How Not To Catch A Virus At Home

Whether you are searching for a work-at-home job or have a work-at-home job, if you are utilizing your home computer, security is extremely important. Like any other intrusive threat, the affliction of viruses is something generally thought to happen to others. The truth is that you may already have a virus and not know it. And unless you protect your computer, you are susceptible every time you download email and surf the net. Viruses are not the only threat. Hackers can access your computer and use it to originate sabotage on others. Further, they can access passwords and other private information of yours and use it.

Viruses take a variety of forms; worms downloaded to your machine via email are then sent out again through your email. Trojan Horses wreck havoc on your computer including deleting files and shutting down your machine. And there are other threats as well. Even with anti-virus software, you can be at risk if you don’t download the current virus definitions weekly. Further, anti-virus software can’t always fix viruses once they are on your computer. Norton and McAfee virus programs cannot currently fix a new virus that attaches lewd materials to your email. At their websites, you can obtain information on how to manually fix this problem except that if you have the virus, you won’t be able to connect to anti-virus websites.

Hackers are another threat to your computer, Hackers root their way into computers and use them to further their annoying and destructive activities making it look as if it came from violated machine. Further, they can access private information about you and your machine such as passwords that they can use to access sites you have memberships too... including banks, online stores, and more. One of the best ways to protect yourself from hackers is to install a firewall on your machine.

If you plan to make your living working at home and your computer will be a part of how you earn your money, you can’t afford not to protect your computer. Here are some resources to help you keep your computer working viral and hacker free:

Analogx offers a free Script Defender that will analyze your email for script viruses when you access your email for download. Many virus programs do this already but if yours doesn’t be sure to visit this site. This is vitally important for people whose email programs such as Outlook Express that automatically open the email. Http://www.analogx.com.

Symantec offers a FREE Security Check of your machine. The check looks for vulnerability to viruses, hackers, and privacy issues. http://www.symantec.com/securitycheck.

McAfee Clinic offers online virus and other security protection services. You can get 10 days of the Virus Scan Clinic for free. http://www.mcafee.com.

If you have virus protection on your computer already, be sure to keep it current. Most virus protection software provide free virus definition updates online. Each
week, as new viruses are found, the information to prevent you from getting it or to fix it if you do is posted for download on these sites. Your virus software can only protect you from viruses it knows about. Make sure it knows about all the newest threats by downloading your updates at least once per week.

After you download your updated virus definitions, check to be sure they are current within the week. Virus definitions with a date older than two weeks are outdated. If you find your definitions are old, contact your software tech support people and find out how to get the latest definitions.

Once you have the new definitions and verified that they are current, run a scan on your entire machine. Be sure to scan your drives, folders, files, everything on your computer. Viruses can spread easily without your being aware of it. Be sure to check all the different resources on your machine to ensure they are viral free.
Anther recommendation is to not use disks and CD’s from people you don’t know. Even if you do know them, use your virus software to scan the disks and the materials on them before opening them on your computer.

Many of the other computer protection (firewall) and maintenance software programs also offer free online updates. If they do, be sure to obtain and use them.

You may think viruses or Internet hacking won’t happen to you but you may already be a victim and don’t know it. Don’t take the risk. Obtain the proper protection for your computer and be sure to regularly update it. With just a few minutes a week, you can be sure your computer is safe and ready to help you earn income from home.