A virus is computer program, usually a very small program, that interferes with the smooth running of a computer's operating system and hardware. Viruses are designed to copy themselves and hide within your computer to avoid detection.

In 1995 Ernst & Young released a security survey that showed that 67% of all companies had virus attacks. That was a rise from 54% in 1994. The cost of each attack was estimated at $13, 000.

The NSCA (National Computer Security Association) reported in January of 1997 that 200 macro viruses had been discovered. Six months later the amount of macro viruses had risen by over 300%.

At this stage it is estimated that 90% of all companies have at least one macro virus resident somewhere in their computer systems.

Under the main heading of viruses are three types of harmful computer programs, not all of which hide

Use your Anti-virus program regularly. It can't do its job if it is never run. It's probably a good idea to include it on the Start Up Menu so it boots up with your computer (if you have Windows(, that is).

It will erase everything on your hard drive!

Stealth Viruses that hide themselves from detection by anti-viral programs. An example of this is the MacGyver virus, a memory resident virus that infects .EXE files. Once this file is executed into memory, it infects .EXE files as they are run or opened.

A well-meaning employee of the U.S. Postal Service forwarded the above e-mail to every U.S. Postal Service government e-mail account. When several employees hit the 'reply to all' button the servers overloaded and the Postal Service had to call in emergency engineers to get the systems up and running again.

Boot Viruses that can affect the start up procedure of your computer and disks. Anthrax is a boot virus that infects both .COM and .EXE files, which are the files that cause programs to run. (COM being an abbreviation of command, EXE being an abbreviation of execution.) The text "Anthrax" and "Damage, Inc." is contained within the infected programs. The virus writes itself onto the last few sectors of the hard disk. Any data in its way is deleted.

Virus Warning!! If you receive an e-mail

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