08-31-06

Just like any other viral threat, prevention is preferred over treatment -- and it's usually much more effective.

A Virus By Any Other Name...
They are called viruses for good reason, for their actions eerily emulate their biological namesakes. For instance, many travel swiftly, wildly and freely, across open and commonly used spaces, and they infiltrate through various forms of direct and indirect contact. Sounds a lot like the Internet, doesn't it? -- where diverse contact is made via emails, downloads, file sharing and more. Likewise, the most damaging kinds of viruses are often the most highly contagious, and they carry the power to spread themselves in order to pass their harmful contagions along, i.e., to survive.

In layperson's terms, a computer virus can be defined as follows:

It's a form of malicious software - also referred to as malware - that reaches your computer (most times) uninvited. The forms of malware that antivirus solutions protect against include viruses,

The essential phrase to key-in on above is "must be run." You see, a virus is software, and, like any other software program, it cannot affect your PC, or do harm, unless its code is executed and the program actually runs. This is important to know, because it gets to the heart of how security software. Like a sentry standing guard at all entrances, Anti-Virus software inspects all media that enter a system, searching for signs of possible infection, and when it comes across any potentially infected files, it refuses to copy them into memory or storage. This is called scanning, and it's a vital function, because any files that are denied access to PC memory cannot run, cannot execute and cannot unleash their potentially damaging payload.

At the Sign of a Threat...
Now, your next logical question should be: How does the software know what to screen for? Simple. Each new virus that is unleashed "in the wild" bears an individual signature, a fingerprint, if you will, that identifies that virus as a threat to PC users. The trick to being the most effective antivirus software provider lies in the amount of virus signatures the software can accurately identify, and how frequently the provider's software updates the subscriber's PC to recognize and repel new viruses. These updates are called virus signature file updates. Why? Because the more virus signatures the software is able to identify, and the more frequently that information is downloaded to users, the better the user's protection will be, and the safer that user remains when online. As malicious programmers work feverishly throughout the world, on any given day and from any given hideout, to unleash the latest and most sophisticated computer viruses.

Why is it so important to stay updated?
Because the damage is all too real...

Self-propelled spreading of viruses via email to everyone in your own address book - family and friends alike! Inexplicably deleted or modified files Degradation in PC performance that slows down productivity System instability that leads to frequent freezes and crashes Trojan worms unleashed via virus - they can steal and forward sensitive information, plus lead to identity theft Security settings compromised to facilitate additional infiltration

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