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STUDY ABROAD OPTIONS
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FIVE TIPS TO KEEP YOUR COMPUTER VIRUS-FREE You may be tempted to carry on without anti-virus software on your PC.. Think of all the important documents or other information you keep on it. Most PC users do not backup their information and do not use anti-virus software. When they use the software, they do not bother to update it. Below are some tips on how to keep your computer virus-free. 1. Scan floppies before using them - This is always important, but especially if you are using the disk to carry information between one computer and another. You could easily pick up a virus from an insecure network and introduce it into your system. Running a virus scan before launching any of the programs on the disk will prevent infection. 2. Don’t download programs from the Web - Unreliable sources such as Internet newsgroups or Web sites that you haven’t heard of may be willing providers of viruses for your computer. Avoid downloading files you can’t be sure are safe. This includes freeware, screensavers, games, and any other executable program - any files with an ".exe" or ".com" extension, such as "coolgame.exe." Check to see if the site has anti-virus software running on their side. If you do have to download from the Internet, be sure to scan each program before running it. Save all downloads to one folder, then run virus checks on everything in the folder before using it. 3. Don’t automatically open attachments - It’s always better to err on the side of safety. If you’re unsure about an attachment, delete it. Especially if it’s from a source you don’t recognize. If there are tempting animations on a site that look highly unprofessional, don’t download them. Be sure your email program doesn’t automatically download attachments. This will ensure that you can examine and scan attachments before they run. Refer to your email program’s safety options or preferences menu for instructions. Be sure to run each attachment you plan to open through the anti-virus check. Do this even if you recognize and trust the sender; malicious code, like Trojan horses, can slip into your system by appearing to be from a friendly source. 4. Install reliable anti-virus software - Anti-virus software scans files regularly for unusual changes in file size, programs that match the software’s database of known viruses, suspicious email attachments, and other warning signs. It’s the most important step you can take towards keeping your computer clean of viruses. An anti-virus program is only as good as the frequency with which it is updated. New viruses, worms, and Trojan horses are born daily, and variations of them can slip by software that is not current. Anti-virus software such as Norton Anti-virus and McAfee VirusScan have a feature that searches for new virus definitions every time you go online, so you are always up to date. Configure your anti-virus software to run automatically on start-up and run at all times. This will provide you back-up protection in case you forget to scan an attachment, or decide not to. 5. Buy antivirus software from an authorised reseller - This entitles you to the necessary support and software upgrades offered by the company. Commonly used antivirus software such as McAfee VirusScan and Norton Anti-virus may be bought online or by other means from companies such as inmac, www.inmac.com. (Adopted from www.symantec.com with some information from www.inmac.co..uk by Hellen Zziwa via WOUGNET. Comments should be sent to her at techtips@wougnet.org) MICROSOFT’S MEDIA PLAYER 7’s SKINS HAVE A SECURITY HOLE Security expert extraordinaire
and nemesis of Microsoft developers, Bulgarian Georgi Guninski,
has issued a warning that Microsoft Windows Media Player 7 "skins"
have a security hole that could allow hackers to enter your PC
and mess with your files.Guninski says the problem is that malicious
hackers could trick people into downloading Java applets into
the Microsoft Media Player skins directory, and therefrom execute
programs. Microsoft does not have a patch for the problem yet,
so the fix is to make sure that you set your Internet Explorer
security zones option to disable any unsigned Java content. HINTS AND TIPS FOR PROMOTING YOUR SITE Life in Africa now offers tips,
tools and traffic building resources for webmasters of Africa-related
sites. It will be updated weekly, and will always be free. If
you own a website, you should sign up for the AfriPromote! mailing
list to receive updates of new resources. A SOFTWARE PACKAGE FOR MANAGING NGOs There is a new software product aimed at helping NGOs with change processes and monitoring called Promes. It represents a novel and comprehensive approach to the information management of complex and diverse change processes. Its chief goal is to assist in answering the three core questions of every-day development practice: Who does What and Why, irrespective of the sectoral focus, organisational setting or size and complexity of the processes at hand. The Who part puts at centre stage and manages the stakeholders (actors) of development, such as a number and type of individual persons, groups of people, enterprises, service-delivery agencies and the intermediate or implementing organisations. The What component deals with projects and project activities, including their definition, location, budgets and expenditures, intended outputs, problems and successes. Each stakeholder can ‘own’ one or more projects,implement part of a project owned by another or be a beneficiary, or be all at the same time. The Why section focuses on the medium and longer term development objectives. Promes lets the stakeholders define and apply their very own sets of objectives as and when they develop in time, define active links between the logframes and freely associate projects, funds and actors with these objectives and their realization. Rich layers of ready-to-use software functions pull relevant information from the underlying database in many ways and from as many different points of view. Promes was designed as an open
system that can be configured to suit real field conditions as
encountered by virtually any Governmental or Non-Govermental
organisation in Africa. More information from: TELKOM’S CUSTOMER CARE NETWORK NOW HAS CISCO GOLD STATUS Telkom’s certification
as a Cisco Systems Gold Partner will boost its Customer Network
Care (CNC) managed network service, and other router-based network
solutions. The accreditation is the highest level of Cisco certification
achievable on a networking infrastructure level, and will enable
Telkom to strengthen customer support services and enhance its
delivery. Around-the-clock network surveillance and guaranteed
service levels are just two of the factors that have pushed Telkom
into the top five of South Africa’s managed Wide Area Network
(WAN) industry.
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This page last updated on January 28 2004.
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