In an era where virtually everyone and company is undoubtedly “powered by tech,” an alarming 60% of small-sized businesses are subjected to cyber attacks annually. Computer viruses are a dominant medium through which these attacks take place; malicious software that has the potential to wreak financial hardship, distribute your sensitive, private information, and destroy the brand reputation that you’ve employed blood, sweat, and tears to build. With ransomware standing as a formidable enemy in the digital age, even everyday people can no longer afford to fall complacent to the uncanny (albeit quite technologically advanced) abilities of computer viruses.
Beyond the dollars and cents that you’d eventually claim as a recognisable business loss, computer viruses can halt everyday operations, inappropriately dump data and tamper with, or deteriorate, the strength of the relationship(s) you have with clients – which could be a near-immovable mountain to overcome once “trust” is lost. In a world combined of six degrees of separation and an unlimited number of digital network connections, files and applications that are stored virtually – in a dedicated cloud service or local network setting – the odds of being roundhoused kicked to the gut (digitally speaking) are astronomically higher, unless proactive measures are taken to prevent such a mess from ever occurring.
Understanding Computer Viruses
A computer virus is a type of malicious software program that self-replicates by copying itself to another program, and spreads from one computer to another. It carries out harmful actions, which can be overt or covert, and attaches itself to an existing legitimate program or file that allows it to execute each time its host program is run. Many types of actions can be quite destructive, as they may corrupt or delete data, use email programs to spread the virus to other computers, or even erase everything on a computer’s hard disk (hard drive). Other actions include slowing down a computer’s performance, affecting the operation of its operating system, and generally making the system a nuisance. Bottom line: both computer users and organisations need to beware.
Also, note that there are several types of malware, e.g., spyware and ransomware, in addition to a virus. Spyware collects and sends data about a user without that user’s knowledge or consent to another entity, most often for the third party’s use, that ultimately could result in identity theft. Ransomware is malware that encrypts—and thus effectively locks—the data on a user’s computer, demanding that the user pay money (a “ransom”) to the malware operators to decrypt and thereby gain access to the data. Both types of malware can cause undue harm, including financial, to the unwary user and thus need to be understood by all users who are interested in effective cybersecurity.
The Role of Antivirus Software in Virus Protection
Antivirus software is a tool that is designed to prevent, search for, remove, and generally fight malicious software, or malware, including viruses. This kind of software works with a database of virus signatures, or definitions, and uses this database to scan all the files and programs on a computer. If it finds a file or program that appears to match a virus definition, it’ll either get rid of the file, quarantine the file to delete later, or ask you what it should do. That way, the antivirus software is able to keep your computer free of anything harmful. It’s imperative that you keep your antivirus software updated because new viruses come out all the time.
It’s important to regularly scan your computer for viruses and other harmful applications. A lot of the time, malware can do significant damage to your data before you even realise it’s there. Not all malware will present itself with pop-up ads or redirected internet traffic. In fact, some can underlay everything you do without ever showing itself or making itself known. The only way to catch these damaging files is to scan for them with antivirus software. If you can regularly scan your computer for viruses, then you may be able to prevent a lot of data corruption or even system crashes before they happen.
When you’re choosing an antivirus software, choose one that you’re going to feel comfortable using. A lot of the most popular options include Norton, McAfee, and Bitdefender. Each of these has a pretty straightforward user interface, so you don’t have to be a computer genius to figure them out. Be critical when looking at pros and cons. The cons are often where you realise you don’t like the way the software is set up.
Cybersecurity Tips for Online Safety
Internet security is of utmost necessity in today’s world, where internet threats are becoming more advanced by the day. Again, the first and easiest line of defense is to have a strong password in each of your accounts. Strong passwords are a combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and other characters. Further, it means a password that is unique and long. A password carrier system can generate and keep all the passwords for you in a safer and special way so that you don’t have to reuse two passwords again.
Two-factor authentication has definitely played a big role in helping users guard their passwords in these current times. Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a simple concept. Once you confirm a password on a website or software, you will be required to either send a code to your mobile device or to an authentication app. Why is 2FA important? In the case that a hacker breaks your first line of defense (password), he will need to know (code) or break into your smartphone to gain entry to your account.
Many devices have software or operating systems that control the software on them. The best practice to do is to update the software or the operating system on a regular basis. For this simple reason: developers consistently update their software’s code to get all the easy (and hard) ways hackers can break into software or operating systems. If you keep your system updated from all their updates (and they most likely share the info with you when it’s time to update), you will have a less chance of a hacker having a vulnerable option to break into your device.
Smart mail defense is absolutely one of the tactics you should employ to safeguard your internet resources. Many persons have been victims of mail attachments and online phishing that led to theft. Keeping your eyes on this tip can help you defeat spammers at their game when they come to your inbox. A fake hacker may send you a mail that seems legit – or like an insider’s mail. Chances are, they will want you to at least click on a link in the mail, or an attachment.
Malware Removal and Prevention Strategies
When you discover a virus on your computer, your first step should be to disconnect the internet to prevent further damage or data theft from your computer. Begin the cleaning process in Safe Mode to limit the number of active processes and then use a reputable antivirus system, which you should have, to perform a full system scan. Remove any threats that are found. You should quarantine or delete them as the program prompts you to do. Then do not forget to update your antivirus software.
How can you protect your data from computer viruses?
You should be performing regular backups—as needed, to some type of external drive or cloud services. This regimen will help to prevent losses of schoolwork or other substantive time periods. Keep your important documents and files safe in another location on a regular basis, knowing they are safe. Therefore, you should definitely take the time to perform regular backups and protect and maintain your interests.
After protecting yourself from the average computer virus, what else is there? A few more levels.
Antivirus is like saying, “anti” A through J. So, what about other terms like—malware, spyware, trojans, adware, popups, and rogue security software? To identify the next levels of antivirus software that you might need on your computer, the answer is to look for free versions and upgrade as often as you feel that you need to pay.
Phishing Prevention Techniques
Phishing is a type of cyber crime that involves tricking you into providing sensitive information (passwords, credit card numbers, etc.) by pretending to be someone they trust. Scammers will send you an email that looks like it’s from a legitimate organisation, create a website that looks like another, real website, or send you an urgent message that makes you panic. These are all subtle attacks on human psychology, which is why the best advice is to maintain a basic level of suspicion at all times.
The final line of defense in any cybersecurity fuss is education. You need to recognise that these types of threats exist, and you need to gather basic knowledge to recognise when you’re being phished. Certainly, part of the blame for this issue is the way cybersecurity is handled. There should be more communication about these types of attacks in ads (unless they’re being Adblocked out which is understandable).
Computer viruses present a very real risk, which is why it’s so important that, as a general rule, the points raised in this short article should become second nature to daily life for anyone who uses a web browser. Software updates (for your apps, as well as your operating system or systems) should be regularly installed, and passwords should be up to date and strong. In addition to that, an antivirus program you can trust will go a long way in negating most major concerns. These behaviors provide an increased overall level of web safety. Many people DO lose not only their money and sensitive information, but also identities!
Any questions? Give us a call at Tech Geeks today.
