Expert: Lorry - 12/3/2009

Question
I got a Trojan horse virus on my computer. My antivirus software caught it,and we put it in the chest, but I was wondering what kind of damage they can do and is there a good way to prevent it from coming in? What is the most common way they get in to the computer? We run our computer scan regularly (once a week).  WE do not do a lot of surfing, mostly e-mail, Ebay,Craig's list, maps, things of that nature.

Thanks

Answer
Hi Carol,

Your best defense is to keep the anti-virus program up to date and to run a complete scan once a week. Viruses could be accessing the computer by way of email attachments, eBay, and questionable sites.

Check out the following regarding the amount of damage that can be done:

http://www.ehow.com/facts_4896437_can-computer-virus-do-computer.html

http://www.howstuffworks.com/virus.htm

It is a shame that the people who write the virus program could be using that knowledge towards something good. I'm fairly certain that when Microsoft and Apple were developed, they planned on connecting the world, now it seems like we, the users, have to keep on the watch.

Hope this helps!
Lorry