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John, you don't sound like Bill Gates, but we sometimes confuse you with him because of the technical empire you are creating and the wealth in the bank and all.
Let me chime in and agree about the software. We use Norton also, but as these guys have said, its only as good as its most recent virus definition update. I have users that have machines at home and they have antivirus software and think they're safe, but they never update the virus definitions. I don't know about the retail version, but our Norton liscenses include a year's subscription to their LiveUpdate feature, which can be set to automatically update the definitions daily, weekly, or monthly. Trick is, you have to be online at the scheduled update for it to connect to the Symantec servers and download the new info. I don't think it can be configured to connect as soon as an internet connection is opened, but I could be wrong. We're always connected so I haven't explored that at all.
It only recognizes existing viruses, so it can be beaten, but Symantec gets on those pretty darn quick.
Most viruses come in emails as attachments. If you are ever unsure of the origin of an email and it has an .exe file attached, I'd trash it. Problem is, some of these viruses are sent unknowingly by people you do know. The "I Love You" virus replicated itself by going into Outlook address books and sending itself to all addresses listed.
As far as the hacking goes (or cracking), John is the network guru, I don't know much about firewalls, etc. That may be a bit over the top, but you are running a business and I don't know how much important stuff you may have on your machine.
And always back up your important data... as far as how often to back up. Look at it from the point of view of how much info are you comfortable losing. A virus can wipe you out, but so can a power surge (even thru a surge protector) or hardware failure.
Hope this contributed... later.
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