Computer Virus Information

What is a computer virus?

Think of a biological virus – the kind that makes you sick. It’s persistently nasty, keeps you from functioning normally and often requires something powerful to get rid of it. A computer virus is very similar. Designed to relentlessly replicate, computer viruses infect your programs and files, alter the way your computer operates or stop it from working altogether. It’s estimated that the Conficker virus infected more than 10 million computers in 2009. Tens of thousands of computer viruses now operate over the Internet, and new computer viruses are discovered every day.

How does a computer virus find me?

Even if you’re careful you can pick up computer viruses through normal Web activities like:

Sharing music, files or photos with other users
Visiting an infected Web site
Opening spam email or an email attachment
Downloading free games, toolbars, media players and other system utilities
Installing mainstream software applications without fully reading license agreements

What does a computer virus do?

Some computer viruses are programmed to harm your computer by damaging programs, deleting files, or reformatting the hard drive. Others simply replicate themselves or flood a network with traffic, making it impossible to perform any internet activity. Even less harmful computer viruses can significantly disrupt your system’s performance, sapping computer memory and causing frequent computer crashes.

What are the symptoms of a computer virus?

Your computer may be infected if you recognize any of these malware symptoms:

Slow computer performance
Erratic computer behavior
Unexplained data loss
Frequent computer crashes

Computer Virus Help: Arming yourself with the best computer virus protection?

When you arm yourself with information and resources, you’re wiser about computer security threats and less vulnerable to threat tactics. Take these steps to safeguard your PC with the best computer virus protection:

Make sure that you have the best security software products installed on your computer:

Use antivirus protection and a firewall
Get antispyware software
Always keep your antivirus protection and antispyware software up-to-date
Update your operating system regularly
Increase your browser security settings
Avoid questionable Web sites
Only download software from sites you trust. Carefully evaluate free software and file-sharing applications before downloading them.

Practice safe email protocol:

Don't open messages from unknown senders
Immediately delete messages you suspect to be spam

An unprotected computer is like an open door for computer viruses. Firewalls monitor Internet traffic in and out of your computer and hide your PC from online scammers looking for easy targets. Products like Webroot Internet Security Essentials and Webroot AntiVirus with Spy Sweeper provide complete protection from the two most dangerous threats on the Internet – spyware and computer viruses. They thwart threats before they can enter your PC, stand guard at every possible entrance of your computer and fend off any computer virus that tries to enter, even the most damaging and devious strains.

While free antivirus downloads are available, they just can't offer the computer virus help you need keep up with the continuous onslaught of new strains. Previously undetected forms of can often do the most damage, so it’s critical to have up-to-the-minute, guaranteed antivirus protection.