There are a number of things you can do to keep your computer safe from viruses. Below, I briefly discuss the 4 top things you can do to protect your computer.
ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
First and foremost, install an anti-virus software program on your computer. And make sure to keep it updated! New viruses are being created all the time. In response, the anti-virus software vendors add new virus "definitions" to their programs. This does NOT mean you have to pay again; you simply download the virus definitions into the existing program. Most programs have an automated way of making this happen. You just specify how often to connect to the vendor's website to check for updates. You also need to make sure that you schedule full scans to check your computer files for viruses. It’s best to schedule it for a time when you won’t be working on the computer, but will have it powered on. Some scans can eat up a lot of your computer’s horsepower. There’s also a thing called real-time scans. This is basically checking your computer’s memory to make sure new files being opened do not contain viruses.
SECURITY PATCHES
Keep your computer operating system up to date with vendor released security patches. For Microsoft Windows, you can connect to the Windows Update site. Assuming your computer is connected to the internet, you can open Internet Explorer, click on Tools Windows Update. It will then connect you to the Microsoft site to check your computer for any needed patches. You should do this at least once a month.
PERSONAL FIREWALL
If your computer is always connected to the internet, you should also use a personal firewall. This helps to block internet traffic from your computer. You can adjust the security levels to fit your needs. Just make sure you do not open it so much that you are getting little benefit from having it installed.
EMAIL ATTACHMENTS
Finally, do NOT open email attachments if you do not know who sent them to you and/or you were not expecting them. If you get an email from someone you do not know and it has an attachment, do not open it the attachment. You even need to be careful of attachments sent in emails from people you know. Many of the email viruses "pretend" to be from people you know. They do this by gathering email contact lists from computers they have already infected. They then send themselves to all of those people in the contact list.
So the message here is to be aware that there are numerous ways that your computer can be compromised. Using the security guidelines above should help to keep you safe in your computing endeavors.
Donna Weaber is a computer professional with over 12 years experience working in server support for a large corporation. For more information, visit my blog at http://commoncomputermistakes.blogspot.com
Source: www.articlecity.com
