There's a virus among us... posted 10/26/2009 10:52:45 PM | 0 kudos what's this?     report abuse tagged: computer, virus

chatillion

There are a few computers in the office I'm working at. Most of them are mine. I have 3 on my desk and my draftsman has 2. There is a spare for a second draftsperson and I'm loaning our estimator an older computer. My boss has his own computer with all his accounting software.

Why so many computers? One is used as a network file server with scanners, fax machines and 3 printers attached. Some have archives and do different things. Most of the programs on them are redundant. So, it's easy to switch to a different console when you are busy at the first one. Most of them are factory refurbished (used) Pentium 'workhorses' Not fast, but reliable. That's all we need.

We have 2 different networks that share printers and internet. I installed the draftsman's computer a few months ago and since it's not connected to internet, I didn't bother adding any virus software. All of the other computers (that access internet) are protected.

This morning, my draftsman handed me a memory stick with some files of furniture drawings he just finished. I was going to e-mail them to a client. Within a few seconds after plugging in the memory, a message popped up from my firewall warning me a program wanted to access the internet. I typed that URL name in a yahoo search and it came up as a virus. So, I denied the access and scanned the memory stick with my anti-virus software. Sure enough, there were 3 Trojan viruses on the memory stick. This is the first time I have seen this in the office.

I phoned my boss and told him the problem. I said he was there Sunday with a freelance draftsman (he had hired in the past) to make some drawings he needed quickly and that she was coming back this afternoon to finish the drawing.

When she arrived I asked for her memory stick and scanned it. There were 5 Trojans on her memory stick. Naturally, I asked what anti-virus program she was running that didn't see these viruses and her answer was: "I don't have any virus software... they are too expensive."


Why didn't I leap off my chair and choke her then?



I explained, she could get FREE software from download.com and there is NO EXCUSE to be doing freelance work without anti-virus software.

Two hours today were spent updating, scanning, cleaning and installing virus protection updates. Hopefully, Tuesday will be more productive.

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