Now that we have covered the general background of computer viruses, it all comes down to one thing: how do you prevent it? The good news is that it is very easy to prevent and it is not going to take long to explain this to you.

Here are the general preventative techniques. Some of these will be obvious. Others perhaps not as much.

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1. Install and use an anti-virus program. I will list some options for you below. This single act will prevent almost any type of infection you can have.
2. Enable any real-time monitoring that comes with your security suite. This will watch your computer for any signs of infection at the time of execution.
3. Set the update schedule on automatic for your anti-virus software so that you do not rely on your memory to keep your virus definitions up to date.
4. Allow the software to perform a full system scan of your hard drives for viruses at least twice per month.
5. Be sure to virus scan ALL software and attachments that come from the internet.
6. Just in case, prepare a rescue disk with critical system files that will allow you to boot the computer in case of a serious issue that keeps the system from properly booting.
7. Go into your BIOS and make the C drive your primary boot drive. In other words, place the C drive first in your boot order. This will mitigate somewhat the effect of boot record viruses from external media such as floppies.
8. Do not download or install software from questionable sources, such as sites with illegal “warez” software. In short, any pirated software site or porn site is a sure-fire way to get your computer infected quickly.
9. Keep your operating system patched with the latest updates. Users of Windows need to run Windows Update fairly often because they are always finding and patching vulnerabilities in that operating system.
10. Treat all email suspiciously if it has an attachment. Even if the email looks like it came from a close friend or family member, the virus examples above should show you that sometimes that only means your friend or family member has an infected PC.
11. Regularly back up your files. Should the worse happen, you can always get your data back from backups.
12. The chance is probably as high as 99% that any virus that makes it’s way to your computer will do so via your internet connection. So, as long as you have your defenses up on things coming IN to your computer, you will be fine. The primary focus of attention will be on your email and anything that you download. Keep in mind that when you are surfing the internet, you are downloading code in order to display websites. So, surfing the internet counts as downloads and needs to be watched as well.

There are a lot of different options out there for anti-virus software:

• Norton Antivirus. This is perhaps the most popular option and is a quality product. Symantec is a leader in anti-virus and you are generally in good hands using their product.
  www.symantec.com
• Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal. Another good anti-virus suite with a team that is very quick to responding to and releasing new virus updates when a new virus is discovered.
  www.kaspersky.com
• McAfee VirusScan Plus. Another good scanner, also including SiteAdvisor which supposedly helps you against spyware and phishing sites.
  www.mcafee.com
• Panda Antivirus. Guards against viruses and spyware with a light system footprint.
  www.pandasecurity.com
• F-PROT Antivirus. Defense against viruses, spyware and malicious ActiveX controls. Also allows for command line scans in Windows safe mode.
  www.f-prot.com
• AVG Anti-Virus. Another quality product, most notable for also having a FREE personal edition available, creatively called AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition. The free versions works quite well for typical home user use.
  www.grisoft.com
  free.grisoft.com
• Nod32. A very fast and lightweight anti-virus scanner which has been around for years. Definitely a good option if system performance impact is of major concern to you.
  www.eset.com

There are many, many others. Obviously, with the prevalence of the threat and the fact that so many people use Windows, a lot of companies have gotten on the bandwagon offering their own security suites for Windows.

A user of Mac OS X also has some antivirus options available to them, although it is debatable that they have a strong need to have anything installed. If they do wish to have something, a Mac user might try:

• ClamXav. A free virus checker for Mac OS X. www.clamxav.com
• Norton Antivirus for Mac. www.symantec.com/nav/nav_mac/
• Sophos. www.sophos.com
• McAfee VirusScan. www.mcafee.com/us/enterprise/products/anti_virus/file_servers_desktops/virex.html

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