I think the newest worms are called "sobig" and "mydoom." My favorite has always been Melissa. For a long time I ignored the warnings, confident in my invulnerability. I thought, "It can't happen to me."
But then it did. One day I was happily writing an email and I noticed that my email signature was no longer being attached to my messages, but I hadn't made any changes to my settings. I messed with all my preferences, searched for errors and cussed. Then I realized I'd been infected.
I was relatively new to the Internet and computers. I didn't know how to even find a virus, let alone try and remove it from my sickened system.
I did a some searching and found myself at the
McAfee
website. At that time they let me try their service for free and
I scanned my system. They found that nasty virus and showed me how
to get rid of it. I only wasted one day. I thought, "Now
that I am clean, I will be careful."
Sure. Then I found out how I got it. I was signed up for an antiques and collectibles email discussion list, and members posted messages quite a bit. This poor woman from Iowa had infected us all. After she realized she was infected, she quickly wrote to the list to apologize for infecting all of us. The only problem was, she was still a carrier and infected me again. Sheesh. At least I knew how to fix it.
I decided it was time to get some protection. I went ahead and spent the money and signed up for the McAfee service. (It's only $35 for a year) I got emails for the next week from other list members who were also spreading the virus, but my new software immediately detected them and alerted me to the danger. I've been a member ever since and have stayed clean.
What I like about their product is they are constantly updating it. As new viruses are being created, they develop ways of preventing them. It automatically updates itself on my computer, usually once or twice a week.
Now I can ignore these warnings with confidence, kinda. Can you?