PC Virus Protection
Today, no one can afford to go without PC virus protection and surf the Internet without it. Virus protection is one of the most important elements in computer security.
You might well be feeling that your PC is OK because you already have anti virus software installed. However, beware! No anti virus software can be 100% effective and your virus protection is only as effective as its last update.
Vulnerabilities
Computers are vulnerable to many types of harmful software such as viruses, Trojans, and worms — collectively called malware. Without anti virus software, there’s a good chance your computer will be infected by a virus. PCs running Windows tend to be more susceptible to viruses than other operating systems (e.g. Mac, Linux etc) simply because the popularity of Windows systems attracts the most attention from virus creators.
If your PC becomes infected with a virus, your best option is to seek a trained professional that offers both immediate virus removal services and provides comprehensive software maintenance contracts to assist with future virus infections.
If your system becomes infected with viruses (e.g. you are not running up to date PC virus protection), your only option may be a complete Operating System (OS) install. A complete Microsoft Windows re-installation, with all protection, drivers, and tweaks, can take over 8 hours. Computer shops can charge $180 or more to re-install Microsoft Windows.
Threats
Everyday there are many new victims of spy-ware, viruses and other on-line threats.
Attachments
Email attachments are a common source of viruses. Infected email attachments disguised as pictures, screen savers or even Word documents. Before you download attachments from either emails or the Internet scan it with anti virus software. Do not open e-mail attachments which you are not expecting (even from someone you know). Opening one of these attachments may cause an infection.
Spyware
Spyware programs are installed without your knowledge and capture and log your computer activity.
There are many more threats including key loggers, malware, and trojan horses. This means that no single anti-virus software product can fully protect against all possible threats.
Internet Risks
When your computer is connected to the Internet, it is at risk from malicious software. Internet security experts advise that, at a minimum, you should: a) install PC virus protection; b) set it to scan your system regularly; and c) update it regularly.
Anti Virus Software
There are many free PC virus protection software options available if you know where to look. Some are better than others so it pays to do your research. AVG Free is the most popular anti-virus software available and it also works with under Windows 7.
Paid for anti virus software tend to be more effective and better supported than the free alternatives and you should consider good quality, commercial virus protection if you use your PC for anything other than trivial use (e.g. gaming). Certainly, for business use, you need to think about a commercial anti virus solution to provide the best protection against unwanted system downtime and lost productivity.
Microsoft Standard Protection
There are some built in features with various Microsoft operating systems and software.
Outlook, for example, has an approach to Internet protection that includes multiple level security and filter settings for viruses, spam and phishing as well as content control features.
Vista and Windows 7 have a built in protection system called User Account Control (UAC) which, when enabled (enabled is default for a new Windows installation), prevent unauthorized installation of any software onto your PC.
Macro viruses are becoming an increasing threat for users of Microsoft Office products such as MS-Word, MS-Excel, and MS-Powerpoint. The more recent Microsoft Office products disable macros by default in an effort to reduce the risk of unwanted macro viruses.
Free Microsoft virus protection services are available to download and the malicious software removal tool that checks your Windows operating system for any kind of malware and suspicious programs.
Updates
Anti virus software is different from other types of software in that it must be updated frequently to be effective. Failure to update anti virus software leaves PC systems at risk.
Immediately after installing your virus protection, set it up to check for updates automatically. Most PC virus protection software comes with one year of updates but after the year you are no longer protected unless you pay for updates.
Conclusion
The world’s greatest anti-virus detection is of little use if you can’t figure out how to deploy it, if updates are difficult to implement, if management of the software is a time consuming chore or the software doesn’t provide protection for the way your business uses its computers.
If you run Windows, you absolutely have to have PC virus protection installed. The loss of your computer or data as a result of viruses can be catastrophic. If you’re serious about having the best protection, you need to look at a good commercial anti virus solution.
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