If you have received emails with the subject "Re: Details", "Re: Approved", "Re: Thank You!", "Re: That movie" and other similar with an attachment, you have most likely received an email with the SoBig Worm. With 6 variations of the worm (A through F) as well as a slew of new viruses appearing on the Internet "daily" (click here for Symantec's Threat List), the anti-virus companies such as Symantec and McAfee have been working around the clock to create virus removal tools to help combat the evil wrath of virus developers such as Jeffrey Lee Parsons. Parsons, 18, was arrested by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for designing and distributing the second variant of the Blaster worm.

Although this criminal was brought to justice, there are many virus developers, especially those from third-world nations that never face charges. The Blaster worm and others like it are thought to be authored by novice programmers rather than professionals, that's why it's no surprise that the suspects are usually teenagers. With these facts, it's a mystery why Internet users don't frequently update their computers with the most up to date patches. The vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows platform exploited by the SoBig worm for example, was discovered and corrected 6 months before the first variant of the virus was released. So why did it spread so far and so fast?

First thing you are going to want to do to stay safe is purchase an Anti-Virus program if you do not have one already. If you already have an Anti-Virus program, make sure to keep the subscription up to date because with our luck, as soon as the subscription is up, a new virus will infect our machines! There are some nifty online tools that can also help, such as PC Pitstop. There you will find PC Tune Up which analyses your machine and provides you with a full report on not only viruses but almost all computer performance issues such as spyware, adware, disk space, memory and many of the other issues that slow down the performance of your computer.

Either way, stay on top of your Anti-Virus (AV) software. The few dollars you spend on it each year will save you hundreds if your machine or your network for that matter crash because of a virus. Think of it as insurance for your PC, don't operate your computer without it.