How To catch a virus

Heard this one before? You must run anti virus software and keep it up to date or else your Personnel Computer will get attacked, you'll lose all your data, and you'll incur the wrath of every e-mail buddy you unknowingly infect because of your carelessness.

You know they're right. Yet for one reason or another, you're not running antivirus support , or you are but it's not up to date. Maybe you turned off your virus scanner because it conflicted with another program. Maybe you got tired of upgrading after you bought Norton Antivirus 2001, 2002, and 2003. Or maybe your annual subscription of virus definitions recently expired, and you've put off renewing.

It happens. It's nothing to be ashamed of. But chances are, either you're infected right now, as we speak, or you will be very soon.

For a few days in late January, the Netsky.p worm was infecting about 2,500 PCs a day. Meanwhile the MySQL bot infected approximately 100 systems a minute (albeit not necessarily desktop PCs). As David Perry, global director of education for security software provider Trend Micro, puts it, "an unprotected [Windows] computer will become owned by a bot within 14 minutes."

Today's viruses, worms, and so-called bots--which turn your PC into a zombie that does the hacker's bidding (such as mass-mailing spam)--aren't going to announce their presence. Real viruses aren't like the ones in Hollywood movies that melt down whole networks in seconds and destroy alien spacecraft. They operate in the background, quietly altering data, stealing private operations, or using your PC for their own illegal ends. This makes them hard to spot if you're not well protected.

I should start by saying that not every system oddity is due to a virus, worm, or bot. Is your system slowing down? Is your hard drive filling up rapidly? Are programs crashing without warning? These symptoms are more likely caused by Windows, or badly written legitimate programs, rather than malware. After all, people who write malware want to hide their program's presence. People who write commercial software put icons all over your desktop. Who's going to work harder to go unnoticed?

Other indicators that may, in fact, indicate that there's nothing that you need to worry about, include:

An automated e-mail telling you that you're sending out infected mail. E-mail viruses and worms typically come from faked addresses. A frantic note from a friend saying they've been infected, and therefore so have you. This is likely a hoax. It's especially suspicious if the note tells you the virus can't be detected but you can get rid of it by deleting one simple file. Don't be fooled--and don't delete that file. I'm not saying that you should ignore such warnings. Copy the subject line or a snippet from the body of the e-mail and plug it into your favorite search engine to see if other people have received the same note. A security site may have already pegged it as a hoax.

See Also
antispyware removal
windows spyware removal

Protect your PC against External Security Threats

Computer viruses are not the only threat to your computer. Other threats that have come up in recent years are spyware, adware, hacking, identity theft, information theft, pop-ups and data loss.

Every computer user needs to protect his/her system in the same way they protect their home, car and bank account. You will never like to give the keys of your home to any stranger. Would you? Similarly, if you are not taking any steps for your PC protection, you are giving the keys to a stranger and letting him/her have full access to your system. And these strangers are none other than the computer hackers who will snoop around and take whatever they want.

With increasing advancements in technology, it’s no difficult for any Internet novice to access your computer online. Since the introduction of cable modems and DSL everyone’s PC is online all the time and accessible.

Outlined below are the tips you must follow to protect your Pc from internal as well as external threats:

Install a spyware removal software program and install and configure correctly. If you already have spyware application installed, ensure its up-gradation to keep refreshing its memory.

Install an Adware application and install and configure properly. If you already have adware application installed, ensure its up-gradation to keep refreshing its memory. And the same rule applies for your virus removal software program.

Install backup software, why because if something does get through your defenses or delete something by accident you always have a way of retrieving the information. You should try to backup your system at least every other day.
Install a Firewall. The Firewall can either be software or hardware based. It is a software which blocks hackers trying to scan your system while you are on the Internet.

In case you are bit confused about how to install/configure all these useful software, you can consider availing support from online computer support vendors. They can not only help you with these software programs but also troubleshoot your computer errors thereby enhancing its efficiency.

Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/protect-your-pc-against-external-security-threats-867567.html