IT Support

Protect your computer with software Protection

The high profile hacking of Sony’s Playstation Network is an unpleasant reminder that cyber criminals continue to be a genuine threat. The audacious attack exposed the personal information, and potentially the credit card details, of more than 3 million UK users. Following this attack the British government reiterated its plans to invest £650m in a National Cyber Security Programme.

Home users can, however, take their own steps to avoid the opening themselves up to the malicious software (malware) and viruses used by criminals.  You do not require the assistance of an IT support expert to protect your computer with software and common sense.

Malware can come in an array of forms and present themselves in a variety of ways:

The trojan horse is particularly common and may appear innocent but can cause untold problems if released on a home computer.

These may present themselves as pop-ups asking you to scan for viruses – if allowed they can crash computers and redirect people to the payment screen of a fake anti-virus websites, this type of malicious software is often called Scareware.

In 2010 Google found 11,000 such domains hosting fake anti-virus software accounting for 50 per cent of all the malware on the internet.

Other types of malware such as worms, which can reduce security on computer, can transfer themselves from computer to computer using emails.  With that in mind, it is always best not to open any email attachment that seems suspicious or you are uncertain about.

Clicking on suspect links can also allow Spyware, which can steal personal information for criminals, on to your computer.

Firewalls and anti-virus programmes should be installed, and regularly updated, to prevent viruses and malware installing themselves on home computers. Internal firewalls, know as sandbox programmes, can also be installed to create a secure ring around any temporary downloads taking place while surfing the internet.

Self replicating viruses, which maybe more malicious than criminal, can also be a nuisance if your computer becomes infected. They can even have disastrous consequences if you end up losing important documents or even sentimental photographs or videos. It is advisable to back-up anything of value on your computer just in case. Contracting a virus may result in slower running speeds, increased lag when surfing the web or for the internet browser to crash on a regular basis. It may also result in repeated pop-ups or unwelcomed icons appearing on the desktop.

Operating a powerful firewall and anti-virus scanners can, however, cause a similar affect putting too much demand on a PC – slowing internet sessions down. New cloud systems, which sit on remote servers and not on your PC, now promise to reduce demand on your computer and resolve some of these speed issues.

Having high settings on you firewall and anti-viruses programmes can also result in annoying pop-ups constantly asking you to give permission to access to certain websites.  This can also be reduced, if you are happy with the risk you are taking, by reducing the security settings.

Related Posts

No related posts.