Buying the correct PC or buying the right notebook, is just half the job done. Now, it needs to be properly protected against external virus and malware threats. The internet, in the present day, is possibly the biggest source of virus attacks. Not only the good old virus, but even spyware, malware, phishing and hacking attacks are becoming commonplace these days.
However, the Internet is not to be blamed, solely. These threats also come from sources like infected USB drives, optical media and even from pirated software, at times. What these malicious pieces of software (also known as Worms, Trojans etc.) essentially attempt to do is either/and- infect your PC, steal data from it, destroy data and possibly the operating system (example- Windows 7). The stealing of data is perhaps the most destructive, in the long term. If you use the PC for online shopping and net banking, some attack may end up stealing some really important and confidential data.
Lack of awareness about such threats, and about how to go about dealing with them is the reason why such attacks are successful in their motive of stealing and/or destroying data. Here are certain points you need to keep in mind.
- Always keep an antivirus running on auto-protect mode in the background.
- Never copy data from a USB drive without scanning it properly first. Additionally, you can disable auto-running upon insertion of such media.
- Do not click on shady looking links and pop-up windows while browsing the web
- Do not enter confidential info (like credit card numbers) on any website. Verify before you place an order for that product you want to buy.
- Avoid downloading anything from just any website. Downloads can be laced with malicious software, designed to sneakily steal your data from the hard drive.
With the correct software protection shield in place, your PC can survive most infection attacks. However, this is not to say that you need to spend a whole lot of money on buying security software. There are a lot of free options out there, which do the job pretty well. They may not have all the features which full-fledged paid software will have, but are a great option since most people don’t want to pay for software anyway. Let’s see what all you can install to keep your PC protected.
Basic Antivirus SolutionsMicrosoft Security Essentials: This was Microsoft’s salvo fired at the antivirus. But the price tag of “free” helped! Available for XP, Vista and Windows 7, MSE does the job of protecting the PC quite well. No firewall, but will detect if a threat has made its way on to the PC. And since this is Microsoft’s own product, all updates will also be available via Microsoft Update.
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[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Avast Antivirus Home Edition: This is the free antivirus version from Avast portfolio of security products. A very popular choice among most PC users, and is a toss-up between this and the AVG Free Edition, in most cases. It has a very high malware detection rate, and the auto protect is possibly the most active one I have personally noticed. After installation, users need to register on the Avast website to receive the activation serial number via email.
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[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]AVG Free Edition: Some say this is the best free antivirus out there. Others say Avast is the best. Either way, it is too close to call! We suggest you check it out yourself. And get a renowned antivirus solution in the process.
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[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Additional SoftwareAntivirus software is one thing, but malware like tracking cookies, rootkits may or may need a second layer of protection.
This is where the anti-spyware software becomes essential. Most antivirus get anti-spyware capabilities built-in, but we strongly urge you to install any of these ones as well.
Spybot- Search And Destroy: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Lavasoft Ad-Aware: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Let us not forget, once you have installed any of these solutions on your PC, do a proper scan regularly! One in 15 days is ideal, but forgetting it on a regular basis is not healthy. And yes, before you scan, just
update the definitions from the Internet, for the most accurate threat detection.
Sat Oct 29, 2011 9:18 am
