Number of users affected: millions – up to 25% of all emails sent at its peak
MydoomĮstimated damages: $38 billion (inflation adjusted to $52.2 billion) Here are five major viruses that could have been stopped by a firewall: #1. For example, if you accidentally click on a phishing email attachment and malicious code immediately (or worse – secretly) starts to initiate a download, your firewall will alert you and prevent that download traffic from proceeding. While they don’t directly find and clean viruses – that’s what antivirus is for – they can protect your system from being exploited by the effects of an active virus. They watch incoming and outcoming traffic for suspicious activity. The stakes are high, so it’s important to be on your guard and secure your network.įirewalls are an essential partner for antivirus software.
Today, malware coders are often organized criminals, sometimes even working directly for a foreign government or intelligence agency. Once upon a time, the hackers who wrote viruses were amateurs playing pranks, just to prove their abilities. Once inside your computers and devices, they can control programs, corrupt files and even permanently shut down your hardware.
They keep systems from functioning normally and they replicate relentlessly. Computer viruses are code written to steal and destroy.
