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Stop Viruses and Protect Your Computer

Recently the media has done stories on computer viruses and hacker activity. You need to know how to protect your computer to protect yourself and to prevent infecting others.

Some malicious hackers want to gain access to your computer so they can read or destroy your personal files, or use your computer to launch a hacking attack against others so the attack can't be traced back to the hacker. It only takes one computer to possibly infect over 1000 other computers. You can protect your home computer and prevent the spread of these computer viruses by following three easy steps.

Four Easy Steps to Protect Your Computer

Install a virus scanner and keep it current.
Some experts estimate that over 100 new computer viruses are discovered every day. While most of them are caught and stopped before they cause any problems, it only takes one or two to get loose before people start taking note of them. Since new viruses keep getting discovered, anti-virus companies continue to put out updates to their software, sometimes on a daily basis.

Most of today's virus scanners have a built in auto update feature, but it only works if it is enabled. In your anti-virus software, look for something that says "update virus definitions" or "live update." Set the schedule to automatically update on at least a weekly basis, if not a daily basis since some viruses can spread to millions of computers in less than a 48 hour period.
Run Spyware protection software.
Today spyware can cause as much damage to your computer as a virus can. Spyware can do anything from preventing your computer from starting to slowing it down to the point where you can't use it. Some spyware is easy to keep off of your computer while others is a little more difficult.

To keep spyware off of your computer, don't load up free software unless you know the source. Many times spyware comes along with free software. Also, be very careful of what advertisements you click on while surfing the web. Some ads can lead to software being installed that you don't want.

There is also some free software that can help clean your computer of spyware and also prevent it from getting on your computer to begin with. Microsoft Anti-Spyware is a new free software that Microsoft puts out. From our experience, it is one of the best out there, even scanning real-time like a virus scanner. Another well established anti-spyware software is AdAware.
Update your software often.
Programs like Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP is the basic software that runs your computer. This software is very complex and programming errors in this software can sometimes cause security problems which allows viruses or hackers into your computer.

To avoid this problem, run windows update or visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com on a weekly basis. Most versions of windows have a feature called critical update notification. If you don't want to check on a weekly basis, enable this option and you will be notified when an update is available.
Don't open an E-mail attachment unless you are expecting it.
Because of E-mail, computer viruses are now able to spread like never before. One of the common ways for a virus to spread through E-mail is to automatically send itself to everyone in your address book. Common viruses today also send a copy of itself to every web site that is in your temporary Internet files.

The problem is that people will see a message from you with an attached file, so they assume it is safe. The virus then infects that person and sends itself to everyone in that person's address book. This example shows how easy it is for viruses to spread. So, even if the E-mail includes an attachment from someone that you know, don't open it unless you are expecting it.

One More Step if you have a Direct Connection to the Internet

If you have a direct connection to the Internet, for example by a cable modem or through a DSL connection, you may want to take one more step to protect yourself and install a personal firewall, like Zone Alarm, found for free at http://www.zonealarm.com.

Malicious hackers especially target computers that have high speed Internet connections like cable modems and DSL. Since these computers are on the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, a hacker has all the time in the world to try and hack into your system. Also, if they hack into your system they have a high speed connection in which to launch attacks against other computers.

Hackers from all over the world are constantly scanning the Internet looking for computers that they can hack into. A personal firewall keeps you safe by making you invisible to the hackers. If they can't connect to your computer and can't even see your computer, they can't hack into it.

For More Information

Mcafee Anti-Virus
http://www.mcafee.com/anti-virus/default.asp?

Norton Anti-Virus http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/index.html

Trend Micro Internet Security Suite
http://www.antivirus.com

Zone Alarm Firewall http://www.zonealarm.com



		Stop Viruses and Protect Your Computer Recently the media has done stories on computer viruses and hacker activity. You need to know how to protect your computer to protect yourself and to prevent infecting others. Some malicious hackers want to gain access to your computer so they can read or destroy your personal files, or use your computer to launch a hacking attack against others so the attack can't be traced back to the hacker. It only takes one computer to possibly infect over 1000 other computers. You can protect your home computer and prevent the spread of these computer viruses by following three easy steps. *Four Easy Steps to Protect Your Computer* Install a virus scanner and keep it current. Some experts estimate that over 100 new computer viruses are discovered every day. While most of them are caught and stopped before they cause any problems, it only takes one or two to get loose before people start taking note of them. Since new viruses keep getting discovered, anti-virus companies continue to put out updates to their software, sometimes on a daily basis. Most of today's virus scanners have a built in auto update feature, but it only works if it is enabled. In your anti-virus software, look for something that says "update virus definitions" or "live update." Set the schedule to automatically update on at least a weekly basis, if not a daily basis since some viruses can spread to millions of computers in less than a 48 hour period. Run Spyware protection software. Today spyware can cause as much damage to your computer as a virus can. Spyware can do anything from preventing your computer from starting to slowing it down to the point where you can't use it. Some spyware is easy to keep off of your computer while others is a little more difficult. To keep spyware off of your computer, don't load up free software unless you know the source. Many times spyware comes along with free software. Also, be very careful of what advertisements you click on while surfing the web. Some ads can lead to software being installed that you don't want. There is also some free software that can help clean your computer of spyware and also prevent it from getting on your computer to begin with. Microsoft Anti-Spyware is a new free software that Microsoft puts out. From our experience, it is one of the best out there, even scanning real-time like a virus scanner. Another well established anti-spyware software is AdAware. Update your software often. Programs like Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP is the basic software that runs your computer. This software is very complex and programming errors in this software can sometimes cause security problems which allows viruses or hackers into your computer. To avoid this problem, run windows update or visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com on a weekly basis. Most versions of windows have a feature called critical update notification. If you don't want to check on a weekly basis, enable this option and you will be notified when an update is available. Don't open an E-mail attachment unless you are expecting it. Because of E-mail, computer viruses are now able to spread like never before. One of the common ways for a virus to spread through E-mail is to automatically send itself to everyone in your address book. Common viruses today also send a copy of itself to every web site that is in your temporary Internet files. The problem is that people will see a message from you with an attached file, so they assume it is safe. The virus then infects that person and sends itself to everyone in that person's address book. This example shows how easy it is for viruses to spread. So, even if the E-mail includes an attachment from someone that you know, don't open it unless you are expecting it. *One More Step if you have a Direct Connection to the Internet* If you have a direct connection to the Internet, for example by a cable modem or through a DSL connection, you may want to take one more step to protect yourself and install a personal firewall, like Zone Alarm, found for free at http://www.zonealarm.com. Malicious hackers especially target computers that have high speed Internet connections like cable modems and DSL. Since these computers are on the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, a hacker has all the time in the world to try and hack into your system. Also, if they hack into your system they have a high speed connection in which to launch attacks against other computers. Hackers from all over the world are constantly scanning the Internet looking for computers that they can hack into. A personal firewall keeps you safe by making you invisible to the hackers. If they can't connect to your computer and can't even see your computer, they can't hack into it. *For More Information* Mcafee Anti-Virus http://www.mcafee.com/anti-virus/default.asp? Norton Anti-Virus http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/index.html Trend Micro Internet Security Suite http://www.antivirus.com Zone Alarm Firewall http://www.zonealarm.com

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