Viruses work in different ways but generally, once you have been infected, it's just a matter of time before the damage occurs, unless you get to it in time!

Infection can occur when you run any program from an unknown source.

This can be from:

• A floppy disc
• A program from the Internet
• An email attachment

Damage occurs when the virus loads itself into your computer's memory.
Often some kind of trigger is written into the program - this could be a date or a time.
This trigger can then cause the destructive phase which can become a cycle, causing:

• The computer to crash.
• Programs to be infected.
• The virus to be replicated in a email message sent to people in your address book as a spoof message or as an attachment.

Most infections are spread by the Internet.

So if you use the Internet then at some time or other eventually you will be exposed to a virus of some kind. You can reduce the chance of being infected by taking some of the following simple precautions:

• Download files from reputable sites.
• Buy commercial software on CD ROMs.
• Back-up your work regularly.
• Use virus checking software.
• Make sure Macro Virus Protection is selected on your computer
  (this was how the Melissa virus was spread).
• Always check attachments for viruses before opening.
  You should be wary of any files with the extension file EXE or COM.
  These are executable files and could potentially do all sorts of damage to your computer.

Go to the next screen to look at the law.