Virus Protection
Most people know that you need virus protection but with so many anti-virus products out there, which one do you use? Which product provides the best protection? Which product provides the best performance? Which product provides the best bang for the buck? There are as many different opinions on this subject as there are products. We will attempt to answer some of those questions, provide as much information and show you where to find un-biased opinions of anti-virus performance among some of the top brands.
What Is A Computer Virus?
Simply put, a computer virus is a program or script that can wreak havoc on your computer. Viruses can alter or delete files, consume precious resources like memory and processor cycles, and attach themselves to other files to infect networks and other computers. They can slow a computer to a crawl or render it unusable until repaired. Depending on the virus, this can be costly to the user.
Some of the most common ways viruses are transmitted are through infected emails, downloading pirated software and visiting porn sites. Viruses come in a variety of forms from including in email attachments, as a Trojan horse or a Worm.
An email virus comes as an attachment to an email and when opened, replicates itself by automatically emailing itself to people from the victim's address book. A Trojan horse pretends to do one thing but in reality does something quite different. While it doesn't replicate itself, it does its damage by changing or deleting files on the hard drive. Some of the more serious viruses include worms. Worms will search for a network and copy itself to unprotected machines or machines with security holes.
Preventing Infection
Here are some basic steps to prevent becoming infected with a virus.
- Avoid downloading and using programs from unknown sources. This includes using peer-2-peer networks and downloading pirated software.
- Disable the autorun feature in Windows. (For the experienced only)
- If you use Microsoft applications, make sure that Macro Virus Protection is enabled. Do not run macros in a document unless you know why it's there and what it does.
- NEVER execute an email attachment. It's always a good idea to virus scan any email attachment even if you think it's safe.
- Install a good anti-virus program and update it regularly. We use Avast anti-virus.
- Install a good firewall program. A good firewall program can stop outsiders from getting in and planting a virus. Some can even detect when multiple emails are being sent and stop the process to warn the user before spreading the infection. We use Comodo as a local firewall.
Both Avast and Comodo are top rated products that come in both free and pro versions and are easy to setup and use. Of course there are as many opinions as to what products you use are there are products. The products we chose and have used for years have never let us down. They have a lower overhead (use less memory and processor time) than many and have caught all attempts to infect our computers. Others we've tested have either failed to catch viruses, have used too many resources, or have interfered with other programs.
Many sites out there advertise that a particular product does better than others however when looked at closely, you find that many of the sites are affiliates of these products. This is no exception here. For this reason, we have provided a link to an independent testing lab where you can see the results first hand and make an informed decision.
For independent tests of anti-virus software go to AV-Comparatives.org. Another good site is Virus Bulletin. Both run independent comparative testing of anti-virus products.
Back It Up!
There is no substitute for backing up your important files. Programs and operating systems can easily be replaced but your photos, music and documents cannot. These items should be backed up, whether you use a backup solution such as software designed as such or mearly burning a CD or DVD of these items.
NO ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE IS 100% FOOLPROOF 100% OF THE TIME! Backing up your files is your insurance should you become infected with a virus or other malware.
