The fear of getting a personal computer infected with a virus was not heard of in the early days of in its early days. Maybe because internet wasn’t widely used in most areas and there were no websites to visit. But after several years the story is much different. The threat of the dreaded virus is seen and has already cost a lot of machines to break down.
What are the reasons for this you ask? Well the answer is very simple when you think about it. The primary reason that so many computers can become infected with a virus is because of the advent of high speed internet. Most people in North America and other industrialized countries use high speed internet access. This allows people to go to a greater amount of sites quicker, and also allows unauthorized downloads to finish quicker.
Back when the days that dial-up was the only form of internet access, it would often take several minutes to download a small file. Any virus or software trying to sneak and download itself could easily be detected, and in some cases, stopped. As download speed exponentially increased, it became almost impossible to stop an unwanted download. This has led to the development of pop up and spam blockers to protect computers against these threats.
High speed internet isn’t the only culprit for this universal problem: it has also to do with the delivery medium. Viruses and malicious software were made and developed by people who extremely dislike certain operating system manufacturers. Some just enjoy making programs to give other people problems. The main threat of this is the evolution from destruction to identity theft. This is usually perpetrated by spywares infiltrating your system and monitoring your keystrokes.
Site names and passwords are being collected, the data are then sent to its creators. The information is used for identity theft for related crimes. This makes an installation of an antivirus software suite essential for safe computer operation. It is also quite helpful to have antispyware, adware, and malware programs installed for a tight protection. You can download services such as these online for free. Though some are legitimate and easy to use, paid suites have all programs bundled in one.
Some people might not want to purchase these because of the cost. However when you compare the $80.00 USD for the program suite to the $400.00 USD it would take to get your computer restored, the choice isn’t hard to make. Even using the legitimate free programs to protect your computer can help you avoid this situation. These programs can be identified by the ratings they receive on websites and review articles.
These days, protecting your computer is becoming a full time job. Threats from viruses, spyware, adware, malware, pop ups, spam, and a host of other problems are lurking in every corner on cyberspace. Luckily there are ways to protect your machine and yourself from frustration. Always keep in mind to practice safe internet browsing when surfing the web.
This consists of avoiding suspicious links altogether, and ignoring emails that you do not expect. Make sure to have a firewall if you are using high speed internet. Oftentimes, built in computer firewall are not sufficient to protect your computer. And lastly, remember to back up important data on a weekly basis, just in case.
Dorthy Weatherbush uses Webroot Spy Sweeper to make sure that her computer is healthy. These days there are so many viruses on the internet that using a service like Webroot Spy Sweeper is well worth it.