Computers 101: Protect Your Computer Against Viruses
The threat of a computer virus did not cause much pandemic of fear in the early days of the domestication of computers; after all, the internet was not as widely used as it is today. As more and more people are using the internet virus attacks are a very common and the number of people losing their machines to these attacks is still on the rise.
If you are asking yourself the reason for this unfortunate state that internet users face every day, there is no better answer than the advent of high speed internet. Most people in North America and other industrialized countries use high speed internet access, allowing people to go to a vast amount of sites quicker. Sadly, this also allows to unauthorized download finish quicker.
When the only form of internet access people had was dial up it would often take several minutes to download a small file. Any viruses or software trying to forcefully download themselves could be seen, and in some cases stopped. As download speeds increased it became almost impossible to stop an unwanted download. This led companies to develop pop up blockers and spam blockers to combat these threats.
High speed internet isn’t the only culprit for this universal problem: it has also to do with the delivery medium. Viruses and malicious software were made and developed by people who extremely dislike certain operating system manufacturers. Some just enjoy making programs to give other people problems. The main threat of this is the evolution from destruction to identity theft. This is usually perpetrated by spywares infiltrating your system and monitoring your keystrokes.
Site names and passwords are being recorded, the collected data is sent to its creators. The information is used for identity theft for related crimes. This can be prevented with the installation of an antivirus software suite. It also helps to have antispyware, adware, and malware programs installed for a full range of protection. There are programs that you can download on the internet for free, though they are legitimate and easy to use, paid suites have all programs in one.
Some people might not want to purchase paid antivirus suites because of the cost. However, when you compare the $80.00 USD for the program suite to the $400.00 USD it would cost you to have your computer restored, the choice is not difficult to make. Even using legitimate programs that you can download for free help you in protecting your computer. These programs can be identified by the ratings they receive on websites and review articles.
These days, protecting your computer is becoming a full time job. Threats from viruses, spyware, adware, malware, pop ups, spam, and a host of other problems are lurking in every corner on cyberspace. Luckily there are ways to protect your machine and yourself from frustration. Always keep in mind to practice safe internet browsing when surfing the web.
This consists of not clicking on suspicious links, and not opening fishy emails. Make sure to have a firewall if you use high speed internet. Often the built in firewall of your operating system just isn’t good enough to protect you. Last but not least, remember to back up your important data every week just in case.
Dorthy Weatherbush keeps her computer healthy and in good working order by using Webroot. She gets anti-virus software, spy sweeper and much more with Webroot so she doesn’t worry about her computer getting swine flu!
