Fighting Off Viruses: Advancements In Antivirus
Software Suites
by: Nial Robbins
Protecting your computer from a virus is getting harder and harder
each day. While it may border on the paranoid, it goes without saying
that you can’t leave your guard down for one second. Even
corporate giant Microsoft has found its own systems compromised
on more than one occasion.
Remember the “good old days”, before the advent of
the Internet and downloadable programs? Life was simple then in
terms of computer viruses. With the primary way in which a virus
could be transmitted being limited to floppy disks, the ability
to catch and eradicate the virus was a lot easier. By today’s
standards, it used to take quite a while before a virus was able
to infect a computer and slow down the system. The antivirus software
of that time was typically able to identify and eradicate viruses
before they caused too much damage. Additionally, computer users
were pretty savvy on how to protect themselves in terms of scanning
all floppy disks before copying them to our desktop.
The Internet helped change all that. The Internet provided a conduit
by which viruses could move from host to host with lightening speed.
No longer could a computer user just worry about floppy disks as
points of entry, but they now had to worry about email, email attachments,
peer-to-peer file sharing, instant messaging, and software downloads.
Today’s viruses can attack through multiple entry points,
spread without human intervention, and take full advantage of vulnerabilities
within a system or program. With technology advancing everyday,
and the convergence of computers with other mobile devices, the
potential of new types of threats also increase.
Protecting Your Computer
Luckily, the advancement of antivirus software has kept pace with
current virus threats. Antivirus software is essential to a computer’s
ability to fend off viruses and other malicious programs. These
products are designed to protect against the ability of a virus
to enter a computer through email, web browsers, file servers and
desktops. Additionally, these programs offer a centralized control
feature that handle deployment, configuration and updating.
A computer user should remain diligent and follow a few simple
steps to protect against the threat of a virus:
1. Evaluate your current computer security system.
With the threat of a new generation of viruses able to attack in
a multitude of ways, the approach of having just one antivirus software
version has become outdated. You need to be confident that you have
protected all aspects of your computer system from the desktop to
the network, and from the gateway to the server. Consider a more
comprehensive security system which includes several features including
antivirus, firewall, content filtering, and intrusion detection.
This type of system will make it more difficult for the virus to
penetrate your system.
2. Only install antivirus software created by a well-known, reputable
company.
Because new viruses erupt daily, it is important that you regularly
update your antivirus software. Become familiar with the software’s
real-time scan feature and configure it to start automatically each
time you boot your computer. This will protect your system by automatically
checking your computer each time it is powered up.
3. Make it a habit to always scan all new programs or files no
matter from where they originate.
4. Exercise caution when opening binary, Word, or Excel documents
of unknown sources especially if they were received during an online
chat or as an attachment to an email.
5. Perform regular backups in case your system is corrupted. It
may be the only way to recover your data if infected.
Recommended Antivirus Software
There are numerous applications available to consumers. With a
little research, you can pick the program that is right for you.
Many programs provide a trial version which allows you to download
the program and test its abilities. However, be aware that some
anti-virus programs can be difficult to uninstall. As a precaution
make sure to set up a System Restore point before installing.
Here are a few programs which typically receive high marks in terms
of cost, effectiveness, ease of use, and customer service.
The Shield Pro 2005™ provides virus protection and hacker
security through ongoing support and updates. When a virus breaks
out, The Shield Pro 2005™ promises to provide a patch within
2-3 hours and a fix for the virus within 5 hours. You can set your
computer to update viruses weekly and run a complete virus scan.
BitDefender 9 Standard provides antivirus protection, as well as
Peer-2-Peer Applications protection, full email protection, and
heuristics in a virtual environment. This provides a new security
layer that keeps the operating system safe from unknown viruses
by detecting malicious pieces of code for which signatures have
not been released yet.
Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal 5.0 program is simple to install
and use. The user only needs to choose from three levels of protection.
It allows updates as frequently as every hour while promising not
to disrupt your computer. The program also offers a two-tier email
protection feature and round-the-clock technical support.
PC-cillin Internet Security combines antivirus security and a personal
firewall—for comprehensive protection against viruses, worms,
Trojans, and hackers. It also detects and removes spyware and blocks
spam. It even guards against identity theft by blocking phishing
and pharming attacks.
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is a free downloadable antivirus program
that has received high marks for its reliability. In the past, free
downloadable antivirus programs have been viewed skeptically because
of issues relating to its reliability. However, AVG from Grisoft,
remains one of the best-known free anti-virus programs available.
While AVG can not be installed on a server operating system and
there is no technical support, it still makes a good choice for
many home computer users. The best part is that since it is free,
you can try it with no further obligation necessary.
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:-
About The Author
Nial Robbins owns the work at home directory website located at:
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