Fighting Common Computer Viruses | Antivirus Internet Security Software

The Internet helped change all that. The Internet provided a conduit by which common computer viruses could move from host to host with lightening speed. No longer could a computer user just worry about floppy disks as points of entry, but they now had to worry about email, email attachments, peer-to-peer file sharing, instant messaging, and software downloads. Today's common computer viruses can attack through multiple entry points, spread without human intervention, and take full advantage of vulnerabilities within a system or program. With technology advancing everyday, and the convergence of computers with other mobile devices, the potential of new types of threats also increase.

Luckily, the advancement of antivirus/internet security software has kept pace with current virus threats. Antivirus software is essential to a computer's ability to fend off common computer viruses and other malicious programs. These antivirus/internet security software are designed to protect against the ability of a virus to enter a computer through email, web browsers, file servers and desktops. Additionally, these programs offer a centralized control feature that handle deployment, configuration and updating.

1. Evaluate your current computer security system.
With the threat of a new generation of common computer viruses able to attack in a multitude of ways, the approach of having just one antivirus/internet security software version has become outdated. You need to be confident that you have protected all aspects of your computer system from the desktop to the network, and from the gateway to the server. Consider a more comprehensive security system which includes several features including antivirus, firewall, content filtering, and intrusion detection. This type of system will make it more difficult for the virus to penetrate your system.

2. Only install antivirus/internet security software created by a well-known, reputable company. Because new common computer viruses erupt daily, it is important that you regularly update your antivirus software. Become familiar with the software's real-time scan feature and configure it to start automatically each time you boot your computer. This will protect your system by automatically checking your computer each time it is powered up.

3. Make it a habit to always scan all new programs or files no matter from where they originate.

4. Exercise caution when opening binary, Word, or Excel documents of unknown sources especially if they were received during an online chat or as an attachment to an email.

5. Perform regular backups in case your system is corrupted. It may be the only way to recover your data if infected.