If you suspect that your University owned computer has been infected with a virus or are experiencing other related problems please contact help@engineering.ucsb.edu. If ECI does not manage your computer or if this is your personal computer, here are a few preventive guidelines to make sure that your computer remains in the safe zone:
- Remember to maintain your software with the latest security updates. For example, if you use Windows ensure that automatic updates are enabled. This should also include making sure Adobe Flash and Java are up to date if you have it installed on your computer.
- It's vital to have an anti-virus program installed and that you keep its virus definitions up to date. There are many free anti-virus programs available online such as Immunet/ClamAV, AVG, and Malwarebytes.
- If you use Windows 7 or 8, Microsoft.com provides a free anti-virus sofftware package called Microsoft Security Essentials.
- Ultimately you will choose which browser and email program you want to use but we recommend Firefox for web browsing and Thunderbird for email, both downloadable from http://www.mozilla.com/
- Always use a firewall
- Be careful with what you download from your email or from the Internet in general.
- Avoid clicking on popups or links saying your computer is infected with malware/viruses or is performing slow and how to improve it while browsing on the web. Some websites may be using content providers that have been recently hacked, inserting trick advertisements to trick you into click on them to install malware.
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