An effective and top notch anti-virus software should be easy to install and use. It should be capable of effectively seeking out and identifying threats caused by malware. A powerful anti-virus program should also be capable of cleaning and isolating infected files.
When looking for the right anti-virus program for your computer, be sure to consider the availability and the proficiency of the product’s technical support.
TopTenREVIEWS, which is known to help people in choosing products by making comparisons and in-depth reviews, has provided a set of product evaluation criteria for anti-virus software applications.
The first criteria is the ease of use. This means that an anti-virus product should be simple and user-friendly. To be continued.
Setting up an anti-virus on your computer is very easy. You can choose to download free anti-virus such as AVG Free Advisor and AVAST! Home Edition. Or you can also buy anti-virus software like the Norton Anti-virus, Sophos Anti-virus, McAfee and the like.
For the downloaded free anti-virus, you just have to run the .exe or setup file you have downloaded, follow the instructions that will be given and there you go.
For the anti-virus you bought, follow the instructions that can be found on the product manual.
Make sure that you configure your anti-virus software to run on your computer during system start-up to maximize security.
The following are the continuation of the list of the common symptoms of virus existence on your computer from the previous post:
There are unexpected changes to file properties. Viruses can alter these – increasing the file’s size, modify date of creation, and even change the filenames.
There are many reasons that can cause you a problem in starting up your computer, but frequently is it a boot virus attack.
Viruses can cause some programs to suddenly shut down.
Other symptoms are strange open-close activity of the CD-ROM tray, the automatic movement of the mouse and keyboard inputs, etc.
It is not easy to tell if some virus has already gone its way to your computer. That’s why we strongly recommend that you install anti-virus software, or much better if you install more than one of it. The following are the common symptoms of a viral infection on your PC, although there are times that the following are not caused by a virus:
Your PC is running slower than usual. This can be due to too many processes and programs running at the same time or a problem with your network, but can also be caused by a virus infection.
Certain files or programs can not be opened. It is possible that a virus has erased parts of the files or programs that are necessary for the file to open or for the program to run.
Installing software that screens out viruses on your computer is an edge to protect your data or files from being infected of some viruses which can cause computer crash loosing now all important files that are saved on your computer. At the most fundamental sense, anti-virus software is the first line of defense of your computer system in order to maintain the intactness of its programs and other saved data. In buying or choosing reliable anti-virus software, here are some guidelines:
1. Automatic Updates. It should have an automatic updates wherein every time you will turn on, boot or reboot your computer, the anti-virus software will at the same time be running to scan different vaults to search any virus.
2. Ability to Detect. The anti-virus software should have a feature in which it can easily detect virus and provide any warning icon as a signal that a certain virus has intruded the system of your network. In this manner, it will be easy for the computer and anti-virus user to heal of cure the infected area reducing now the possibility of spreading it out contaminating other data or programs.
3. Set up. The anti-virus should include easy set up for the user to be at his or her convenient in utilizing the anti-virus.
The famed micro-blogging site was again targeted by an attack that re-directed users to sites that took the usual form of malware laden sites, telling users to install software that in fact did nothing but loaded their system with exploits that is reserved for later by hackers. The detected problems had computer systems made ready for drive-by attacks that would get hold of their user data and log in’s for the many other social sites or those they find saved on the computer’s memory for their use in identity attacks. Much more dangerous that the previous attack which was more the result of a bored teen who wanted to become famous, responsible for the Mikey attack that victimized and spread much like malware, using the saved names in the database sending out copies of itself as it goes out to propagate. That time, there was a mere nuisance message that kept popping up everywhere but this time round, security analysts have found links to organized criminal groups that have been poised to take advantage of the security flaws should it have not been detected. (more…)
Symantec has long been recognized as one of the security software industry’s biggest players yet even these blokes are prone to make errors. Some while back as their developers were out to test some features of their virus scanners and other security software, they unknowingly released a test file without attaching a valid and proper security certificate, and what do you know, they tried to make it disappear. As it turns out, the file was supposed to be a valid test program and in fact it was, yet the lack of the security signature had it recognized as such and as an attempt to infiltrate the computer systems of their clients. On the client side, their firewalls set out and performed what they were designed to do, and that was to block the attempt to allow entry to their protected systems. System administrators and personal users alike got so worried that they flooded the support site for information due to fear of a large-scale hacking attack that may be trying to get into their system. (more…)
Continued from the previous post…………
There is also a facility that allows people to report attack sites that have either been pre-loaded with malware or exploits that can later be used for hacking attacks for whatsoever reason. The way Google searches also tends to expose the power of their bots that also gather data on the overall site statistics and other facts about a particular page where it finds the said information thus becoming a sort of data store for hackers to use. These hackers somehow managed to circumvent security measures in place, intercepting the data the bots gather and stores them in some remote area or hidden site on the web where hackers check regularly for the easiest sites to get into. (more…)
In security that is and the stuff of fiction has become reality when hackers developed a bit that uses it’s immense search capabilities to do their dirty work for them. Everybody knows that when it comes to searching for information on the internet, nobody can come close to Google’s never ending banks of data center servers and storage racks. (more…)
The world would be a better place if there were no malware around the internet which we have become so dependent on. May it be for research, casual browsing or ranting on your blog, we seldom go on each and every day of our lives without logging into the internet. The many malware out on the internet is one of the signs that it is well loved and hated by so many. There is one thing that you can do though, help the many security software developers out there, by enabling the ability of such software to send in samples of the virus/worm or malware into their laboratories for them to take a hack at.
These people are hackers themselves only on the good side of the law in the forever raging battle between good and evil in what is the internet. After all, what is life without a bit of spice, which these malware provides to the many users and developers out there who are out to get at each other.
