Protect computer from virus: Computers make our lives easier by improving our working efficiency. Viruses are one of the most common causes of trouble with computers. Whether you are using your computer for personal projects or corporate needs, there is the need to protect it from attacks and hacking. Most of the hacking takes place through viruses and spyware.
To stay on the best side of life with your computer systems, you need to protect it from virus invasion. With adequate monitoring and protection, your system can serve you for long and more efficiently. This post describes five of the most effective ways you can protect your data and systems from virus threats.
But what if you ignore the security of your system? Is there anything to worry about? Definitely yes. Viruses and other unwanted programs can wreak havoc on your machine and do lots of destruction. At the minimum, viruses can corrupt your file systems and delete or manipulate your files. These nasty intruders can also send your information to hackers who can misuse personal details and even manipulate your investments or break your savings.
For most of us, banking and investment details reside on the cloud or the computer and smartphone. Someone having access to such information can render your life useless by taking over everything from you. There is every reason, therefore, to secure your system at all costs.
These are the five ways you can use to preserve your computer and protect it from virus invasion.
1. Install a Premium Antivirus:
An antivirus is a program that can detect the presence of viruses on a computer. The work of an antivirus is to remove the invasive software and keep your computer safe. Although there are so many antivirus programs in the market, they do not have the same level of effectiveness when it comes to computer security.
For instance, some can only scan your computer directories and ignore system-protected files. Yet, some viruses can change the files on your computer to appear as system files so that they can reside alongside your antivirus and keep spying on you.
A max security antivirus helps you protect your computer against unwanted viruses, spyware, and malware. To ensure highest level of security, you should install an antivirus with internet protection so that you can block viruses before they reach your computer. However, your choice should be a program that is easy on computer resources and does not interfere with your work when it scans your system.
2. Enable Your Firewall
A computer firewall is a program that creates a barrier between your computer and the network. Computers always communicate with networks using open ports and protocols. Each protocol uses a specified port to gain access to your computer and read and write information, depending on the computer’s level of settings.
You do not even need to open a web browser or download anything to get a virus. As long as your computer can communicate with external networks, you are at risk of getting viruses. However, a firewall will help you by limiting the communications on your computer to those you explicitly acknowledge. In this way, hackers cannot stealthily install viruses on your computer remotely.
3. Mind the Websites You Use
Sometimes, all you may need to protect yourself is avoiding what you do not need. Computer viruses are sometimes looming on the internet waiting for careless link clickers. When you receive an email, for example, you should tell what is legit and what is a phishing attempt. If you did not play any lottery, why would you be excited about the news of winning one?
Avoid, at all means opening links you receive in suspicious emails. You can install browser extensions that help you determine the reputation of the websites you are about to open so that you can avoid potentially harmful sites.
4. Update Your System
Hackers are always devising ways of attacking systems to get access to your information. New viruses take advantage of outdated systems and the security vulnerability to infiltrate their malicious software into your systems. Outdated versions of operating systems, like Windows XP and Windows 7 should not be used whatsoever.
Although the old systems can help you to power those old machines, they do not receive any updates and protection. You, therefore, need to invest in modern computers that run on the modern OSs that receive frequent updates. If you have to keep those old computers and operating systems, then do not use them for your job, and do not connect them to the internet or insert devices from unknown sources.
Regarding updates, you should always be sure that all programs on your computer are up-to-date. Web browsers, document editors or readers, and antivirus are the most-targeted pieces of software on your computer. By updating all the programs on your computer, alongside the OS, you can block so many loopholes hackers could use to attack you, and your system will remain secure.
5. Switch Your OS
Sometimes, it becomes more hard to keep up with everything, especially when you have to pay a prepaid fee for internet connection, and updates are released daily or weekly. It can also become cumbersome to follow all the guidelines, and all you want is to power on your computer, connect to the internet, and do your stuff.
Switching your OS might be ideal. And here I mean you move to Linux. Linux makes one of the most secure operating systems in the market. The reason behind this is that the security level on Unix-like systems is at a higher level. You cannot practically install or run a program on Linux without administrative rights (sudo or root privileges). Since there are only a few Linux users, it is not worth it for hackers to create viruses for the system, and it would be harder for them to cheat you into installing it.
In summary
Viruses are annoying and destructive software that invade computers and either lag your performance, steal your information, or render your computer useless. Avoiding the bugs is necessary to keep using your machine. It is vital to find the most appropriate method to protect the computer. For some, an antivirus goes a whole way to enhance their security. For those who think a high-end antivirus is beyond their budget, you might consider other options that will give you peace of mind.
