There is a constant risk of virus and other threats that can compromise your computer out there.
To defend against these there are many things you can do but the top two or 3 are:
- Be Vigilant - DO NOT OPEN attachments on emails that you do not know the source of
- Never give your password, or any other information, to anyone you do not know or has rung you no matter what. If you think it is legitimate then call them back on the number you have for them and NOT the number they give you.
- Install anti virus software and Malware software - keep them up to date and run scans regular as recommend by the system.
However, if you do not use a company and are stuck for ideas we can share what we do.
We use two products, both the professional paid for versions as they do offer a lot more protection and are not exorbitant in price.
- For Virus portection: AVG Internet security (http://www.avg.com/ww-en/internet-security) Price point about £40.00* per annum for 1st computer - additional computes enjoy a significant reduction on this)
- For Malware Protection: MalwareBytes Anti-Malware Premium (www.malwarebytes.org/lp/antimalware/premium) - Price point is about £20.00* per annum and again a significant reduction on multiple computer purchases.
Both offer a further reduction if bought for more than 1 year.
Total for 1 PC is about £60 for the year - A little over a £1 per week for peace of mind. Got to be value
* Prices are shown as an approx guide and were about right in Dec 2015
But remember first talk to your own IT support company - after all they are the ones who will have to clean up after an attack for you.
What is Malware - see the Wikipedia definition at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware
What is A Virus - see the Wikipedia definition at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virus