Computer Security and Virus Protection 101
Surfing the Internet is never safe for computers without proper and effective computer security. In fact, surfing the net without anti virus protection is like walking through a hospital without having an immune system. There are threats in the thousands from minimal nuisances, like pop ups and add banners to very severe viruses and worms that can completely and permanently disable vital functions, such as Internet browsers, parts of hard drives, destroying even the best of computer brands, including, Dell computers as well as important data.
There are many different types of malware and viruses, as well as different types of security software that can protect, detect and remove these threats. The best anti virus software will have real-time or drive-by protection that will alert to and block malicious sites and downloads when surfing the web. There are many cheap computer softwares that are very effective at preventing virus infections.
Malware is basically any malicious code and is the umbrella under which all viruses, spyware and other bad codes fall. Malware is the term under which all Internet dangers fall, such as viruses, worms, spyware, adware, phishing, tracking cookies and rootkits.
Computer Viruses - 2 Worst Threats
Viruses
Computer viruses range from intermediate to severe in danger levels.There are many many viruses in existance and new ones emerging everyday. Viruses are malicious pieces of code that download to computers and existing programs. Computer viruses can spread quickly and wreck havoc on computer systems. Including potential destruction of operating systems and data. The Trojan horse series of viruses is one of the worst and has several forms. The Conficker virus is the latest of major threat viruses to computer security.
Computer viruses can not only disable major computer functions, such as Internet browsers, they can also destroy data and completely lock you out of your system.
Rootkits
Rootkit are especially dangerous because they actually hide the existence of Malware from computer operating systems and from users. Rootkits create stealth program codes that run at a lower level than the user can see with most below average anti virus software.
Rootkit protection is not standard on all virus software, so make sure that yours has it.
One thing to keep in mind is to never surf the Internet or have an open connection to the Internet without a solid computer security virus protection suite installed, up to date and running on your PC. Prevention, early detection adn removal are the best defenses against computer threats. A good anti virus software has an accurate and up to date virus database and can detect, quarantine and remove malware efficiently. Another crucial
It is much more difficult to remove viruses if infection occurs than to protect against it. This is why it is crucial to have real-time or drive-by protection. This feature actually has a real time scan running as you surf the web and will alert you to bad sites and viruses trying to install themselves. This is not always standard with all anti virus software and should be a part of any good virus protection suite.Nothing is more essential to computer safety than a good anti virus software program.