We’ve run into some pretty serious spyware/malware/virus infections lately. These infections can often be prevented by following the steps outlined below.

While we are constantly taking steps to prevent infections on our contract customer’s networks, (such as deploying new antivirus software on the workstations and firewalls), we need every user to exercise caution and take steps to help prevent infections:

Here are some safe browsing tips:

1. Look before you click – Never click “agree” or “OK” to close a suspicious window. Instead, click the red “x” in the corner of the window or press the Alt + F4 buttons on your keyboard to close a window.
2. Be Suspicious – If you are prompted to install software, or remove infections from your workstation, please contact us. This is a sign of spyware or malware.
3. Only download data from Web sites you trust – Please contact us at support@bdpnetworks.com if you require software to be installed on your workstation — do not download software from Websites.
4. Contact Us if you notice a general system slowdown or unusual presence of pop-up ads on your desktop, or within your browser. Other signs of infection include toolbars in your browser and changed settings that you can’t change back (such as homepage, etc).

Please report any signs of the following programs:

• Antivirus 2007, 2008 or 2009 (this software acts like antivirus software, but is actually harmful software)
• MyWebSearch toolbar
• Bargain Buddy

Definitions:

Spyware
This is software that secretly gathers information about a user while he/she navigates the Internet. This information is normally used for advertising purposes. Spyware can also gather information about email addresses and even passwords and credit card numbers.

Trojan horse
This is a program that disguises itself as another program. Similar to a virus, these programs are hidden and cause an unwanted effect. They differ from viruses because they are normally not designed to replicate like a virus.

Virus
A computer virus is a piece of code that is secretly introduced into a system in order to corrupt it or destroy data. Often viruses are hidden in other programs or documents and when opened, the virus is let loose.

Worm
This is a special type of virus that spreads without any user interaction, typically by exploiting a flaw in popular software.

Free antivirus for home workstations:

Files transferred from home and personal computers are often a source of infection. It is very important to have current antivirus software installed on any PC connected to the internet. AVG Antivirus-free is a great anti-virus/malware/spyware application — we like it more than Norton or McAfee!

Here is a direct download link:
http://free.avg.com/download?prd=afe

Please contact us at support@bdpnetworks.com should you have any questions, comments or concerns,

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