How to Prevent a Computer Virus and Protect Your Email ?

Viruses and other malicious PC threats can easily infect our computer systems. Basing on my personal experience and study from the Internet, I would like to share some tips about how to prevent computer virus and safeguard your email.

How to Protect your Computer from Viruses?

Never open the attachment from the unknown email or unexpected email, even if the attachment seems to be a.jpg image file. This is because Windows allow users add multiple suffixes on the file name, while many email applications usually display the first suffix only. For example, if you see an attachment named wow.jpg, its full name actually is wow.jpg.vbs. Therefore, to open this attachment will result in the running of a malicious VBScript virus.

Before you insert a floppy disk, CD-ROMs and other removable media, make sure they have been scanned for viruses. And, make sure your computer can automatically check for viruses when the removable media inserts or emails and network file are received.

Guard against fraudulent virus. If you receive an email from your friend which claims that there is a most lethal new virus and requests you to forward this warning email to all your friends. This may be a fraudulent virus actually. You are suggested to turn to the antivirus software vendors, such as Symantec's website, to confirm the claim.

Use other forms of documents, such as.rtf (Rich Text Format) and.pdf (Portable Document Format). Common macro viruses spread through Microsoft Office programs. Therefore, the less use of these files types will lower the risk of being infected by viruses. Try to use Rich Text to save your files. This does not mean that simply use.rtf suffix in the file name, but that in Microsoft Word use "Save as" command, and in the dialog box select Rich Text format to save the file. Although Rich Text Format may contain embedded objects, it itself does not support Visual Basic Macros or Jscript. The pdf file is not only a kind of format available in many platforms, but also more secure.

Use the client-based firewall or filtration solution. If you are using the Internet, particularly the broadband, and you are always online, then it is very necessary to use a personal firewall to protect your privacy and to prevent the unexpected visitors to access your system. If your system does not have an additional effective protection, your home address, credit card number and other personal information could be stolen.

If there are share files set with full access by users in the local area network, viruses may very easily come in. This also brings the frequent access of the infected computer to the share files, and results in network congestion.

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How to Check Virus Email Threats ?

One of the downsides of the computer age is having to worry about hackers who are trying to infect your computer with viruses sent via email. While opening a suspicious-looking email may not trigger the virus, the safest course of action is not to open it at all. If it's too late and you've already opened it, don't click on any of the links associated with it or open any of its attachments. There are several online resources where you can check virus email threats

Instructions

Open your Internet connection, and log on to Snopes.com.

On the Snopes.com homepage, click on the "Computers" icon.

Select the "Virus Hoaxes and Realities" link.

A list of Virus Hoaxes and Realities will appear. If you see the one you're wondering about, select it. If it is not listed, type it into the search box at the top of the page.

Snopes will give you the following information: the name of the virus; whether it is real or a hoax, an example of how it might look in your email inbox; what any legitimate emails on the same topic look like; the history of the virus, any additional information; and the date of the information's last update.

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Choosing right Antivirus Software Against The Ongoing Virus Threat

Your computer is indispensable in that it stores all your precious data and information, so just imagine your frustration at losing them if a virus infects your computer. Computer viruses can easily enter your computer via the internet and infect the programs and files on your computer, causing valuable data to be lost forever. If you do not want to face this nasty dilemma, it is crucial that you protect your computer, programs and data with good anti-virus software.

Antivirus software scans your computer to search for any computer virus, old and new. If it finds any virus, the antivirus software eliminates it from your system. Some antivirus software also has the capability of adding antivirus updates and fixes to your computer system that helps protect your computer from newer versions of viruses as well as from spreading them to other computers.

There is a wide range of sophisticated antivirus software available these days. However, the effectiveness of any antivirus software is measured by its ability to detect the ever-changing virus threats. Even as antivirus software improves, computer viruses are becoming even more virulent, with new sets of viruses released every other day. Your current antivirus software that sits on your computer often fails to recognize these new sets of viruses, so it is extremely important to keep your anti-virus software constantly updated to include protection against new lists of virus threats.

When the antivirus software detects a virus-infected file, the software can either repair the file, or remove it to prevent the viral code from spreading to other files in the system. Once a new virus is detected, the codes are sent to virus analysis centers. These centers then conduct a thorough analysis of the virus, and work out a string of programs to identify and protect against this newly discovered virus. The fix is then added into a database from where the users can download the updated version of the antivirus program.

Most of the advanced antivirus software follow four main methods of virus detection. These methods include: scanning, integrity checking, interception, and heuristic detection. Scanning and interception are the most commonly used methods for most of the popular anti-virus software. The other two procedures are used by some lesser- known antivirus packages. However, the scanning process used by major antivirus programs can only be effective when the virus is recognizable to the software. Scanning, however, is not an effective solution for dealing with new viruses. Thus the role of antivirus analysis centers becomes extremely important and significant in the ongoing fight against new virus threats.

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Protect Your Computer From Computer Virus Threats

A computer has to deal with lots of different worries on a daily basis while performing at a high level of service. It's our tool to get work done, pay bills with, and stay in contact with loved ones around the world. We need it to be at the top of its game, otherwise we're left in limbo and feel lost without its capabilities. This is why computer virus threats can be a nightmare if you don't have the protection set up to handle the newly created bugs from entering your computer and reproducing in its files.

If you don't keep up on things, there are always new computer virus threats appearing. There can be countless ones every day. It can be hard to keep track of all of them if you don't have a protection program set up to handle the threats. There's no way of knowing if something slinks into your computer if you don't have protection software. Antivirus and spyware blockers work hard to protect your computer against the nasty bugs. The cleaners watch the computer's registry like a hawk, making sure nothing gets past their defenses. They scan the hundreds of registry files making sure there are no invalid entries, because if there are, it could cause you more problems down the line. If there are any errors, it will provide a list and allow you to clean a specific one or automatically take care of the entire problem. You need protection that's going to notice the smallest of changes and will fix the problem without the bug causing damage to your files. It's also important to make sure the program you use has automatic updates, which helps it handle the new swarm of bugs wanting to take over the system's files.

You can go to different places and find the upcoming viruses, spyware, and adware that will be new to the information world or see the newly created ones already causing havoc in people's lives. Companies have to work hard to stay ahead on the battle front, which is why many offer free updates on a continuous basis so you have the newest protection against computer virus threats. This helps take care of any security gaps that come up in your current software protection. This can be a difficult battle to fight, but it will be easily won if you have the right protection software installed on your computer. Research what's available and read the reviews and you'll be able the perfect protection for your system.

Pros:

• You have heavy-duty protection software to handle new computer virus threats.
• There are automatic updates for protection against any new bugs.
• Companies are constantly on the offense to fight against security gaps.

Cons:

• Your program doesn't have automatic updates.
• Software isn't upgraded to handle the new swarm of viruses ready to hit the information highway.

To protect your information from computer virus threats, make sure you have appropriate protection in place.

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