Computers have become such an important part of modern society’s lives that you really can’t live without them. At home, computers are used for leisure, recreation, fun, and games, and social interaction. While on the go, users usually turn to their portable computing devices or smartphones for entertainment. And at work, most companies are run on completely computerized systems. This means that a virus spyware scan is undeniably critical if you want your computers to remain uncompromised.
You can’t assume that your computer is free from spyware, malware, and viruses just because it appears to be functioning well. Instead, deep scans and preventative efforts have to be taken to keep your computer running well. Here’s how you should protect your personal and work based computers.
How to Prevent Your Computer from Viruses and Malware
Put Up Strong Defenses
Getting onto the internet without a computer firewall and virus protection is pretty much inviting viruses into your front door. It is unfortunate but a lot of unsuspecting websites are infected with nasty viruses that can harm your computer instantly. Downloading a seemingly harmless computer game or opening a questionable email can also put your computer system in harm’s way. Almost anything that you do on your computer that is related to the web might result in your computer having malware covertly installed – without your consent and without you knowing it. Put up your defenses by first installing a firewall, and then looking at what kind of virus protection software offers the best shielding.
Research Virus Protection Options
There are virus protection tools that do most of the work automatically for computer users. When you buy a new computer, there is usually at least one virus protection program that is pre-installed with advanced virus blocking protocols and geared up to perform scans. You might find that that particular program is suitable for virus protection but you can also download something that works better for your computer personally. There are also malware and virus protection tools that can be used independently outside of your default computer security program. Tools like these can look even deeper at your system for registry edit changes and other signs that your computer is under attack. Just make efforts to protect your computer on all fronts and it will be hard for any type of malware to go unnoticed for long.
Check Your System’s Virus Protection Parameters
How often is your computer automatically scanned for viruses? Do you have your antivirus software set up so that threats are quarantined, deleted, with detailed logs generated? If you don’t know the answer to these questions then you probably aren’t doing enough to protect your computer from malware and viruses. Some parts of your computer security plan should be initiated regularly and automatically. Once you initiate your antivirus program you should be able to access the menu and customize each setting. Know what time your computer is scheduled to be scanned so that you can plan for downtime. You might want your computer to be scanned late at night when you know that you will be sleeping and no one will be accessing your computer.
Running Regular Malware Scans
If you run a virus scan on your computer once you can be sure that your system is completely safe. Consider virus scans like getting a flu vaccination – it might be good for the season, but with new strains being introduced, your computer’s ‘vaccination’ won’t be good forever. Because of this, you should have a set schedule in which your computer is checked up, checked out, and purged of all possible threats. For instance, you might manually scan your computer with one tool once per week, just to ensure that nothing gets through the cracks. Then another antivirus program should be performing quicker scans, perhaps once a day, to keep trojans and malware from infecting your system.
Acting as Soon as a Breach Occurs
Once a virus is downloaded, other parts of your computer’s defenses may weaken. Before you know it, you might go to get onto the internet and find that you are completely unable to. Many of today’s viruses are meant to hijack computer systems rather than destroy them. Some of the most popular malware tries to coerce computer users into paying for a ‘fix’ that was actually designed by the system hijackers themselves. It is unscrupulous and unorthodox, but if your computer were to be infected by a nasty virus you might be willing to do something pretty out of the ordinary just to get back online. This is why you can’t let a virus linger and you need to get rid of it as soon as you notice it.
As long as you are scanning your computer with multiple tools it will be impossible for viruses of any kind to penetrate your defenses. Keep your firewall up and running at all times to create a strong security layer. Next, download an antivirus program that scans your emails and checks internet links, and alerts you if anything looks suspicious. After that, run regular virus scans just to keep everything running as it should.
