Every day new computer viruses with the ability to potentially cause damage are created to wreck havoc on our computer systems. Worse, today’s viruses can attack through multiple entry points and take full advantage of vulnerabilities within a system or program. Furthermore, they can spread without human intervention. The “good old days” where floppy disk is the primary medium to transmit a virus was over.
You now should be worry about email, email attachments, peer-to-peer file sharing, instant messaging, and software downloads. W32/Netsky-P is an example of a mass-mailing worm which spreads by emailing itself to addresses produced from files on the local drives while Zafi-D is a peer-to-peer worm which copies itself to the Windows system folder with the filename Norton Update.exe.
Fortunately, the advancement of antivirus software has kept pace with current virus threats. Such programs are essential to a computer’s ability to fend off viruses and other malicious programs. Besides offering a centralized control feature that handle deployment, configuration and updating, today's antivirus software are also designed to protect PCs from viruses that may enter a computer through email, web browsers, file servers and removable disks.
There are numerous antivirus software available today, from BitDefender, McAfee, PC-cillin Internet Security to Kaspersky Anti-Virus. Vendors usually offer a trial version which allows you to download the program and test its abilities. There are also the ones which can be downloaded for free, without time constrain. Some of the most popular are AVG from Grisoft and Avast from ALWIL Software. Free antivirus software are normally come with some limitations. However, such freeware still make a good choice for many home computer users. You can find the ones which are created by some well-known, reputable companies here.
