Detect and Remove Spyware

Virus infections are on the rise and many in the Internet Security Industry have concluded that this year has been the worst to date since the widespread adoption of computers and high speed internet connections in homes in the later 1990′s.

Why is this a problem? Simply put, viruses arrive on your computer not to lay idle, but to do a job of their own. This is called the virus payload. In nearly every case, this payload will have some kind of negative impact on you, the computer user. Typical payloads include: to make the infected PC send out spam e-mail to others, to damage the host computer making it unreliable/unusable, to collect information that could be used for identity fraud or to frighten users into buying fake antivirus applications. The bottom line is that virus infections should be kept out of your PC in the first place. Prevention is much easier than virus removal, so where should you start? Below are some valuable virus prevention steps that you can take now.

If you havent already got some antivirus software, remedy this immediately. Remember that not all antivirus software is equal. In fact, some perform very poorly. What is the best antivirus software? Well, before buying, do some research, read some reviews & ask questions. Group reviews will always be more useful that someone giving their own personal opinion of one product. In my experience, antivirus software by itself is much better than bundled products from the likes of Norton & McAfee which includes antivirus, antispyware & firewall components all in one. These extra features are usually not all that well implemented, and their firewalls in particular cause no end of headaches for end users. Its much better to buy the best antivirus software that you can, and then look for the best antispyware application separately. If you are using Windows XP or Vista, it has its own firewall already which performs admirably.

Your next priority after antivirus software is installed is to make sure your Windows installation is kept up to date. Visit the Windows Update website at least once a month to download all of Microsoft’s latest patches and security updates. This will give your antivirus software less work to do as the obvioue security holes in your system will have been pached up!

Consider purchasing some anti-spyware software. Antivirus softwares will never be perfect. Why not give them a helping hand by installing a competent partner to help with the fight against malware? It makes good sense to lessen the load and spread the security burden. As was the case with your antivirus software, dont buy the first software you see. Some are terrible, some are just ok and some are excellent. Do your research.

Practice safe surfing. Even if you have followed all of the other advise and installed good antivirus software, excellent antispyware and updated all of your other software, you could still get infected if you surf irresponsibly. Visiting certain types of websites (like pornography or unlicenced software sites) or engaging in particular activities like peer to peer file sharing, carries with it an extremely high risk of virus infection. These are just some general pointers and you will learn many more as you spend more time on the internet and sharing experiences with other computer users.

Follow these tips and you will be a less frequent caller at your local computer repair store.

Tags: Adware, computer health care, computers, internet security, software, virus prevention, virus removal