User's Manual
Chapter 4: Network Management 27
Help Protect Your Network from Computer Viruses
To avoid having a problem with viruses on your network, consider the following
suggestions:
O
Install an antivirus program on each computer on your network and use
it regularly to check your computers for viruses. Remember to update the
antivirus program on a regular basis.
O
Learn the common signs of viruses: unusual messages that appear on your
screen, decreased system performance, missing data, and inability to access
your hard drive. If you notice any of these problems on your computer, run your
antivirus program immediately to minimize the chances of losing data.
O
Educate yourself about how viruses are commonly spread so that you do not
spread one yourself:
O
Do not load a program from an untrusted source onto one of your network
computers. Files from the Internet or online bulletin boards are particularly
risky.
O
Never open attachments to e-mail messages that you are not expecting.
O
Use your antivirus software to scan all oppy disks before copying or opening
les from them, or before starting your computer from them.
Help Protect Your Network from Hackers
If you have not already done so, consider purchasing the Microsoft Broadband
Networking Wireless Base Station (sold separately) to establish a security layer
between your networked computers and the Internet. The Microsoft Wireless Base
Station provides network address translation (NAT) and a rewall to help secure
your system from hacker attacks over the Internet.
NAT hides the Internet protocol (IP) addresses of the computers on a network
from the Internet so that only the base station IP address is visible. Without the IP
address, it is more difcult for hackers to access the computers on your network.
The rewall species what information can be communicated from the computers
on your network to the Internet, and from the Internet to the computers on your
network. Like an actual rewall built to prevent re from spreading between
adjoining buildings, computer rewalls help prevent the spread of unauthorized
communication between an individual computer or group of networked computers
and the Internet.
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