Top 10 Ways To Protect Yourself From Computer Viruses
Sunday, June 21, 2009 16:53
As more and more people are becoming comfortable with their computers at school, home or office, this is a matter of time before it finds a virus. Here are our 10 steps to protect themselves from viruses.
Using a high quality anti-virus. There are many antivirus software packages on the market, some are better than others. Look at magazines or reputable websites tips to help you find one that suits your needs.
Always use your antivirus. Make sure your anti-virus software is always turned on and scanning, incoming and outgoing mail messages, and any software running.
Keep your antivirus updated. Most programs come with a yearly subscription make sure you take advantage of the upgrade. Later, you can schedule updates or full system search “out of hours 2 hours, like when you can not use the computer.
Keep your computer updated. From time to time operating systems fall victim to security holes or updates. Be sure to check regularly to make sure they have updated versions of its software stable.
Backup your data regularly. Most users keep their documents in the windows folder “My Documents”. This allows you to save all your important documents. Weekly or monthly copies to CD or USB key.
If you use floppy disks or USB drives on public computers like your school computer lab, Kinko’s, or even digital photo printing store make sure to scan for viruses. Public computers are known not to be current and adequate protection.
Be wary of email attachments. No attachment treat as potentially dangerous. Never open attachments from people not expecting that. Always be wary of attachments from people you know, but I did not expect. Many viruses replicate themselves by reading the contacts of an infected computer.
Use email if possible. While HTML email is prettier and allows more control over formatting it also can carry viruses. If you use e-mail based on the text, the only way to get a virus is by opening an attached file.
Use downloaded freeware and shareware files or programs with caution. Try to download from reputable sources that scan the programs before they are downloaded. To ensure that you are safe scan the program before you install on your computer.
Care of links in IM or instant messaging software. Do not accept invitations from people you do not know and never click on a link from someone who does not trust, that can easily redirect to another website that tries to install a virus on your computer.
