“It turns out that your computer keyboard could put a host of potentially harmful bacteria — including E. coli and staph — quite literally at your fingertips.

Sure, it may sound like a hypochondriac’s excuse to stay away from the office. But a growing body of research suggests that computer mice and keyboards are, in fact, prime real estate for germs.

It’s a phenomenon most recently illustrated by tests at a typical office environment in the United Kingdom. A consumer advocacy group commissioned the tests in which British microbiologist James Francis took a swab to 33 keyboards, a toilet seat and a toilet door handle at the publication’s London office in January.

Francis then tested the swabs to see what nasty germs he managed to pick up. He found that four of the keyboards tested were potential health hazards — and one had levels of germs five times higher than that found on the toilet seat.

While the results of this simple test cannot necessarily be applied to the rest of the computer keyboards in the United Kingdom — or in this country, for that matter — the findings are in line with a considerable body of research suggesting that our daily routines put us in near constant contact with potentially dangerous germs. (more…)

Consider this: Before students attend school they must be immunized against several diseases that they could otherwise contract from other students. Likewise, before computers are connected to a network they must be immunized against computer viruses, spyware, and adware that can infect other computers.

College Computers

Desktop computers are configured by the Information Technology Services (ITS) Department to be protected against computer viruses, spyware, and adware. It’s strongly advised to avoid downloading inoffensive looking programs from the internet. Many of these programs are bundled with computer viruses, spyware, and/or malware. Please be aware that if your computer becomes infected, ITS will have to quarantine and service the desktop computer. You may be left with out a computer for a few days as we attempt to disinfect it. (more…)

Facts and Myths about Computer Viruses
—Technology Training Center—

When dealing with computer viruses, it’s important to remember that they are software. That means:

• Viruses can do anything other software can do:
• Viruses can delete files.
• Viruses can format hard drives or scramble the data on them.
• Viruses could (in theory) communicate over a network.
• Viruses cannot do anything impossible for other software
• Viruses cannot damage your CPU.
• Viruses cannot physically destroy your hard disk, although they can scramble the data on them.
• Viruses cannot destroy your computer’s RAM.
• Viruses cannot cause your computer system to explode.

People intentionally write computer viruses, they do not appear spontaneously. They are not accidental mutations of “normal” software. (more…)