How Serious are Viruses?

It's important to keep viruses in perspective. There are many other threats to your programs and data that are much more likely to harm you than viruses. A well known anti-virus researcher once said that you have more to fear from a cup of coffee (which may spill) than from viruses. While the growth in number of viruses and introduction of the Microsoft Word macro viruses and VisualBasic Script worms now puts this statement into question (even though you can avoid these by just not clicking on them to open them!), it's still clear that there are many dangerous occurrences of data corruption from causes other than from viruses.

So, does this mean that viruses are nothing to worry about? Emphatically, no! It just means that it's foolish to spend much money and time on addressing the threat of viruses if you've done nothing about the other more likely threats to your files. Because viruses and worms are deliberately written to invade and possibly damage your PC, they are the most difficult threat to guard against. It's pretty easy to understand the threat that disk failure represents and what to do about it (although surprisingly few people even address this threat). The threat of viruses is really no different; lost concentration or a zero-day attack can give you the same kind of problem a lost hard drive can. There are no "cures" for the virus problem. One just has to take protective steps with anti-virus software and use common sense when dealing with unknown files.

Summary

• While viruses are a serious threat, there are other, probably more serious, threats to your data.
• If you have not taken precautions (e.g., regular backup) against general threats you have not properly protected your computer.