Computing with Cait

Are you prepared for a virus attack?  Being prepared means that:

1. You have virus protection software installed on your computer,

2. New virus definitions are installed on a regular basis, and

3. Your computer is scanned on a regular basis. 

Many people will complete the first step which is to have the virus protection software installed but do not use the software correctly. Having virus software installed but not updating it and scanning on a regular basis is like having a lock on a building but never locking it.

Periodically, we hear in the news about major virus attacks when many computers are affected or a large computing system is shut down. What you may not be aware of is the fact that new viruses are released every day and attack smaller numbers of computers. One of those computers could be yours!

Viruses are unwanted software programs that are designed to be malicious or harmful to your computer system. Their activities can range from simply writing a message on your screen to inactivating the applications you run on your system or wiping out crucial data.   Reconstruction of lost data is time consuming if you have backups and devastating if you don’t.

There are three major steps that you need to follow to protect your system against virus attacks.

1. Install virus checking software on your system. When the software is installed make sure that it is set up to automatically scan your email and any downloaded files.
2. Make sure that new virus definitions are installed on a regular basis. As new viruses are discovered your software needs to be updated so that it protects you against them. This usually involves going to the web site of the virus software provider and downloading these new definitions.
3. Scan your system on a regular basis.

Steps 2 and 3 can often be set up to run automatically.  If your virus software has this feature, you should use it.  Installing the anti-virus software and using it correctly can save you time and money.