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Are you protected?

An important part of your computer software is an anti virus program.

Viruses are easily spread, most often by careless users. Swapping files and sharing media like CDs and floppy disks is a common way for viruses to be transmitted from one system to another.

The popularity of email has really helped spread viruses. It’s important to scan your machine regularly, to help prevent viruses from spreading.

There are several popular anti-virus programs. Two of the most common are McAffee by Network Associates, which also makes Dr Solomon for Mac, and Norton, from Symantec. These two usually leapfrog each other when it comes to reliability and ease of use.

One you’ve probably not heard of is AVG, by Grisoft. A free version of this application is available at the website.

Another lesser known anti virus program is Kaspersky.

Housecall is a free online virus scanner from Trend Micro, also makers of PC-cillin.

my-eTrust is offering to take the place of the discontinued InoculateIT Personal Edition.

When selecting an anti virus application try to determine the ease of updating. We don’t mean buying the next version; we mean the ease with which you can add new virus signatures. It should involve only one or two mouse clicks, and there should be an easily accessible button on which to click.

Update your virus signatures often, weekly if possible. Some of the better programs allow you to set up a time for the application to perform automatic updates.

By updating regularly, you’ll be prepared when a new virus starts propagating.

An important feature of anti virus programs is the ability to scan new emails before you open them. If an anti virus application can’t do this, pass on it and find one that does.

If you’re going to burn a CD, make sure you run a virus scan.

If someone else gives a floppy disk, CD, or other media, ask them if they scanned it for viruses before they gave it to you.