Real-Life Communication
In order to be a successful e-mail administrator, you'll need good communication skills. Chris Earing is an e-mail administrator. "You will be dealing with the public on a regular basis. If you don't like the public, then you aren't going to like this field," he says.
A new virus seems to be popping up every week. Although it has not affected anybody in your company yet, there's a bit of confusion and concern. Your boss has asked you to "educate" others on this topic.
In response, you decide to write a brief article addressing some of the concerns. This will give employees something to which they can refer.
Read over the article and see if you can answer questions.
Virus Prevention
You already know that a computer virus is a program that can spread from one computer to another and infect hard drives. But do you know how to prevent your computer from receiving a virus?
While you may not be able to stop a virus in all cases, if you follow a few simple steps, you will help reduce the chances that your computer will be infected.
While a virus can't be spread through an e-mail, it can be spread through a file attachment. If you receive a suspicious file attachment (i.e. from someone you don't know), don't open it. The best action would be to delete it. Better safe than sorry!
Another preventive step is to be careful when you download files from the Internet. Don't download from a questionable source, such as a newsgroup. If you do download files online, always scan them for viruses before you use them.
Don't boot up your computer with a floppy disk inserted in the disk drive, unless you are sure the disk is "clean." A floppy disk can include a virus, and once it is executed, that virus can infect your hard drive.
Answer the following questions with complete sentences:
- Is it possible to be 100 percent risk free from a computer virus?
- What should you do if you receive an e-mail with a file attachment from an unknown source?
- How can you protect yourself when downloading files from the Internet?
- You find a floppy disk in the school library. It's not marked and nobody claims it. You want to take it home and use it to store data. Why is this not such a good idea?