Because of this, users may use an infected computer for some time before realizing that a virus is present. All UNT microcomputers should employ virus protection software to protect against damage from viruses. UNT has a site license for McAfee Virus Protection software, which works on IBM-compatible microcomputers. This software package must be updated regularly to be effective. To learn about viruses or for additional information, please refer to UNT's Virus Information Page .
Crackers are the ones which break into systems and vandalize.
Frequently, experienced crackers will attempt to gain access to a number of systems at once so that their activities are harder to trace. Especially challenging is the fact that crackers invent programs that do their dirty work automatically, and they share these programs with other crackers. A cracker might start a program that searches every system on the Internet for a particular security hole. When the program discovers a machine with that hole, it connects to the machine and downloads all the passwords, and then it proceeds to check other machines. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of time to keep up with this information and apply all of the appropriate patches.