Malware – Virus Protection and Internet Safety Tips

Malware – Virus Protection and Internet Safety Tips

In this article we will be looking at some of best free and paid Internet security software available
and also some of the practices to keeping you and your computer safe from viruses, malware, hackers and cyber criminals.

Here is some precautions that every computer user should implement into their computer security:

  1. Install a free Antivirus or paid Internet Security Suite with firewall protection. This is going to be the first stage of protection, if using the free antivirus option, you will need a firewall Emsisoft Online Armor Firewall or Comodo Free Firewall other good free firewall is Private Firewall For antivirus software I will choose Avast FREE PC protection software from malware and viruses. For paid Internet Security Suite I would go with Bitdefender or Kaspersky another one that you might want to consider is ESET these are all reputable companies that give your computer the best protection against all the latest viruses.
  2. Use a second line of defense. Now days with the amount of malware and other malicious types of software that can infect your computer or mobile device, its best to use a real time scanner with you antivirus. I have two here to choose from Malwarebytes Pro and Emsisoft Anti-Malware These have superior detection when it comes to Malware, Junkware and Man-in the middle browser Trojan.
  3. Use an on-demand scanner. Never assume your computer is clean, get a second opinion with other software like Hitmanpro It only have a 30 day trial, but you can still use it and run scan of the system, after 30 days you won’t be able to remove infected files, but it will still detect them. If you detect more malware, you can always run Free Online Virus Scanner from ESET
  4. Scan for Adware. Adware / Junkware / Spyware is a big problem on the internet today, most antivirus don’t detect potently unwanted programs PUP To stop annoying advertisements and pop-up ads, these nasty bits of malicious software can cause havoc to a computer system. You PC can suffer sluggish or slow internet browsing, redirects to advertisement sites that you never searched for. The creators of these fake or useless programs and toolbars can collect your surfing habits and data from your browser. To rid these from the computer, run scan with ADWCleaner and Junkware Removal tool
  5. Make routine or schedule antivirus scans. It’s very important to run regular full virus scan of your windows computer system once a week, doing this will detect and pick up any PUP’s (potently unwanted programs) viruses, malware, worms, spyware, or any other threats that may have dropped onto the system.
  6. Keep your virus definitions up-to-date. This is a very important step, you want to make sure you have automatically install the latest virus definitions and software updates. Another common mistake is letting your paid subscription run out on paid antivirus software, this means you can’t update to the latest virus definitions.
  7. Keep Windows up-to-date. Keeping your Windows operating system up to date with security patches and services packs is very important, this can block any security holes in your operating system. Never use pirated cracked software. These can be packed with backdoor Trojans.
  8. E-mail spam blocking or filtering. A lot of junk or spam e-mail can be harmless most of the time. But there is a nasty type of e-mail that use a phishing tactic’s to try and convince you that you have won a prize or you’re entitled to a refund of money or you have a parcel waiting for delivery to you or your bank needs you to update your banking details. This of course is a scam and they are trying to con you out of your money, the e-mail messages can contain viruses or worms, which can install a backdoor in your computer system to exploit your network and steal your sensitive personal data and login information details to your bank. Using software like MailWasher can help stop email spam. You can also use software to protect you if you do bank online, it’s called Trusteer Rapport a lot of banks use this software to protect their customer’s.
  • Never click on hyperlinks in your e-mail
  • Never open attachments from a stranger or unknown source.
  • Look for Typos and Poor Grammar.
  • Scam Email use greeting “Dear Customer”. This is a fake email, your bank would use your full name.
  • Phishing emails will request personal information from you, such as your bank account information, mother’s maiden name, passwords, secret question and answer etc etc. Your bank will never ask for this information in an email or ask you to perform security-related changes to your bank account details in an email.
  • Never use public computer like cyber café or wireless connect to do online banking. Because you’re personal information could be store on the computer and retrieved at a later date by a cyber-criminal or hacker.
  • Always use strong passwords and change them regularly. Use at least 10 to 15 characters with capital letters and lower-case letters, also use a mixture of numbers and special characters. (example 8oB_S@m#$xX-)
  • Avoid password that contain birth dates, family names, pet names, football teams, these can be easily social engineered from you.
  • Never store sensitive information on your computer.
  • Never let a stranger remote into your computer.
  • Use password encryption software like lastpass

9. Never use bad reputation file sharing websites or peer-to-peer (P2P) networks or torrent sites. If you are going to download freeware or any other type of content from the internet, make sure it’s from a reliable source. Pirated software and cracks contain Viruses, Malware, Trojans, Rootkit, Spyware, and Worms. These can lay hidden and undetected on the computer system to the average user.

That’s it, Hope this article helps you out. Please share with friends and family.

Latest Comments

  1. Luc L. March 16, 2015
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