Computer
Security
You need to consider the security of your
system and data, even more so if you have
a connection to the internet.
There are
very many different ways your computer
could be attacked and very many different
ways the attack could affect you. The
attack could be anything from a mild
irritant, e.g. a strange message appearing
on your screen, to something that destroys
data on your hard drive. There are also
many types of attack where the
criminal tries to obtain your bank account
details. A lot of them will offer to
remove the problem for a small payment.
However, they are not really interested in
that money, they will soon clear out your
bank account when they get your
credit/debit card details.
There is
even a scam where they ring you and
pretend to be Microsoft engineers trying
to help you "because they have noticed
your computer is running slow" (whose
isn't?). Let me make it clear at this
point; Microsoft never ring anyone like
this. They will try to talk you into going
online and logging into a website they
control and they will then try to take
control of your computer.
So, how do
you set about avoiding malware? Note, I
use the term "malware" although most
people refer to "viruses" as there are
many different types of "malware" and
"viruses" are only one of these types.
Well, there are two types of program that
are needed 1) computer security (which
consists of anti-virus, anti-spyware, and
anti various other types of scam) and 2) a
firewall. A firewall acts as a break
between your computer and the internet and
the only way malware can get in is if you
let it in. Some of this malware can be
very good in disguising itself.
There are
free anti-virus programs but please note
that these usually only protect against
viruses and not much else. It is also
possible to get a very good free firewall
(Zone Alarm). However, the best way is to
buy a proper internet security program
from one of the big names. I am a reseller
for AVG which, naturally, I think is the
best one but there are others that are
adequate (although I have removed malware
from computers "protected" by all of
them).
There is
also something known as a day zero attack.
This is malware that is new and so the
anti-malware software suppliers have not
yet developed a protection for it. Given
that there are in the region of 30,000 new
items of malware each day in the world,
day zero attacks are not exactly unknown.
Very regular updates are essential to make
sure your computer security progam has the
very latest malware profiles. The
frequency will depend on how often your
software is updated by the publishers but
AVG is set to update, automatically, every
four hours.
One thing
is for sure; if you don't install a
firewall and internet security, it is only
a matter of time before your computer is
crippled by malware and removing it is
often more expensive than the correct
software in the first place.
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