Do I Need Antivirus Protection?

Yes, you do need protection from computer viruses. Viruses can infect a computer from many different sources. If you receive an email with an attachment do not open it unless you are expecting it, even if it is from an address you recognize. If the email attachment was from an address you recognize, get some kind of confirmation from the sender that they intended to send it. Otherwise delete the email and attachment immediately.

A strange email is still the most common way of infection, but in today’s information sharing world it is not the only one. Many home users are joining file-sharing networks to trade videos, music, and documents. Few of these networks have administrators protecting their users from viruses and other harmful activity.

We strongly recommend running antivirus software on any computer as well turning on its auto-update features to update daily. New viruses can be created everyday and old viruses can be changed to avoid being detected by outdated antivirus software. Most antivirus software will scan incoming email, outgoing email, and files being copied to the computer. Once a virus is located, the antivirus software should give the option of removing the virus or locking it up to avoid infection until a removal method is known.

Another way to protect your computer is to update your software regularly. Updating windows and all programs that use an Internet connection can patch security holes that would otherwise allow viruses to connect and infect the computer.