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Friday
November 20, 2009 Since 1922 |
Free security software
By Aaron Barbee
Contributor Published February 22, 2009 Question: Hey Guru. I heard you gave a presentation to local business owners about how to save money on free anti-virus software from the Internet. Can you give me some pointers and examples on how to do so? Today’s times are tough and I can use all the help I can get.
Answer: There are three sides to protecting your computer while on the Internet; anti-virus, anti-spyware, and a firewall. Truth be told, viruses are really a thing of the past. Yeah, they’re still out there, but spyware is really what you need to be scared of. Don’t forget the firewall, it’s designed to keep the baddies out of your computer in the first place.
Like I said in the presentation, viruses are so 90’s. In its heyday viruses could cause havoc with e-mail, computer networks, and just computers in general. Some of the most heinous viruses I can think of off the top of my head are Blaster, I love you, Code Red, and Nimda. Any one of those guys could, and did, cripple huge computer systems. You may want to look them up on the Internet, they were really interesting pieces of work.
AVG is a really good anti-virus program to protect your computer, and the best part it’s completely free! I really don’t like Norton and McAfee, mainly because I’ve seen what they do to computers. Just Google AVG FREE and you should find a link to the free version. There’s a pay version too, but the free version does it all (automatic updates, automatic scans, cleans, etc). It’s what I use and give to my customers.
Spyware is the nasty stuff. It gets in your computer, makes popups, tricks you into buying stuff that doesn’t work, and slows your computer to a crawl. Think of spyware like a leech; the more you get the more performance will be drained from the computer. Spybot is a good anti-spyware program. The link to that one is easy it’s www.spybot.com. They work off of donations so the software itself is completely free.
The firewall is the most important piece of all your security software. It’s like your skin; it keeps the bad stuff out of the system as much as it can. Even though you have skin, germs can get in and cause problems. Same thing with a firewall, but it’s better than nothing.
One thing people misunderstand is that security software is not 100 percent bulletproof. Just like you can still get sick if you have skin and an immune system, your computer can still get infected even though it has a firewall and security software. The common cold won’t kill you, but if you decide to swim in the Antarctic Ocean, hypothermia may. Just be as careful as you can and the minute you get a popup that keeps coming back, bring it in and we’ll zap it before it becomes something worse.
Check out my web site www.TexasComputerGuru.com for supplemental information and previous articles as well.
Aaron Barbee owns Texas Computer Guru, a local computer services company for on-site business and residential needs. He can be contacted at 281-628-5099. E-mail questions for Aaron to sunnews(at)baytownsun.com.
Contributor Published February 22, 2009 Question: Hey Guru. I heard you gave a presentation to local business owners about how to save money on free anti-virus software from the Internet. Can you give me some pointers and examples on how to do so? Today’s times are tough and I can use all the help I can get.
Answer: There are three sides to protecting your computer while on the Internet; anti-virus, anti-spyware, and a firewall. Truth be told, viruses are really a thing of the past. Yeah, they’re still out there, but spyware is really what you need to be scared of. Don’t forget the firewall, it’s designed to keep the baddies out of your computer in the first place.
Like I said in the presentation, viruses are so 90’s. In its heyday viruses could cause havoc with e-mail, computer networks, and just computers in general. Some of the most heinous viruses I can think of off the top of my head are Blaster, I love you, Code Red, and Nimda. Any one of those guys could, and did, cripple huge computer systems. You may want to look them up on the Internet, they were really interesting pieces of work.
AVG is a really good anti-virus program to protect your computer, and the best part it’s completely free! I really don’t like Norton and McAfee, mainly because I’ve seen what they do to computers. Just Google AVG FREE and you should find a link to the free version. There’s a pay version too, but the free version does it all (automatic updates, automatic scans, cleans, etc). It’s what I use and give to my customers.
Spyware is the nasty stuff. It gets in your computer, makes popups, tricks you into buying stuff that doesn’t work, and slows your computer to a crawl. Think of spyware like a leech; the more you get the more performance will be drained from the computer. Spybot is a good anti-spyware program. The link to that one is easy it’s www.spybot.com. They work off of donations so the software itself is completely free.
The firewall is the most important piece of all your security software. It’s like your skin; it keeps the bad stuff out of the system as much as it can. Even though you have skin, germs can get in and cause problems. Same thing with a firewall, but it’s better than nothing.
One thing people misunderstand is that security software is not 100 percent bulletproof. Just like you can still get sick if you have skin and an immune system, your computer can still get infected even though it has a firewall and security software. The common cold won’t kill you, but if you decide to swim in the Antarctic Ocean, hypothermia may. Just be as careful as you can and the minute you get a popup that keeps coming back, bring it in and we’ll zap it before it becomes something worse.
Check out my web site www.TexasComputerGuru.com for supplemental information and previous articles as well.
Aaron Barbee owns Texas Computer Guru, a local computer services company for on-site business and residential needs. He can be contacted at 281-628-5099. E-mail questions for Aaron to sunnews(at)baytownsun.com.