Protecting Your Computer

Buying A Laptop

Even a knowledgeable computer user can be fooled by viruses, hackers and spyware. The most important thing is to take adequate precautions against these threats.

Use reliable and up-to-date anti-virus and personal firewall software on your PCs. While anti-virus software protects you from viruses, firewalls protect you from hackers on the Internet. Businesses should consider implementing an additional hardware firewall to protect the entire computer network.

Your computers are more likely to be hacked if they are on a high-speed Internet connection, because high-speed connections are usually "always on". This encourages a hacker's persistence in trying to break into your PC or network.

Make sure that virus definition updates are done regularly and automatically.The biggest mistake you can make is to rely on individual users to update their anti-virus and firewall software.

A Brief Look At Virus Removal

If you suspect that your machine has been infected by a virus, worm or Trojan, you need to do three things urgently:

1. Quarantine: This is an important step, since the majority of new viruses depend heavily on compromised machines to further propagate their attack on the Internet. Disconnect your machine from the Internet and physically remove the network cable from your computer, if it has one. This simple act could save thousands of other machines on the Internet or even your own machines on the local computer network.

Remember the "Code Red" and "Nimda" viruses that hit the world in 2001? Nimda infected more than 1.3 million computers in less than 24 hours! The damage caused worldwide was estimated at close to a staggering US$ 2 billion. Stay alert and don't let yourself become a part of similar unfortunate statistics.

2. Cure: If you're not comfortable with removing computer viruses on your own, call professionals who have expertise in this area.

3. Prevention: "Prevention is better than cure" probably applies more to virus protection than anything else in computing. Install reliable anti-virus software on your PCs and use regular, automatic updates to keep anti-virus definitions current. I recommend these anti-virus programs:

Recommended products for Home customers:

• Symantec Norton Antivirus
• Symantec Norton Internet security

Recommended products for Business customers:

• Symantec Antivirus corporate edition
• Symantec Client security

A Note on Spyware

If your browser is being high jacked or if you are bombarded with annoying pop up windows, you may have spyware on your PC. Spy software is distinctly different from viruses, but they are as sneaky and malicious in their own way. They install themselves on your PC without your permission, and proceed to cause havoc while spying on your passwords and online buying habits. If you suspect that your PC has spyware on it, again, call a professional. Spyware is often harder to remove than viruses.