 |
|
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Virus Risk Levels |
|||||||
|
Risk Level |
Threat Description |
||||||
|
Category 5 - Very Severe
|
Highly dangerous threat type,
very difficult to contain. All machines should download the latest virus
definitions immediately and execute a scan. Email servers may need to come
down. All three threat metrics must be High.
|
||||||
|
Category 4 - Severe
|
Dangerous threat type, difficult
to contain. The latest virus definitions should be downloaded immediately
and deployed.
|
||||||
|
Category 3 - Moderate
|
Threat type characterized either
as highly wild (but reasonably harmless and containable) or potentially
dangerous (and uncontainable) if released into the wild.
|
||||||
|
Category 2 - Low
|
Threat type characterized either
as low or moderate wild threat (but reasonably harmless and containable)
or non-wild threat characterized by an unusual damage or spread routine,
or perhaps by some feature of the virus that makes headlines in the news.
|
||||||
|
Category 1 - Very Low
|
Poses little threat to users.
Rarely even makes headlines. No reports in the wild.
|
||||||
For a complete list of known viruses and an expanded view of virus threats Click Here.
Virus Removal Tools
If you have determined that your computer has been infected by a particular virus, Symantec, the makers of Norton AntiVirus, provide a number of tools for repairing your infected PC. Click here for a list.
Virus Hoaxes
Although there are thousands of viruses discovered each year, there are still some that only exist in the imaginations of the public and the press. Although you may think that passing along information can do no harm, it still tends to mislead and frighten people. Some hoaxes have been crafted so well as to cause individuals to reformat their hard drives or pay for expensive, needless repairs.
It has been my experience that well over 90% of the messages that I receive regarding Viruses from individuals, not in the Computer Industry, turn out to be Hoaxes. Please verify any messages regarding "virus threats" before passing them along.
Passing on messages about these hoaxes only serves to further propagate them. If you receive such messages, please take just a little time to verify that the information is correct before passing it along. For the latest list of viruses that DO NOT EXIST, despite rumor, Click Here.
|
