Keeping Computer Viruses At Bay

If you are one of those lucky people who have never been a victim of a computer virus, you would never understand how important it is to have an anti-virus software in place. Many people tend to believe that anti-virus companies spread rumors about computer virus to put the scare in everyone's mind to sell anti-virus software. The truth is that computer viruses can be deadly and having them in your computer would mean losing the entire data stored in it and at times even becoming a victim of identity theft. These fatal viruses can spread all over the world in no time and result in losses worth billions of dollars. It's no wonder that the anti-virus business is worth several billion dollars today and is still growing by leaps and bounds.

The situation can however be in control if you install good antivirus software on your computer. Failing to install such software would mean sending out an invitation to all sorts of computer viruses. Unfortunately, most people have an "it can't happen to me" mindset and thus overlook the importance of getting antivirus software. Its only when they face trouble booting their computers or when the computer functions at a snail's pace that they realize that the computer has been attacked by those nasty viruses. So, let us look at the top computer virus threats that 2008 holds in store for unprotected computers.

Computer viruses are nothing but small software components that attach themselves to real programs to perform the function they were meant to perform. For instance, a virus that attaches itself to windows explorer would be executed every time you run explorer to perform the task that it was mainly designed for. So, if it was created to erase data on your computer, then that's exactly what it is going to do. While doing this, the virus multiplies and spreads on to other programs and even other computers wiping out the entire data. Worms, which are very similar to viruses, are also small parts of software that run themselves over computer networks and multiply in order to spread out to other computers and programs. A worm does not depend on an external program to be executed the way viruses do and scans the network from the host computer itself. Once it finds another computer it can attach itself to, it begins to replicate to attack more computers. Its ability to run by itself is often a concern among computer experts. Worms can thus have a devastating impact on computers and as such our economy as well. The Mydoom worm is a perfect example of how fatal it could be to have a worm on your computer. On the very day of its launch in March 1999, this worm infected more than a quarter million computers.

It is important to run a virus check every time you use your computer. Computer viruses are evolving all the time and the people creating them are doing their best to penetrate your computer and get an access to important data. Using Routers and firewalls is a good idea to save a computer from hackers who try to get an access to your computer by means of "port scanning". A router would not only block the scans but also slow down the process forcing the hacker to give up.

You can also set up a spyware scanning and removal program to tighten the security of your computer. You will find free antivirus software on the Internet that is easy to download and very effective as well. You can also contact a computer expert who can inform you about the various options available today. The key is to compare various features offered by different software to get maximum protection for your computer.

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