch and Monitor

Contact us today at 617.375.9100 to learn more about how an Anti-virus & spyware solution will eliminate threats to your computer systems to reduce costs and increase productivity.