Protecting Your Computer from Viruses, Adware and Spyware
Successful dairy herd management no longer deals with production, nutrition and animal husbandry alone. Management of computer hardware and software now join the mix. And like other management areas, it is important to keep these now necessary systems running properly for the dairy to be efficient and profitable.

The terms viruses, adware and spyware are some of the latest computer terms of which dairy producers should know more about.

Viruses
By definition of characteristics, a virus is a program which is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and which runs without your wishes.

"While not all viruses are harmful, the most-damaging viruses can render your computer inoperable and cause a total loss of critical data," said Mark Chamberlain, Information Technology Manager for the American Jersey Cattle Association (AJCA). "Many viruses that we see today are, however, mostly aggravations rather than critical threats. These types of viruses are more concerned with gaining themselves popularity by exposing problems with popular software programs."

Viruses are distributed most widely through email, typically as attachments that appear to be trial software, screen savers or other items that a person would typically run on their computer.

Adware and Spyware
Like viruses, adware and spyware can be loaded onto your computer without your knowledge.

"Adware is used for marketing purposes and may generate pop-ups for merchandising purposes," explained Chamberlain. "Some adware may even redirect you to a website you never intended to visit." Not all pop-ups are generated by adware installed on your computer, however. Some websites have harmless pop-ups to promote their products and services. A simple pop-up blocking program will take care of these annoyances, but will provide no protection against a real threat like adware or spyware.

Spyware is quickly outpacing virus activity as the new route for outsiders to gain access to your computer. Spyware creates holes in your computer’s security to allow outside intrusions, such as gathering usage statistics or stealing passwords, financial and personal information.

Prevention
"The best prevention to keep your computer safe requires a mixture of technology and common sense," heeds Chamberlain. "For virus protection, make sure you have Anti-Virus software installed and routinely update the virus definitions, or the virus dictionary, by downloading updates from the manufacturer. This is important because the software that you purchase can only protect you from viruses that were known when the product was manufactured, not from new viruses."

"One area that is being exploited more and more for mass virus distribution is the ability for a virus to ‘spoof’ the recipient when it reproduces and redistributes itself" Chamberlain explains. Spoofing is the ability for a virus to send itself as if it were coming from someone you know. For instance, a virus may pull one address out of an address book to use as the “from” address, and then distribute itself to the other addresses. Most times, the reported sender of a virus is not even infected.

For adware and spyware protection, several steps can help reduce your vulnerability. Anti-Adware and Anti-Spyware programs exist that can warn you about new software installation and can even prevent the installation. Another level of protection is provided through the use of a Firewall. Microsoft Windows XP for IBM compatible computers comes with a personal firewall that can help block unwanted intrusions, but many stand-alone firewall products exist that can help older computer systems.

The common sense component of prevention deals with how your computer is operated. Viruses, adware and spyware are able to get into a computer in many more ways than email alone. Frequently, free software downloads and Internet file sharing tools will include these items to serve some purpose of the entity providing the file.

Protection by the AJCA
The AJCA relies on computers to better serve its members and customers. Therefore, we have systems in place to protect ourselves, our users and our customers against virus attacks. As well, the AJCA does not employ the use of adware or spyware on any of its websites.

Links to Third-party Software
WARNING: Use this page at your own risk. These programs can cause harm to your system if they are used incorrectly. It is possible that these tools could cause more harm than good.

THESE MATERIALS AND INFORMATION ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

If you have trouble with any of these applications, please contact the appropriate provider which is not the AJCA.

Spyware and Adware are often included in “free” software you download from the Internet. Usually, though, this software is only free as long as you agree to run the required spyware or adware. By using the software utilities provided below, you may be able to remove Spyware and Adware components from your system. However, doing so may occasionally cause you to violate the license agreement of the software, preventing some software from operating correctly (or operating at all).

Ultimately end users are responsible for the software running on their own machines.

Tools
These tools should be updated after they have been installed.