It’s a trick, but definitely NOT a treat
All of us have gotten sick at one point in our lives. From a cold to pneumonia, we know that getting sick is not a feel-good experience. We lie in bed hoping the virus will pass as soon as possible.
All the while, we take that delicious cherry flavored nighttime medicine in the hopes that it will combat the virus we have contracted.
When the virus has finally passed, we feel like we have missed out on so many things because our lives were put on hold for several days.
Does this sound similar to what can happen with a computer when it gets infected by a virus?
A virus for humans is not so different from a computer virus. When a computer gets a virus, it may or may not show symptoms.
Some common symptoms can be your friends receiving odd e-mails from your email account and the infamous “blue screen of death,” to name a couple. One of the best ways to help combat viruses is through the use of anti-virus software.
Now comes the question of how computers become infected by a virus. This can happen in many different ways. Some of these ways can be when the user goes to strange websites, opens suspicious emails or clicks on suspicious links.
Often, several of these occur simultaneously. For instance, emails asking you to follow a strange link to provide personal information are sent out every day.
These emails, often referred to as “spam,” are a very common way for individuals to get computer viruses.
In order to help from getting sick, many people will get a flu shot or vaccine. This is similarly a function of an anti-virus software.
Anti-virus software – such as Norton, McAfee, Microsoft Security Essentials, Avast, AVG or Avira – works to help detect viruses before they can be installed onto your system in an attempt to reduce the amount of damage a virus can do.
Also, anti-virus software works to isolate and remove detected viruses that may already be on your computer.
This is just like how medicine helps to combat a virus in your body when you have already gotten sick.
Installing anti-virus software is a great way to add a layer of protection to your cyber life. Without it, your computer is more prone to becoming infected by some type of virus.
An anti-virus will scan your computer in an attempt to find and remove malicious files. Not only that, but it will also scan a program you are trying to install and warn you if it detects malicious code within that program before you even install the program.
Just as you do not care to get sick anytime soon, help your computer stay away from sicknesses as well by installing anti-virus software today.
For a list of some of the free and paid anti-virus software available and for more information on National Cyber Security Awareness Month, visit security.isu.edu. The list of anti-virus software may be found under the “Software Links” tab at the top of the page.
Eliot Long is a staff member at NIATEC
