Apr 23 2009
Simplifying your PC, one blog post at a time… Part 2: Spyware & malware
In Part 1 of this blog topic series we talked about management of your PC. Now that you’ve got your information in neat and manageable piles on your PC, what’s next? One of the most important topics for home (and business) users these days is spyware and malware.
How many of you have been forced to buy a new PC because spyware and malware ruined your old one? If you’re not lucky enough to be married to an IT guy (yay, me!) than you need to know what to do to protect yourself from spyware and malware.
You might be wondering - what exactly is malware? In a nutshell, any information that you don’t want on your PC. Trojan horses, viruses, etc are all examples of malware. On that note, on to how to protect yourself!
Here are a couple of rules to keep in mind as you use your PC:
- Be aware of what you’re clicking on
- Don’t open suspicious/unknown files
- Use antivirus protection (AV) & keep it updated
- Make sure your AV has plug-ins for both e-mail and web browsers
- Don’t think you’re safe from viruses because you use a Mac - Macs get them too!
Let’s go through each of these items in a little more detail. First, be aware of what you’re clicking on. What does this mean? Simply put, don’t click on messages without knowing who they’re from and why they were sent to you. This relates to the second bullet - don’t open suspicious/unknown files. Have you ever gotten a pop-up window that said something like “You have a virus! Click here to find out more!” How many of you clicked on the link? Guess what? They were right - you DO have a virus, but you wouldn’t have if you hadn’t clicked on that link.
This idea of knowing what you’re clicking on, opening, and downloading applies to so-called legitimate sites too. Recently a family member installed a crossword puzzle game. Soon after, her PC slowed to a crawl. Why? Because in addition to downloading the crossword puzzle game, the site downloaded all sorts of spyware to her PC. It was so bad the PC had to be rebuilt completely, and despite the best efforts to save her data, she lost a recipe collection she’d had for about 20 years. If you want to play games, either play them online so you’re not downloading anything to your PC - and watch out even then - or buy the game from the store.
Next we’ll talk about antivirus protection. There are several antivirus programs out there, but know this - some AV programs actually slow down your PC even worse than spyware and malware do! Seems counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? Two good, free antivirus programs available on the web are Avast and AVG. Avast can be downloaded at http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html, and AVG is found at http://free.avg.com/. Both offer protection for both e-mail and web browser applications.
Think you’re safe from spyware and malware because you use a Mac? Not so! Macs are increasingly the objects of virus hackers and spyware. You can read more about the topic here: http://antivirus.about.com/od/macintoshresource/Macintosh_Viruses_and_Mac_Virus_Resources.htm.
Keep your PC simple - limit the extraneous, unnecessary things you ask it to do, and your risks from spyware and malware will be reduced. Keeping your PC simple will help keep it under your control - which makes your LIFE simple.
In the next blog post I’ll talk about backing up your data. If there’s a topic you’d like me to cover, just leave me a comment and I’ll put it on the list! Thanks for reading!
