From the early days of computing, long before the Internet, there were viruses. Viruses like the Creeper, the Rother J, and the (c)Brain. Back then, the majority were fairly innocuous, spread by floppy disks or within a computer lab. And many were seen as practical jokes, delivering poems and other messages from computer to computer.
But today, personal computing and the Internet have progressed and become integral parts of our daily lives. Along with positive advances in technology, today's viruses have become more malicious and disruptive - deleting data, interfering with operating systems, corrupting applications, slowing performance, and spreading to others across local and wide area networks.
To help protect your computer from viruses, many companies have developed antivirus software. Such products as VIPRE, BitDefender, Kaspersky, Norton and McAfee just to name a few. These applications all come with the promise of preventing, detecting and removing malware from your machine. But how do they work? And what are the most important features to look for?
All antivirus applications run a variety of scans on your machine, everything from the hard drive to a specific file, looking for patterns and signatures that may indicate an infection. Following installation, you'll first want to run a Full System Scan, which goes through the entirety of your machine, including the system registry and BIOS. This will give your machine a clean slate going forward. Once complete, configure the software for automatic scans that run at least once a week. The settings for automatic scan can be adjusted to a specific day and time of your liking.
In addition to weekly scans, the second most important aspect of antivirus software is configuring it to automatically retrieve updates on a weekly basis. Updates are referred to as virus definitions or specifications for the application to discover and resolve new attacks. Without up-to-date virus definitions, your machine may become vulnerable as the number of viruses created and propagated electronically increases every day.
Lastly, you'll need to tell your application what to do when it finds a virus. Responses may include: exclude, delete or quarantine. In most instances, you'll want to delete. But occasionally, you may want to submit it to the manufacturer for further diagnosis.
Regardless of the software you choose, it's essential to have some kind of antivirus application protecting your personal data. While no application is fool proof and the styles and methods may vary, the basic intent remains the same - safeguarding your privacy.
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