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| Common Questions |
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Question: Can a virus on your hard drive spread on its own? Answer: Ah, the elusive can a virus spread on its own question. I'm sure I will get some e-mails that are contrary to my opinion, but depending on the situation, yes. There is one key ingredient to a virus spreading on its own - you have to initially start it. A virus can't start on its own, but it can certainly spread on its own. If you have a virus sitting in an e-mail on your system, you are fine as long as you don't run the virus by clicking on the attachment. Viruses come in all shapes and sizes but they all have the instinct to survive; spreading is one of the key elements of that survival. Many viruses are e-mail based but that doesn't mean they need your e-mail client running to be able to send themselves from your computer. The key to stopping a virus is to never run it. If you get an e-mail with an attachment that you weren't expecting, delete the e-mail. It is easier for someone to resend a message to you than it is for you to stop a virus on your computer. Just remember, a virus can't spread on its own if you never run it first. Question: When I connect to another computer online is it better for me to use telnet or SSH and why? Answer: Let me start by saying this is my opinion and I am sure that there are plenty of other opinions. I recommend SSH. Telnet is great for certain functions, but if you just want to connect to another computer, you should use SSH because it is secure. SSH actually stands for Secure Shell, if that tells you anything. With telnet it is very easy for a hacker to "sniff" out your login information with a network packet sniffer. SSH makes it hard for hackers to do IP spoofing and source routing, meaning a hacker can't modify his/her computer to say it is from a trusted network because SSH will check. SSH also doesn't rely on cleartext passwords like telnet does. Yes, cleartext is exactly what it sounds like. It is your password being transferred in clear/plain text. I would compare it to saying your pin number out loud while standing at an ATM machine. I hope this sheds a little light on the benefits of using SSH over telnet. I will say, telnet is nice for a quick connection, especially for configuring routers when you aren't connected on a network. |