Best Form of Protection is Prevention

When you work with your computer and especially when you browse the internet, keep in my mind that while no antivirus system in the world can completely eliminate the risk caused by infiltrations and attacks, adherence to two key strategies will greatly minimize your risk:

The computer system and antivirus software need to be consistently updated
Basic security rules should be followed

See below for more detail on these concepts.


Update regularly

According to the statistics from ThreatSense.Net, thousands of new, unique infiltrations are created each day in order to bypass existing security measures and bring profit to their authors--all at the expense of other users. The specialists at ESET’s virus lab analyze those threats on a daily basis and prepare and release updates in order to continually improve the level of protection for users of the antivirus program.

An incorrectly configured update decreases the effectiveness of the program. For more information on how to configure updates, click here .



Download security patches

The authors of malicious software prefer exploiting various system vulnerabilities in order to increase the effectiveness of spreading malicious code. That’s why software companies watch closely for new vulnerabilities in their applications to appear and release security updates eliminating potential threats on a regular basis. It's important to download these security updates as they are released. Examples of such applications include the windows operating system or widely-used internet browser Internet Explorer.


Backup important data

Malware writers usually do not care about users’ needs, and the activity of malicious programs often leads to total malfunction of the operating system and the deliberate damage of important data. It's important to regularly backup your important and sensitive data to an external source such as a DVD or external hard drive. Precautions such as these make it far easier and faster to recover your data in the event of system failure.


Regularly scan your computer for viruses

A regular automatic scan of your computer with the proper settings can remove infiltrations that may have been missed due to your computer containing old virus signature updates. For detailed information on creating a regular automatic scan as a scheduled task, click here .


Follow basic security rules

This is the most useful and most effective rule of all – be cautious. Today, many infiltrations require user intervention in order to be executed and distributed. If you are cautious when opening new files, you will save considerable time and effort that would otherwise be spent cleaning infiltrations your computer.

Some useful rules are:

Do not visit websites with multiple pop-ups and flashing advertisements.
Be careful when installing freeware programs, codec packs, etc. Do not download unknown programs from websites with which you are not familiar.
Be cautious when opening email attachments, particularly mass-mailed messages and messages from unknown senders.
Don't use an Administrator account for everyday work with your computer.
Don't open email attachments from unknown recipients.
Don't open email attachments from known recipients if you are not expecting them.
Be cautious of freeware programs.
Be cautious when using Peer-to-Peer file sharing software (BitTorrent, Limewire, etc.).

Click here for more information on prevention.

Related NOD32 FAQ Category:
Home Edition/ESET Smart Security

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