Going online without any protection is the same with going to the battlefield without any weapon. Did you know that 90% of computer users in the U.S are infected by malware?

Malware are software that have malicious intent and can do lot of things. It can steal your username, password, take control of your PC, slow down your PC and many more.

Even big companies also use malware in their product. For example, Sony put a rootkit inside their CD to prevent piracy. Even though they are a big company, using malicious software inside their product is unacceptable.

There are few types of malware and below is the list for 7 types of malicious software and a brief description of each:

1. Spyware

As the name implies, spyware is software that will spy on everything you do, which websites you’re visiting, your browsing habit, installing additional software and changing your homepage. You can remove it by installing antispyware.

2. Adware

Few books have different opinions on adware, some categorized it as spyware but displays advertising, others put adware into their own category. Whatever the category is, adware is software that displays advertising and it can be installed legally inside your PC. The mass amount of pop-ups that you’re experiencing while surfing the internet can be caused by adware.

3. Rootkit

Rootkit is software that can hide it presence inside your PC. Even your antivirus will not be able to detect it. However, if you schedule your antivirus to scan before your Windows boot up, then you might be able to get a chance to remove it. Another way that you can try is to use the Rootkit Revealer by SysInternal.

4. Trojan Horse

Trojan Horse is software named after the famous Trojan Horse in the Greek Mythology. As the name implies, this malicious software will only do his job if you execute it and usually disguise itself as a folder to trick you.

5. Worm

A computer worm is software that can infect your PC and will turn your PC into a zombie computer. A zombie computer is a computer that can be controlled by the hackers and usually is used to execute the DDoS attack and for example, the Conficker Worm.

6. Virus

I think this is one of the most famous malicious software. A computer virus is software that can replicate itself in your system and will infect certain file types and making it useless. There are also viruses that infect .doc files or .swf files.

The term virus also used to describe other types of malware such as Trojan Horse and Computer Worms. Technically, it’s not the same.

7. Keylogger

Keylogger is software that records everything that you type including your username, password, credit card information and many more. Every time you use your keyboard, it will record everything and send it back to its creator.

As you can see, there are lots of online threats that can infect your PC and the only way we will be able to fight them is by gaining knowledge. Knowledge is power and it’s really true in terms of computer safety.

Spyware and computer viruses are one of the online threats that can be harmful to your system. Protection against these threats is essential and every computer should have at least a basic protection.

National Cyber Security Alliance in 2005 online safety study has reported that 81% of computer home users lack basic protection. This study shows that most people still don’t know about PC protection and even though some of them know about it, they don’t know where to find good software to protect their system.

In this article, I will tell you what are the anti-spyware and anti-viruses that you can use for free and will give you the protection that you need.

Avast! Anti-virus is created by ALWIL Software and one of the top anti-viruses. I like this the most because it has seven protections. Instant messaging, Internet mail, network shield, outlook/exchange, P2P shield, standard shield and web shield.

Another good software is AVG. AVG is created by Grisoft and you can get new virus definitions almost everyday. It also has a real-time protection against viruses. Install one of these software because you cannot have more than one anti-virus in a system.

Now let us go to the anti-spyware solution. The first one is Spybot Search and Destroy and it’s also free software. This software is very good and it can remove almost all threats such as adware, spyware, and keyloggers from your computer. It also has some real-time protection.

Ad-Aware 2007 is also one of my favorite software. The free version of this software lacks Ad-Watch, which is the real-time protection against spyware. However, owning the free version of this software is enough because you can use other software to provide your system a real-time protection for free.

The software that can provide you real-time protection against spyware are Spyware Terminator and Windows Defender. Both are free and both are good enough to give real-time protection for your system.

Anti-spyware has a different rule than anti-viruses, not like anti-viruses, you can install more than one anti-spyware in your system.

It’s up to you which software that you want to use because all the software that I recommend here are good and please remember that some of these free software can only be used for personal use only and not for commercial use.

Viruses are the most unwanted software we might get on our computers without our consent, they might steal confidential information, slow down our computers performance or even causes windows or computer crash.

 I want to show you some points of precautions that will protect you and will always put you on the safe side while you are using the computer or the internet.

 The best things to do to prevent having Viruses on your PC is by remembering the below points:

1. You have to have an antivirus program installed on your system and to be always updated.

2. To have a firewall program installed and updated as well.

3. Don’t open any emails come from spam or someone you don’t know, delete them immediately.

4. Don’t receive any file through a public chat messengers from someone you don’t know or you don’t trust even if they say it is their picture.

5. Don’t open any link sent by someone you don’t know through a chat program or from spam emails.

6. Don’t open un-trusted, illegal or porn websites.

7. Don’t click on any advertisements that might show in websites asking you to download free antivirus software or to install software that you don’t know about.

8. Don’t install and use any public shared software (which you can download files from other users over the net) like P2P programs.

9. Always scan any CD/DVD, flash memory or external Hard Disk before using it.

10. Perform a periodic scan for your computer by the antivirus and anti spy ware programs.

11. Never use crack files or faked serial numbers to activate your programs.

12. When you want to purchase something over the internet always use Paypal to pay and never use your own credit card.

Please for more information on how to clean your computer from viruses and trojan files, don’t hesitate to visit the FREE tutorial website www.DealingWithWindows.com

Computer criminals are out there producing virus every day, in fact it was reported that about three hundred fresh virus are created each day by these computer hackers. Eugene Kaspersky, a well known computer guru in terms of computer security affirms this fact. From this one can only see how desperate these criminals are and the need for the continual protection of computers all around the world.
Various kinds of viruses exist, just as there are various creators of these viruses. A virus type is known by the way it functions, there are some of them that are very deadly, some are gentle and some gradually destroy the computer system without revealing themselves until the end of their duty of destruction. It is our duty to always look for the way to uncover them before they finish the work of destruction, it not always good to allow the virus in the system for long, because of their ability to completely bring down the computer if left there for a long time.
To avoid the dangers of the virus, we need to exercise the greatest level of carefulness in our online activities, since the internet is the breeding down of all computer virus these days. When you are trying to download any software or file on the internet, always scan the program first with the use of the right mouse button, that way you will be sure it does not contain any virus. Do this also whenever you want to open an email attachment or any other file attachment on the web. Another way will be copy these files to a CD or disk and then run a scan on them, before using it. Better be careful than trying to cure damages after the harm has been done.
Do leave all the work for the antivirus software programs without putting in your effort to run scans periodically. Always be careful in your dealings online and make sure to scan before use, because as they say prevention is better than cure. Even the firewalls can only block away some viruses and warn you of some, but it can not be a hundred percent perfect in combating all forms of virus without human intervention. Do your best and the antivirus software program will do the rest.
It is advisable to back up all your important files, putting them in an external drive or on the drive D of your system. You should be careful to scan your C drive and D Drive periodically to avoid any threat of virus.
With all these prevention steps taken from time to time you will be sure to have a virus free computer system with the use of the best antivirus system.
Please, feel free to use the instructions before as a way to get a good antivirus software program:
1. Make sure the antivirus software program offers both online and offline protection. Every good antivirus guarantees protection for the computer system while the user is browsing the internet and while the computer is not connected to the internet. There should be a two – fold protection offered.
2. Consult any of the independence testing agencies for advise or update on the best antivirus software program available. This update will help you make an informed decision at to what antivirus to buy.
3. Always make sure you update your antivirus software periodically so as to curb and track down every current virus around.
When these steps are followed, you will always have a Virus FREE computer system with the help of an antivirus.