Computer security in a matter of concern for all of us. If we are not alert we may be attacked by malicious hackers, trojans, worms, rootkits, keyloggers, malware, etc. These threats may affect our computer through internet, CDs, pen drives and other secondary storage devices. These threats may wreck our computer partially or may cause a total destruction.

Antivirus softwares are the solution to these threats. There are many good antivirus software out in the market. But many people don’t know that any antivirus software cannot render a computer fully virus proof. Antivirus software also uses lots of resources like RAM, hard disk space, etc. We must use antivirus software to get rid of these threats and these antivirus software must be updated daily on the internet to reap their benefits and stay safe but what if a person has no internet connection at home? What if a person does not want to spend money on antivirus software? What does a person do then? Well, there are free antivirus software and although they work they are not as good as their paid counterparts and do not provide total security.

The trojans, rootkits, worms, etc. all affect the Microsoft Windows platform. The Windows Operating sytems are vulnerable to these kind of threats. There is another safer alternative to Windows Operating system. Ubuntu. Ubuntu is an operating system based on the Linux kernel. Ubuntu is free software unlike Windows, is not affected by the above-mentioned threats. Ubuntu does not need antivirus software and so is a better alternative to Windows platform. Still, a user has to take the necessary precautions on the internet to be safe.

Some precautions to be taken are –
1.    Never click links sent to you in mail. Copy-paste or type it in the address bar of your browser.
2.    Don’t click ads on free stuff. Most free games, songs, etc contain viruses.
3.    Even if you don’t want to buy antivirus software, use free antivirus software.
4.    If you don’t have an internet connection, go to a internet café and update your antivirus software at least monthly.
5.    Use rootkit detection software, malware detection software to check for rootkits or malware.
6.    No website is going to ask for your id and password because of technical error. So go to that website directly and try to login, if you can’t do that, contact the websites admin.

This is my first article, so if I’ve made mistakes, or you have some suggestion, please let me know.