What you should know about viruses...

Viruses and Spyware are actually two different forms of “Malware”. Although, they are both similar, they are different types of threats and need to be handled differently. It is of the utmost importance that you install both anti-virus and anti-spyware software on your computer. Fortunately, some of the best Anti-virus programs are free! That’s right, absolutely gratis. Grisoft has a great program known as AVG and can be downloaded for free at http://grisoft.com and Avast also has a terrific program known as (unsurprisingly) Avast, which can be found at (you guessed it…) Http://avast.com . Also worth mentioning (though it is not free) is NOD32 which is an excellent program.

Regarding spyware, Microsoft Windows Defender is a fantastic program. It is also free and you can get your copy by visiting http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Search.aspx?displaylang=en. This will protect you against most spyware out there.

Again, if you are on a PC (Mac’s generally have less trouble with viruses/spyware) it is imperative that you protect it. The internet is full of threats that are running constantly. I have personally installed Windows XP on a machine and within 1 minute it had become infected by the Sasser virus and I had to do a complete reinstall.

While no software can keep you totally safe, these products do a first rate job and they are completely free. Install them today.

Even with a good Anti-virus/anti-spyware system in place, you must still use common sense. Don’t open suspicious email attachments; be cautious when you install programs from the internet… A good rule of thumb is: If it is free, or cute there is a good chance it has some kind of Malware…

Good luck and safe computing!