Lets be frank. Anyone who does not take immediate steps to protect their computer from viruses is really not very smart. While some people nay think that I am paranoid, it is really only common sense to protect your valuable equipment and data. Even huge corporations such as Microsoft suffer attacks from viruses and spyware.
In what we refer to as the “good old days”, prior to the Internet and downloadable programs, computer viruses were little more than an annoyance transmitted by floppy disks. They were relatively easy to find compared to the sophisticated types of today. The antivirus software of that time was typically able to identify and eradicate viruses before they caused too much damage.
The Internet helped change all that. The Internet provided a conduit by which viruses could move from host to host with lightening speed. No longer could a computer user just worry about floppy disks as points of entry, but they now had to worry about email, email attachments, peer-to-peer file sharing, instant messaging, and software downloads. Today’s viruses can attack through multiple entry points, spread without human intervention, and take full advantage of vulnerabilities within a system or program. With technology advancing everyday, and the convergence of computers with other mobile devices, the potential of new types of threats also increase.
Luckily, the advancement of antivirus software has kept pace with current virus threats. Antivirus software is essential to a computer’s ability to fend off viruses and other malicious programs. These products are designed to protect against the ability of a virus to enter a computer through email, web browsers, file servers and desktops. Additionally, these programs offer a centralized control feature that handle deployment, configuration and updating. A computer user should remain diligent and follow a few simple steps to protect against the threat of a virus:
It is important for all of us to investigate our current computer security system. With the threat of a new breed of viruses able to destroy data in a number of different ways, the old approach of having a single antivirus software system is now out of date. You need to be confident that you have protected all aspects of your computer system from the desktop to the network, and also from the gateway to the server. It may be necessary for you to consider a more comprehensive security system which includes a number of features such as antivirus, firewall, content filtering, and of course intrusion detection. A set up such as this should make it more difficult for spyware of any type to infect your computer. When considering the type of antivirus software respected group.
Because new viruses erupt daily, it is important that you regularly update your antivirus software. Become familiar with the software’s real-time scan feature and configure it to start automatically each time you boot your computer. This will protect your system by automatically checking your computer each time it is powered up. Make it a habit to always scan all new programs or files no matter from where they originate. Exercise caution when opening binary, Word, or Excel documents of unknown sources especially if they were received during an online chat or as an attachment to an email. Perform regular backups in case your system is corrupted. It may be the only way to recover your data if infected.
There are many brands of antivirus software on offer. With a little research, you should be able to select the program that is right for you. Many of these programs offer a trial period whcan be an advantage as you can “try before you buy”. However, you should be aware that some anti-virus programs can be difficult to uninstallfrom your computer if you no longer require them, so set up what is known as a system restore point prior to installing any anti-spyware system.
Check out the Spyware Anti Virus Treatments at the respected Antivirus Spyware Review Web Site
July 13th, 2010
Antony Wilton
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