It's a Wonderful Life : The Sequel. Viruses and the modern day Mr. Potter.

A short blog today! It's a Wonderful Life is a 1940s Frank Capra film starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. If you missed this movie when it first came out - as did I - you may want to catch it! Why? It may help you, when things are looking bleak. So even if you haven't seen this superb movie yet, read on, because what I have to say today is all about your computer and the modern virus!

The world of today has changed drastically since the 1940s, but some things stay the same with regard to villains and heroes. In the movie, there is a villain named Mr. Potter. If I may, I will compare Mr. Potter aka really evil villain to the modern virus. So what is a virus? Viruses are parasites that tend to do bad things. If you or I get a virus, we may need to go to the doctor who will prescribe some medicine or be forced to - ouch - give us a shot. 

As I had mentioned, the villain in the 40's movie It's a Wonderful Life is named Mr. Potter. Mr. Potter is a heartless, greedy, cold, selfish villain motivated by money and greed. Fast- forward 68 years and Mr. Potter has only replicated himself and morphed into about a gazillion or so viruses percolating in the wild of our 21st century digital landscape! What does this mean to you and to me? It means that we are very wise if we guard against the likes of the super villain of today.

Today the super villain is lurking in our email, favorite website, or application disguised as either an enticing email attachment, innocent link/ad, or free downloadable program. If the modern day Frank Capra were to do a cast calling for It's a Wonderful Life: The sequel, he may be inundated by auditions from the likes of "Melissa "(virus), "I Love You"(virus - caused about 10 billion in damages), Klez (virus) and many many more. Please, say it isn't so - Lionel Barrymore move over!

Running short on time today! In my next blog I will dig down deeper into a discussion about virus threats to your computer and how the modern day Mr. Potter (wicked & souless) virus can invade your Wonderful Life!