Computer

Whether you?re preparing to pass the Network+ or Cisco CCNA certification exam or not, you must not underestimate the importance of antivirus programs and virus definition updates. With all the attention we pay to viruses and their prevention, I feel a little silly even saying that. But?.

If there"s one thing you must have working at full capacity in your network, it"s the antivirus programs.

If there"s one thing that is commonly overlooked when it comes to updates, it"s the antivirus programs.

In today"s world, your network must be protected from both internal and external antivirus threats. By implementing and executing an aggressive antivirus strategy, you can greatly reduce your network"s chances of being hit with a virus. Literally hundreds of millions of dollars in productivity are lost every year due to virus attacks, along with a few jobs. Make sure both your network and career are protected!
You may be asking yourself what this has to do with the CompTIA Network+ certification exam. To earn this important computer certification, you?ve got to display knowledge of threats to your network and how to stop them - and viruses are at the top of that list.

Before we discuss how to stop viruses, let"s discuss exactly what a virus is. All of the following are bad, but they"re not all viruses.

Just as a human virus is spread through contact, so is a computer virus. A virus is a program that gets onto a computer without a user"s knowledge and then performs an action that can range from mischievous to destructive. For a virus to be spread, there has to be some kind of contact between an infected user and another user - generally, that contact is the forwarding of an email that has an attachment that contains a virus.

A worm is a type of virus, but a worm can spread on its own without any "help" from the infected host. Even worse, a worm can replicate on its own, resulting in many more worms attacking other hosts. A common worm attack involves the worm sending a copy of itself to every single user listed in the infected host"s email address book.

A third, more insidious attacker is the Trojan Horse. In history, the Trojan Horse was presented as a gift to Troy by the Greeks, and it was filled with Greek soldiers who attacked once the Horse was taken inside the city"s defenses. Today"s Trojan Horses attack in much the same fashion. The program installed by the user may look legitimate and innocent, but there"s another program inside just waiting to attack the user"s computer.

It"s a good idea to periodically remind your end users about some basic steps they can take to help prevent unleashing a virus:

Don"t open email attachments from anyone outside the company.

Don"t download software and install it, especially what I call "fun and free" software such as gaming programs, animated cursors, etc. Most of that software is safe, but a minority of those programs contain adware and could unleash a virus on your network.

Don"t open email from anyone you don"t know, especially if the subject line doesn?t make any sense. Just trash it.

End user education is important, but we have to face facts - it?s not perfect. That"s true for virus protection as well as network security. I personally wish I had a dime for every password I"ve seen written on a sticky note that was attached to the monitor! As network admins and engineers, we"ve got to be aggressive in the fight against viruses and not depend on others.

While we should certainly have an antivirus program on every server in our network, there is one point of communication that we"ve got to be particularly sensitive to, since this is where most viruses and worms make their way into our network - the email server.

We"ve got to be particularly vigilant about the email server"s antivirus protection, since this is where users come in contact the email attachments that can lead to so much trouble. When a host is receiving email from an email server, the antivirus program on the client should scan that email even before it"s opened.

Attachments are a major source of viruses, and many networks now have a firewall strip attachments off before they even get to the email server. Firewalls are devices used to filter traffic, and a firewall can be set to remove incoming attachments. If attachments aren"t allowed to enter the network, end users can"t launch them and their potential viral payload.

This common configuration also gives you the option to reject incoming email that has an attachment, along with the option of notifying the sender that the email was filtered for that reason.

Bottom line: every email attachment is a virus threat.

So how do you best protect your network against viruses, Trojan horses, and the like? We?ll discuss that in tomorrow?s CompTIA Network+ certification exam tutorial! Until then, keep studying!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of over 100 free certification exam tutorials, including CCNA and CCNP tutorials. CompTIA Network+, Security+, and A+ certification tutorials are available, also! Visit his blog and sign up for Certification Central, a daily newsletter packed with CCNA, Network+, Security+, A+, and CCNP certification exam practice questions! A free 7-part course, ?How To Pass The CCNA?, is also available. Coming in 2007 -- Microsoft Vista certification with The Bryant Advantage!

IT Training is often viewed as a cost and therefore something that should be kept to a minimum or even avoided. In times of recession and economic slowdown it is often one of the first overheads that gets cut from the budget. However it should be viewed as an investment in both the short and longer terms as there are a number of key benefits of formally training yourself and your staff, some are more measurable than others. Here are four important advantages of training:

1 - Increase in productivity: This is the most measurable and therefore to many the most important. For example formal software training can teach you and your staff how to use the product more efficiently, allowing you more time to spend on other activities. You can also learn about the advanced features of a product that you have not previously had the opportunity to use.

2 - Increase in confidence: No-one likes to feel that they are standing still. Learning something new is a good way to give you a boost in confidence, usually one that is also carried outside of the workplace.

3 - The out of the office factor: A change is as good as a rest or so they say. Especially if you"re office based a break in the routine can only serve to refresh your mind and give you renewed energy.

4 - Networking: Of course! Training companies hold public-scheduled courses for up to 12 people at a time giving you up to 11 people to network with.

About the Author: David Carrier founded Inventio Consulting (www.inventioconsulting.co.uk) in 2003 and has over 10 years experience in the IT training and education industry.

One of the great internal battles at any successful company is the desire to expand versus the desire to branch out into other areas. After all, if an organization is wildly successful at one thing, they usually feel that they can be successful at anything.

That line of thinking is particularly true at Yahoo, Google, and MSN, today"s three largest search engines. All three companies are continually expanding, and a senior executive at Yahoo recently sent an internal memo that basically said Yahoo is spreading itself too thin. Nothing unusual there, since it"s common for executives at rapidly-expanding companies to guard against such things - but the comparison the exec used to draw this conclusion was rather unusual.

According to the November 18/19, 2006 edition of The Wall Street Journal, a story by Kevin J. Delaney this memo is now known as "The Peanut Butter Manifesto". It"s called that because the memo"s author, Yahoo Sr. VP Brad Garlinghouse, feels that Yahoo is concentrating its time and resources as you or I would spread peanut butter - evenly. Basically, Mr. Garlinghouse feels that Yahoo needs to concentrate its resource use on fewer tasks, allowing Yahoo to do a better job on those particular projects. (I will not reprint the entire thing here, but if you do a search on "peanut butter manifesto", I bet you come up with a copy of it in about 3 seconds.)

Here"s the line that will send shivers up a few spines:

"We must reduce our headcount by 15-20%."

While the memo didn"t name specific areas that would be hit by such a headcount, it"s a good bet that the job cuts won"t be evenly spread. That would be way too much like peanut butter.

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of over 100 free certification exam tutorials, including Cisco CCNA certification test prep articles. His exclusive Cisco CCNA study guide and Cisco CCNA training is also available! Visit his blog and sign up for Cisco Certification Central, a daily newsletter packed with CCNA, Network+, Security+, A+, and CCNP certification exam practice questions! A free 7-part course, ?How To Pass The CCNA?, is also available, and you can attend an in-person or online CCNA boot camp with The Bryant Advantage!