The user of Personal Computers are ever exposed to the numerous threats from various quarters. There are an estimated number of more than two lakh malicious programmes to harm our PCs and the number still keeps on growing at an alarming rate. And the most common routes these find their ways into our systems are E-mail, Messenger through our internet connection and web browser and play havoc with our systems.
It is a fact of life that the threat posed by this comes from a section of people who are knowledgeable, sophisticated and ingenious and all the time striving to catch us napping. Yet it is possible to take some pragmatic measures to ward off such attacks. Although all PCs have anti-virus software installed and it is important to update it on a regular basis to take care of the new viruses. It is possible that at times these anti-virus softwares may not be that effective. In such a scenario to scan your PC through the web. Now companies such Trend Micro, Kaspersky and Microsoft scan free which can accessed freely. There is an organization called Computer Emergency Response Team ( CERT) which can guide you in having safe net connection. Avira, Avast and AVG all they provide free anti-virus softwares free and one can access these products.
Firewall also provides a lot of security and newer versions of Windows XP have firewall features which successfully block serious attempt at subversion. Although many feel that if offers limited protection. Some of the anti-virus softwares have in-built firewalls. There are firms such as Comodo and Zone Alarm who specialize in firewalls.
It is always advisable to prevent an infection than curing it through a clean-up. Google has been warning about potentially harmful sites. Microsoft regularly informs with the updates and have security patches on a monthly basis and with automatic updating patches are downloaded and applied as soon as these are released.
In raising our level of preparedness to face these threats we need to use our common sense and follow certain simple steps.