Protecting your computer from a virus is getting harder and harder each day. While it may border on the paranoid, it goes without saying that you can’t leave your guard down for one second. Even corporate giant Microsoft has found its own systems compromised on more than one occasion.

Remember the “good old days”, before the advent of the Internet and downloadable programs? Life was simple then in terms of computer viruses. With the primary way in which a virus could be transmitted being limited to floppy disks, the ability to catch and eradicate the virus was a lot easier. By today’s standards, it used to take quite a while before a virus was able to infect a computer and slow down the system. The antivirus software of that time was typically able to identify and eradicate viruses before they caused too much damage. Additionally, computer users were pretty savvy on how to protect themselves in terms of scanning all floppy disks before copying them to our desktop.

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.

Protecting Your Computer

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:

1. Evaluate your current computer security system.

With the threat of a new generation of viruses able to attack in a multitude of ways, the approach of having just one antivirus software version has become outdated. You need to be confident that you have protected all aspects of your computer system from the desktop to the network, and from the gateway to the server. Consider a more comprehensive security system which includes several features including antivirus, firewall, content filtering, and intrusion detection. This type of system will make it more difficult for the virus to penetrate your system.

2. Only install antivirus software created by a well-known, reputable company.

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.

3. Make it a habit to always scan all new programs or files no matter from where they originate.

4. 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.

5. Perform regular backups in case your system is corrupted. It may be the only way to recover your data if infected.

Recommended Antivirus Software

There are numerous applications available to consumers. With a little research, you can pick the program that is right for you. Many programs provide a trial version which allows you to download the program and test its abilities. However, be aware that some anti-virus programs can be difficult to uninstall. As a precaution make sure to set up a System Restore point before installing.

Here are a few programs which typically receive high marks in terms of cost, effectiveness, ease of use, and customer service.

The Shield Pro 2005 provides virus protection and hacker security through ongoing support and updates. When a virus breaks out, The Shield Pro 2005 promises to provide a patch within 2-3 hours and a fix for the virus within 5 hours. You can set your computer to update viruses weekly and run a complete virus scan.

BitDefender 9 Standard provides antivirus protection, as well as Peer-2-Peer Applications protection, full email protection, and heuristics in a virtual environment. This provides a new security layer that keeps the operating system safe from unknown viruses by detecting malicious pieces of code for which signatures have not been released yet.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal 5.0 program is simple to install and use. The user only needs to choose from three levels of protection. It allows updates as frequently as every hour while promising not to disrupt your computer. The program also offers a two-tier email protection feature and round-the-clock technical support.

PC-cillin Internet Security combines antivirus security and a personal firewall—for comprehensive protection against viruses, worms, Trojans, and hackers. It also detects and removes spyware and blocks spam. It even guards against identity theft by blocking phishing and pharming attacks.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is a free downloadable antivirus program that has received high marks for its reliability. In the past, free downloadable antivirus programs have been viewed skeptically because of issues relating to its reliability. However, AVG from Grisoft, remains one of the best-known free anti-virus programs available. While AVG can not be installed on a server operating system and there is no technical support, it still makes a good choice for many home computer users. The best part is that since it is free, you can try it with no further obligation necessary.

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It’s a dangerous internet out their kids. There are many unscrupulous individuals who work hard every second of their waking lives to destroy your computer, erase your hard drive and steal your bank details (you better lock up your daughters too).

What can you do to combat these nefarious evildoers? If you have a computer, and I presume you do, there are two things you must have in your armory. They are: a virus scanner and a firewall. These two items are you sword and shield in the ongoing battle of good against evil. But, how do you use them to protect yourself?

First things first, if you don’t have a firewall, go get one. There are many free ones out there that will do the job. Make sure the one you get can block both incoming and outgoing connections from your computer. If you are unfortunate enough to receive a piece of software which is up to no good on your system, the firewall will alert you when it tries to use the internet to contact it’s mother ship. If you are ever in doubt about the aims of software when they’re trying to access the internet, just block them, you can always unblock later when your web browser stops working.

The sword will be our trusty virus scanner. Once again, there are many free ones around that will do quite nicely. They will sit there on your machine, tirelessly scanning your storage areas for nasty bits of code you may not know about, but are there to cause mayhem and untold damage. When found, the scanner will work magic to delete the infected items and remove the source before the damage becomes too great.

Another tool that virus-free knight shouldn’t be without is the spyware scanner. This handy utility can be fired up once a week to perform a scan to check whether any devious miscreants have slipped through and are ruining our web viewing experience with annoying pop-ups.

So, you see, it’s quite easy to protect yourself. There are decent programs out there, produced by people in shiny castles, which will help you sleep at night. And, best of all, they’re so cheap they’re free!

If you’ve never been the victim of a computer virus, you may think that all of the uproar over these nasty little programs is making much ado out of nothing. You may even be thinking that computer security experts and anti-virus companies are using scare tactics to sell anti-virus software. After all, the bigger the problem, the more software people buy. Today, the anti-virus business is worth several billion dollars and it shows no sign of slowing down.

So, with all of this money at risk, you are certainly justified in wondering whether computer viruses really are as big a problem as the industry says they are.

Unfortunately, the answer is that they absolutely are. If you get a virus, you could actually lose your money, your identity and your computer’s hard drive. With new viruses being developed constantly, the problem continues to grow. While many viruses are more annoying than destructive, even a “harmless” virus can use up valuable resources. The worst viruses can spread worldwide in a few days and wreak unbelievable havoc. The damage from one infamous virus can mean billions of dollars in lost business opportunities and damaged equipment.

With all of this bad news, is there any good news for computer users? Take this quick risk quiz:

1. Does your computer have antivirus software installed on it?

If you can say yes, you are much less a risk than people that don’t have antivirus software. If you say no, than it is only a matter of time until you find out about viruses personally.

2. Does your computer have a firewall installed on it?

If your response is yes again, you can relax a bit. You’re doing all you can do software wise to keep your computer safe from a deadly virus. If you say no again, you are leaving your computer wide open for an attack.

Despite all of the media attention paid to antivirus software, people still have the “It can’t happen to me.” mentality. They laugh off warnings to protect their computers and say that they are working just fine. They think that because they never actually initiate a file download or send and receive files with friends, they are safe. A few months go by and suddenly they can’t get their computers to boot up forever and then when they finally do start, they plod along at a snail’s pace.

To make things worse, quite a few of these computer users who leave their computers unprotected are actually taking classes for computer related careers. They are completely at sea when they have to try to repair the damage caused by a virus filled computer. Perhaps a basic class on computer care and repair is in order!

You are probably wondering how viruses develop anyway. Hackers are the people creating these nasty bugs, right? Actually, while some hackers may decide to create computer viruses, most of them spend all of their waking hours attempting to break in to the most secure and top secret systems they can find. People who write viruses are people with an ax to grind. They want to send a wake up message or show people that they are superior to them. Today, many people are concerned that computer viruses could be used as a terrorist weapon.

If you do get a computer virus, will you lose everything on your hard drive? It actually is rare for this type of virus to spread very fast or far. Annoying viruses that stop you from starting your computer or using windows or those that mail spoof emails to your entire email address book are much more common. The hard drive is usually recoverable when the computer has one of these viruses.

What about your financial and personal information? Are viruses really likely to swipe them from the computer. Absolutely. This is a common reason that viruses are created and spread.

Is there any way to keep your computer virus free? While no anti-virus software is foolproof, installing one of these programs can provide some protection. While there are anti-virus software programs that provide better protection, any of them will help somewhat. Even free anti-virus programs are actually able to ward off at least some viruses.

After reading this information on viruses and anti-virus software, you have probably resolved to get protection for your computer right away. If so, you won’t be sorry. Dealing with viruses after you are infected is frustrating and time consuming. It is so much easier to keep a disaster from happening instead of trying to reconstruct a ton of missing data and worry about identity or financial thefts after the fact.

Whether you run anti-virus and anti-spyware or not, your computer can still be infected. This is due to the ever evolving nature of the internet allowing new innovations for good and bad. Now that your computer is infected, what can you do?

There are several things you can do. One of them would be to format your had drive. This is the most time consuming and costly method. You will lose all your files and it will take you a very long time to re-install all your programs. This path should only be taken if there is no other course of action available, and if there is a deep infection.

If the infection is less severe there are several things you can do. You can clean up your hard drive with anti-virus and anti-spyware software. There are many free programs out there that will do the job.

Once you have these programs you need to run a scan to determine where the infection is. Once the infection is located there are one of two things you can do. You can either quarantine the infection, or you can delete it completely. Deleting it would be the more effective option as it ensures you don’t accidently use the file again. An important part of running these programs is keeping them upto-date. They need to be updated regularly to be able to combat the new viruses and spyware that pop-up on a daily basis.
A boot-time scan is recommended as a good course of action to remove your infection. Should you continue to experience slower PC speeds, you could try using a virus scanner to not only scan your hard drive, but prevent your PC from getting more spyware.

Usually with spyware, once you have even a few files infected, they spread like a virus and attempt to propogate themselves. It’s important you have a virus scanner to not only delete old spyware, but prevent new spyware from popping up. Avast is great for this.

Keeping your computer 100% free from viruses and spy-ware is difficult but following the procedures above you can continue to enjoy the use of your computer.

Also, unlike viruses that most commonly infect an individual computer, the worms usually attack a computer network. A computer network functions by using a collection of servers and routers. This is what the internet is comprised of. A server is like a PC but has more speed and storage and a router is a server with specialized functions, it directs traffic through the network.
PC Security – Worm Viruses, Deadliest of All

A virus attacks the unit used to run programs on the computer called the central processing unit or CPU for short. It does this by running programs and being constantly busy, so that none of the functions you select can be opened. Similarly, this is how a worm functions on a network. The routers rely on memory and processing time (similar to the CPU functions). These are attacked and as a result the network drastically slows down.

Worms carry payloads which are comprised of other types of malware, backdoor installations or spyware. Spyware is a monitoring program that can keep an eye on activities on your computer and backdoor programs set up hidden access points used by hackers to steal your information or send spam.

“My Doom” sent out at the beginning of 2004, was the fastest spreading worm to date. The worm came in the form of an email with the message “andy; I’m just doing my job, nothing personal, sorry.”

Although the culprit was never found, its intended victim is thought to have been a software company called Santa Cruz Operation or SCO for short.

When a person opened this email, the worm was programmed to overwhelm SCO’s website with traffic. The worm spread through the internet and caused a massive slow down.

For the individual computer, the worm’s payload is more serious because it allows ports to be opened on the computer where hackers have access to steal or delete information. In addition, a payload may come with a program to attack your antivirus software and disable it.

De worming

Using firewalls will help protect your computer. Firewalls reduce traffic and “hide” your computer. In this state, you are less likely to be attacked by worms spread over the network.

Be careful not to open suspicious emails and if you don’t know the person or get and unexpected email don’t open it. If you find your computer is slow and reboots by itself or the internet is sluggish, you may have been infected. Try running antivirus software to check it out. If that doesn’t work, try to manually removing the virus. Information as to how this is done can be found on the internet.

For a virus or similar program to have any great impact it needs to be able to spread from one machine to another. They are specifically designed to get access to parts of your computer system that allow for communication with other machines. Below is a discussion of some of the most common methods.

Boot Infectors

Every disk (hard disk, floppy, CD, DVD) contains a boot sector whether it is a bootable disk or not. When a computer is turned on, it looks for boot information. If the computer finds a disk with boot information, it reads that information and uses it to properly start the computer. If for some reason that boot information is infected with a virus, the virus is activated and possibly transferred to the computer’s hard drive (if the infection was on a CD for example).

Once the boot code on the hard drive is infected the virus will be loaded into your computer’s memory every time you start your computer. From memory the boot virus can travel to any and every disk that is put into your computer. This is how the infection spreads.

Most boot viruses could be on a system for a long time without causing problems, simply existing there to spread themselves. Often such viruses are designed to activate their bad behaviour on a specific date (Halloween for example). There are some nasty boot viruses that will destroy the boot information or force a complete format of the hard drive immediately after they get into a computer.

Program Infectors

When an infected application is run the virus activates and is loaded into memory. While the virus is in memory any new program file that you run can become infected. This means that there will be increasingly more applications on your system that are infected. Multiple infections are very common and will certainly cause system problems.

Program files may function without any problems for some time but eventually they will have problems or multiple infections brings the entire computer system down. The data the program produces may be a first sign of infection such as saving files without proper names, or with incorrect/incomplete data being saved.

Viruses of this type are often designed to seek out programs that are used to share information between users/computers such as email applications, screen savers, office document Macros, and self-extracting compressed files.

Through e-mail attachments

Many of the most dangerous viruses are primarily spread through e-mail attachments – files that can be sent along with an e-mail message. In such cases, the user of an infected computer unknowingly attaches an infected file to an email message, and then sends the email to a friend or colleague. When the email is received, the virus is launched when the file attachment is opened, thus infecting a new computer. Email messages with animations, automated greeting cards, jokes, photographs, spreadsheet and document files, all have been documented to contain virus files.

More and more frequently these days mass mailing email worms/viruses are being released. These attacks AUTOMATICALLY scan your computer’s files for any email address it can find and then uses your email application to AUTOMATICALLY send infected messages to any email address found in any file on your computer (not just email message files).

It is important to be aware of the emails that you open to make sure that they do not contain harmful viruses. Even emails from family and friends could have a virus, if that person’s computer is infected. This is where an anti-virus software would be really helpful in detecting if there is a virus in any incoming messages.

Although they often come with cute names like “I Love You” and “Melissa,” the damage that computer viruses can do to your machine and files is anything but adorable.

For years, the security protocol for protecting your computer has been the same:

1. Don’t open e-mail attachments from unknown senders.

2. Install antivirus software.

3. Make backup copies of your files in case they get corrupted.

The problem with most antivirus programs is that they rely on a “virus database” to scan for certain types of code, based on known viruses. Except that the people who create viruses are always coming up with malicious new ways to infect computers-which means that antivirus software needs to be updated regularly to be effective, and that’s only if the software maker has identified the offending code of the latest virus and created a “patch.”

Fortunately, there’s a new kind of virus protection that prevents infection by any sort of virus-and will continue to be effective even as viruses evolve. Known as a “virtual environment,” this sort of technology runs programs and executable files (attachments) in an isolated environment, preventing viruses or malware from harming your computer.

One example of this new generation of antivirus software is Virtual Sandbox from Fortres Grand Corporation. This evolutionary Internet security system uses virtualization technology to isolate and eliminate threats and prevent unauthorized access to personal files, local networks and system settings.

Virtual Sandbox is a desktop security system that takes advantage of virtualization technology, providing the freedom and control to surf the Internet and open e-mail attachments without worrying about viruses and other threats. The program creates an isolated environment on the desktop where access to computer hard disks and personal files is protected, removing the fear of known and unknown threats, including zero-day exploits-viruses that are launched before patches have been developed-that traditional antivirus solutions will never protect against. Unlike traditional antivirus software, it does not degrade system performance with file scanning operations.

It has ended up being progressively usual for spam to consist of malicious programs or software that can be harmful to both your computer system. The objective of these tiny, harmful is to perform unapproved, typically unsafe, actions, when they self-install right into your computer system, as well as infect your programs as well as documents. They are commonly spread by email, in the type of intelligently disguised attachments that fool you into clicking on them.

One of the most usual of these programs are: Viruses, Trojan Steeds, Malware as well as Adware. Understanding what they are as well as just how they function will help you much better shield yourself from harmful spam.

Infections

A is a computer program that is especially produced to replicate itself and also to contaminate a computer system without approval or even understanding of the individual. Viruses can be found in several ranges including:

The Boot Market Infection

This infection will certainly infect the root-most part of your computer system hard disk drive, called the boot market. This is what is used to begin up your computer.

This kind virus can stop your computer from beginning and might even require a hard disk format, creating you to shed all of the information on your computer in one dropped swoop.

The Program Infection

This is an executable file. It becomes energetic when the program it has contaminated is run. When it is activated, it will certainly infect other programs on your disk drive, disabling them.

The Macro Virus

The 3rd type of infection especially targets papers such as Microsoft word. It is activated when the infected document it has infected is run. One activity it might do, for instance, is to get rid of dates in your papers as well as other locations of the computer.

Malware

The term “malware” is brief for destructive software application. It is a kind of program that propagates on your hard disk drive and can create untold troubles when it does so. Malware may install a program that you did not want, or ask for. When it does so, it will consume several of your computer’s system resources, successfully reducing it to a close to dead stop.

Trojan Steed

Much like its Greek namesake, the Trojan equine program is a relatively safe as well as innocuous application or documents, yet it contains damaging, malicious code and also, when mounted, can ruin your computer system. This program often runs undetected, providing the hacker accessibility to your computer system and also, for instance, your personal details such as saved passwords and bank account numbers. The hacker is also able to show messages on your computer system screen.

Adware

While not necessarily malware, however adware can be utilized for malicious purposes. Adware goes above and also beyond what is sensible marketing. It is adware, in fact what has actually given a bad name to some or else extraordinary cost-free software that may really be extremely advantageous to you.

It creates popups or various other annoying advertising that can in truth freeze or secure your computer system. In most cases, the adware is difficult if not difficult for the normal individual to get rid of, disable or perhaps identify.

In addition to presenting advertisements for the original advertiser, adware may log your location online and send out customer details back to the spammy ad company about your computer usage without requesting your approval to do so.

Spam is not always one of the most dangerous thing you will find in your inbox; it is the add-ons that include spam that can really devastate your computer system. It is vital that you do closed add-ons in unrequested e-mail.

It has ended up being increasingly typical for spam to contain malicious programs or software application that can be unsafe to both your computer system. The purpose of these little, harmful is to carry out unapproved, normally dangerous, actions, when they self-install into your computer system, and also contaminate your programs as well as documents. They are commonly spread by e-mail, in the form of intelligently disguised add-ons that trick you right into clicking on them.

The most usual of these programs are: Viruses, Trojan Equines, Malware and Adware. Knowing what they are as well as exactly how they work will certainly aid you much better shield on your own from destructive spam.

Infections

A is a computer program that is particularly created to duplicate itself and to contaminate a computer system without permission and even understanding of the customer. Infections can be found in several selections including:

The Boot Sector Virus

This virus will infect the root-most component of your computer system hard drive, called the boot sector. This is what is used to begin up your computer system.

This kind virus can stop your computer system from starting and also might also require a hard disk format, creating you to shed every one of the information on your computer system in one fell swoop.

The Program Infection

This is an executable documents. It becomes energetic when the program it has actually infected is run. When it is triggered, it will infect other programs on your disk drive, disabling them.

The Macro Virus

The 3rd type of virus especially targets files such as Microsoft word. It is triggered when the contaminated file it has contaminated is run. One action it might perform, as an example, is to remove dates in your files along with other areas of the computer.

Malware

The term “malware” is brief for destructive software. It is a type of program that propagates on your hard disk as well as can create unimaginable issues when it does so. Malware might install a program that you did not desire, or ask for. When it does so, it will certainly consume a number of your computer system’s system sources, properly reducing it to a close to standstill.

Trojan Equine

Similar to its Greek namesake, the Trojan equine program is a relatively harmless and also innocuous application or file, but it includes harmful, harmful code and, when installed, can damage your computer system. This program commonly runs undetected, giving the hacker access to your computer system and, as an example, your individual details such as saved passwords as well as bank account numbers. The hacker is likewise able to display messages on your computer display.

Adware

While not always malware, but adware can be used for malicious functions. Adware exceeds as well as beyond what is affordable marketing. It is adware, as a matter of fact what has actually offered a bad name to some otherwise amazing totally free software program that might in fact be extremely advantageous to you.

It produces popups or other annoying advertising and marketing that can in truth freeze or secure your computer system. Oftentimes, the adware is challenging if not impossible for the normal individual to get rid of, disable and even detect.

Along with displaying advertisements for the initial advertiser, adware may log your whereabouts on the web and send out user details back to the spammy advertisement firm concerning your computer use without requesting your approval to do so.

Spam is not constantly the most harmful thing you will locate in your inbox; it is the attachments that feature spam that can actually devastate your computer system. It is critical that you do closed add-ons in unsolicited email.