Many people, especially those that are religious, have a special place in their hearts for churches. It is particularly upsetting then when bad things happen to churches. There is apparently a computer virus out there that attacks churches or religious institutions. It may come from a website that churches would visit, but it is particularly destructive and in these two reported cases it got past pretty reliable anti-virus programs. Just more innocent victims of virus programmers.

Changing an online business’s strategy from using physical servers to using virtual machines can open them up to a whole new problem as far as internet security. Whether you’re talking about data theft, computer virus exposure, or any other kind of security flaw, a virtual machine is more apt to be hit than a physical server. Check out this article to learn more about the risks of changing your system or network over.

We are always prompted to beware of computer viruses, and we should. Computer viruses are in the news every day, but what are some of the effects they leave behind?

Data erasure: Some computer viruses can delete data on computers they infect. This is a great reason to do regular backups.

Loss of control: Many computer viruses are designed to take control of your computer so that it may assist in further attacks on other systems.

System destabilization: Other computer viruses attack a computer or network and leave it unusable.

None of these are desired things that we want for our computers or network. Stay vigilant when it comes to the security of your PC or network. Never open questionable emails and attachments and always keep your anti-virus software up-to-date.

A 24-year-old Japanese student awaits to hear his fate after he was convicted of spreading a computer virus. His method for distribution of the virus? He attached the virus to images from a popular anime series. Be careful what it is you’re looking at or opening when it comes to your emails and attachments, if you don’t know who they are coming from, delete them immediately.

There is more to worry about concerning the health of your computer or network than just protecting it from computer viruses. The weather can also impact your system’s health. The weather? Yes, check out this story about how a violent storm played havoc on computer users and their system. Bad weather isn’t good for anyone… well, maybe for computer repair businesses it is.

Check out this article about the effects that hackers could have on the Presidential election? Its kind of a scary proposition, but entirely realistic too, if hackers can access ATMs, banking systems, and other high security computer networks then it is reasonable to think they could gain access to the election systems. The effects of this would be catastrophic… a re-vote? someone behind the tampering? It would be the biggest political news ever.

The two easiest ways to detect if that email in your inbox contains spyware or a computer virus is to look at who it is from and what the title is. If the email is from someone you don’t know, then you probably need to delete it. If the email title contains an offer of free money, free products, or something as obvious as “nude pictures” of a celebrity, then you can also assume that there is a virus or spyware attached to it. Be vigilant when checking your email.

Here is a great post on TechAddicts that details what the author has learned from getting hit with computer viruses. From preventative steps to take, to things to do so that recovery will be faster and easier next time, there are many lessons to learn. Great read!

A hard to detect computer virus being referred to as the April Fool’s virus is on the loose and infecting computers today. The virus is actually a variation of a virus already out in circulation, but has had some alterations done to it to make it a little harder to screen for. Many anti-virus programs are not updated enough to know what to look for when it comes time to block this new virus. Make sure your anti-virus software is as up to date as possible.

An autistic teenager from New Zealand recently pleaded guilty to unleashing a $26M bot attack that’s ramifications were felt worldwide. The FBI considers cyber crime to be third on it’s list of things to focus on, trailing only counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence.