Innocent until proven guilty? (when it comes to computer virus
protection)
This is not a good approach to dealing
with Microsoft Office documents that appear in your e-mail Inbox.
Instead, unless you specifically know
that the file is coming, you should handle every
unsolicited Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel file you receive in
your e-mail Inbox as suspicious, even if the file comes from
someone you know.
Computer viruses can be very expensive
to clean up once they’ve infiltrated your company. We’ll look at
antivirus software and best practices in more detail in Chapter
8.
But for now you should at least know that any
Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel file that’s e-mailed to you that
you weren’t expecting, no matter who it’s from (even from a
boss, spouse or computer consultant), should be looked at with a strong
degree of virus containment skepticism.
Third-Party Assistance with Computer Virus Protection
In addition to keeping your third-party
antivirus software up to date daily or weekly, Microsoft provides
many Microsoft Office-specific security patches that, among other
things, help to protect you from viruses.
Microsoft Assistance with Computer Virus Protection
The Microsoft Office Product Updates Web page offers an easy way to
keep up with the latest Microsoft Office patches, enhancements and
service releases.
Computer Virus Protection Action Items
Are your employees trained on how to deal
with unsolicited Microsoft Office file attachments that land in
their e-mail Inboxes?
Do you use the Microsoft Office Product
Updates page to keep your Microsoft Office installations up to date
with the latest patches, enhancements and service releases?
Does every desktop PC, notebook and server in your office have
regularly updated third-party antivirus software installed and
properly configured?
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