Virus and Spyware Protection

The online world is filled with malicious software and spyware just waiting to infect your computer, track your every move online, and hijack your browser.

It's up to you to protect your computer from viruses, hackers, and privacy threats. Not only do you have to worry about a physical crash of your computer hardware, but a virus attack can cause a software crash, causing your computer system to be inoperable. Make sure you have antivirus and antispyware software installed and configured on your computer and sign up to get automatic updates. Antivirus and antispyware programs become useless unless you update them regularly.

So just what are viruses and spyware?

A virus is a manmade piece of code that can cause an unexpected event. Not only do you want to remove viruses from your computer, but you also want to block them before they cause damage to your computer. Having a virus protection software tool and getting frequent virus updates will help protect your computer. An example of antivirus software is Symantec's Norton Anti-Virus at www.symantec.com.

Web Resource: Latest Virus Threats

For a list of the latest virus threats and information, you can visit Symantec's website at http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/.

Ever wonder why you get those annoying popup ads even when you're not surfing the Web? You might have unintentionally downloaded a piece of spyware. Spyware is any piece of software that is unknowingly downloaded onto your computer that gathers information on your web surfing habits, and in some cases, collects personal information that you may have on your PC. Once installed, the spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else. Antispyware software helps protect your identity from being compromised, helps unwanted software from reporting your web activities, and prevents those unwanted Internet ads. Spyware can also send your personal information to malicious websites without your knowledge. Antispyware software will scan your computer and remove all unwanted spyware programs.

Here's a list of antispyware and virus protection software you should consider installing on your computer. Don't wait until your computer system becomes inoperable and you lose days, weeks, or months of business because of it.

• Yahoo! Toolbar A free download that will block pop-up ads and protect your PC from spyware (toolbar.yahoo.com).

• McAfee AntiSpyware and VirusScan Protect your computer, email, and attachments from known and unknown viruses (www.mcafee.com).

• Norton AntiVirus and Internet Security AntiSpyware A competitor to McAfee's programs (www.symantec.com).

• Lavasoft AdAware A free copy of the AdAware SE Personal Edition can be downloaded from the website (www.lavasoft.com).