New computer virus alert - Downadup

There is a virus out that is a new strain of an older virus. The virus is called Downadup and as soon as it goes onto your computer it contacts another computer, called a server, for more instructions. This can potentially make this virus very dangerous at any time.

As of Thursday, January 22, 2008, 1.2 million computers have been infected with this new strain and the virus keeps spreading, especially on corporate networks. It is worth taking a moment and checking your computer systems, and your friend’s computers.

This virus disables your virus protection on your computer. If your computer is on a home or business network there is a potential if one of the computers has this virus it will spread to all of the other computers on the network, including servers in seconds.

If you have a virus protection program that is kept up-to-date, chances are small of the computer becoming infected. This virus has been called Downadup, Kido, or Conficker and if you run a scan and see any of these names I would check that your virus program and Microsoft security is working..

One of Microsoft’s updates in October 2008 prevents your computer from being infected with this virus. Microsoft also has a free Malicious Software Removal Tool at the Microsoft site. When you go to the site type in the initials MSRT in the search box and the tool will be the top one in the search results. You should download this tool, run it and make sure that you do not have this or any other malicious software on your computer.

This virus is a labeled as a worm virus and besides disabling the anti-virus software stops all of the Microsoft updates from working, and it also blocks you from accessing any of your accounts that are on secure sites (credit card, banking, reservations, etc.).

One of the ways that the virus spreads is from inserting a USB device. A USB device can be a flash/thumb drive, ipod, external drive, camera, CD-ROM burner, etc. If your computer is infected with this virus and you connect the USB device to another computer, that computer will immediately become infected.

If you do not have an antivirus software, there is a free one on line from a company called Grisoft. You can go to their site and in the search box type in AVG free edition, and the free version will be in the search results.

If you have Comcast Internet then you can download for free McAfee Security suite which includes anti-virus. If you have Verizon they offer a security package for a couple dollars a month. I would look at your Internet Service Provider (ISP), and look at your account, or benefits/features page to see what they offer. I was on one computer in North Jersey and they offered Trend Micro for free.

Some colleges also offer free anti-virus software for all of the students and staff members who attend the school.

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John Gontowicz is the author of three computer ebooks including How to Learn Excel, How to Make Your Computer Run Stronger, Longer and Faster, and Computers 101. Please visit the site above for more information.

Comments and suggestions can be made on my blog site http://yourpcguide.blogspot.com