| VBS | The usual file extension for VBScript files. Do not open any E-mail Attachment that ends in .VBS or .vbs - it is almost certainly a Virus. |
| VBScript | A language for manipulating Web Pages (mainly), rather like JScript, except that this one only works properly in Microsoft Browsers, so really should only be used on Intranets, not on the Internet. VBScript is closely related to ActiveX. Beware any E-mail Attachment that ends in ".vbs" - it is probably a Virus. |
| Virus | Nasty, small computer programs written by nasty, small-minded people, usually working for international criminal organisations. Viruses deliberately replicate themselves and usually exist to cause something unwanted to happen on your computer. The unwanted bit is known as the "payload", and the method of attack is called an "exploit", because they exploit loopholes. The payload may not be aimed at the infected computer at all - it may for example be part of an orchestrated attack on a Web Site as part of an extortion racket. Windows computers are particularly vulnerable to virus attacks. This is partly because there are so many Windows computers, partly because all the versions of Windows are so full of loopholes, and partly because so many Windows users are wantonly ignorant and/or negligent about taking precautions against virus attacks. Viruses are not a new problem that appeared a couple of years ago: viruses have been around for at least 15 years. The rise of the Internet, and particularly the demand for porn and E-mail, has made life much easier, more fun and much more lucrative for virus writers, thus attracting the interest of criminal gangs. The best way to get a virus, assuming that you've uninstalled or disabled both your up-to-date Anti-Virus and your sensibly-configured Firewall, is to open a Hotmail e-mail account, go to lots of dodgy Web sites and Newsgroups, give out your e-mail address as if it's going out of fashion and then just sit back and wait for all the junk mail to come pouring in. Once you've got a few junk e-mails ("Spam"), click on all the "click here to unsubscribe" links to make sure you get a ton more, then devote yourself to opening all of the attachments that came with the junk mails. Doing all that should ensure that you get infected by a wide selection of viruses in a short space of time... Doing the opposite of all these things will go a long way towards keeping you safe. Sophos is LGfL's official anti-virus supplier and their Web Site has several help sheets for teachers and school use. |
| Virus Checker | (or Virus Scanner) An alternative name for Anti-Virus Software. |
| VPN | Virtual Private Network - A means of using the public Internet as a secure, private Network, for example to connect remote offices without going to the expense of a private leased line. The recent increased availability and fall in price of DSL ("Broadband") in the UK has made this much more attractive to businesses that want to connect homeworkers or small branch offices to their main network. |
| VRML | Virtual Reality Modeling Language - A text-based computer language for describing theoretical 3-D worlds called "virtual realities". VRML is an ISO standard and was designed with the Web in mind. Viewing a VRML world requires a special Application or a Plug-In for a Browser. Hundreds of virtual worlds already exist on the Internet, many of which can be explored for free. Some encourage visitors to add to the world. Each visitor in a virtual world appears as an "Avatar". |