Eazy Computers – Utah Computer Blog

In this article I will describe how you can protect yourself and your information from malicious software and individuals. In this day and age, we rely heavily on the use of our computers. We are doing everything from research, to paying bills online. It is important that we protect our computers from harmful software and unscrupulous individuals whose intents are all but pleasant.

Malware is malicious software, hence the name. This software is designed to be installed onto our computer systems without our approval. The word “virus” is often used to describe all types of malware but is actually just one classification. I won’t go to deep into the concept because the intention of this article is to educate the reader on how he (or she) can protect his (or her) self. The people who most commonly report virus problems are computer users who do not usually take precautions while online, have children, or grandchildren using there computer, or simply made a mistake.

One thing that you will want to keep up on is your software updates. This will patch known vulnerabilities in your operating system and software that you have installed. If you want to manually run your updates on Windows XP go to : http://update.microsoft.com. In vista and Windows 7 you will access it from the control panel.

Some common ways that malware is spread is as follows: file-sharing programs, pirated software, web browser vulnerabilities, local network, files downloaded from any source, e-mail, etc. How do you prevent from downloading and executing viruses on your computer systems? First you will want to install some anti-virus. I use, as well as recommend Kaspersky Antivirus to all of my customers. Secondly, you must not run or open any programs that you are not certain are legitimate. The anti-virus software is usually pretty good at detecting malware before you have a chance to execute it but is not very effective once the software has been executed and released its payload.

An executable file in windows is usually determined by its .exe file extension. If you execute malware on your system and do not have the knowledge to remove it manually, you will have to take it to a professional for repair. Beware of computer companies who claim to do virus removal who will just simply re-install your operating system. In some cases it is necessary and occasionally desired, but I would say 90% of the time it can be avoided by anyone who has the knowledge of how the operating system and different kinds of malware work. This concludes our article. If you have any questions please feel free to contact your friendly professionals at Eazy Comptuers.