The netsky virus is one of the most prolific viruses on the Internet today, with millions of computer owners across the globe having been infected by this worm. It is actually a variety of different bugs, all of which belong to the same family of code. Because of the high risk of damage the bugs carry, keeping a computer free of netsky worms is an important step that all computer owners should be prepared to take.
Viruses spread in a variety of different ways, but the netsky code family is distributed via email. When a computer owner is compromised, the worm will mass message all of the addresses available in the contacts of the user in question. This in turn results in the virus being distributed to increasing numbers of individuals, spreading like wildlife without the knowledge of the computer’s owner. The worms affect Microsoft NT and Windows-based computers.
Email messages that contain an attachment with a netsky worm most can look as if they have been sent from any wide variety of different individuals, but they often contain the name of a friend or acquaintance with a compromised computer. This greatly increases the risk of infection, as many computer users don’t think twice about opening attachments from friends and acquaintances. For this reason, it is important to be able to identify an email that carries the netsky worm.
Netsky messages generally have a very short subject line, which may be a question or comment that entices the reader to open the message at hand. The message itself is generally quite short as well, and the attachment can have a variety of different names. Because there are so many different variants of the virus in circulation, it is difficult to track the nestky virus. Computer owners should also be aware that the possibility of spreading the virus is not solely limited to the main email distribution method, but P2P networks and shared files have also become prime targets for the proliferating virus.
If a machine has become infected by one of the netsky viruses, there are several different tools available that will help to eradicate the issue as quickly as possible. If the precise names of the applications and tasks the virus is running on the machine are known, these should be terminated through the task manager. Autostart entries will also need to be eliminated from the computer registry. While these specific tools will fix the problem, most computer owners rely on third party software to remove the virus. This is because identification of the problem in action can be difficult for those without extensive knowledge of computer viruses. Fortunately, a variety of easy removal tools are available from the major antivirus companies.
In addition to removing the virus from the machine, PC owners should look to prevent the virus from occurring once again. Critical patches are available from Windows for applications like Internet Explorer, which have been targeted by the worm. Making certain that your computer is running the latest versions of all available software is a great way to guarantee you are protected as you browse online.
