In today’s world of computing there are several tools you need to have - and keep updated. Here is some information about the gremlins and how to keep them at bay. At the end of this article I will give some recommendations for these must have tools. We’ll start off with the basics.

Antivirus:
Nobody should be without an antivirus application. Using your computer without an antivirus application is like driving a care on the freeway without seatbelts, doors or windows. An antivirus program is designed to keep your computer free of virus infection by providing real time protection from viruses and virus activity. An antivirus application will scan your computer on a regular basis and based upon its database of virus definitions, it will identify and handle the virus in three different ways. The virus application will first try and fix the infection by cleaning (some applications refer to this as “healing”) the infected file of the virus. If the application cannot clean the infection it will quarantine the virus. By quarantining the virus the file with the infection will not be accessed by your computer. Therefore it cannot infect other files on your hard drive.  If neither of these two fixes can be performed the antivirus application last resort is to delete the file. In some cases the antivirus application cannot perform any of the fixes. This may be the case if the antivirus definitions are out of date or the virus is very new and unknown but I have seen this only on a rare occasion.

Bottom Line: your antivirus application is only as good as its most recent update. There are many to choose from. The most popular being Norton and MacAfee. These two have been in a neck and neck battle for the top spot of virus killers for years. What ever you choose you need to make sure that the program offers:

• Starts when your computer starts.
• Full time protection.
• Scans incoming and outgoing  e-mail as well as Internet downloads
• Provides automatic updates at a regular interval.
• Automatic scheduling of full system scans.

Firewall:
Firewall sounds like such a technical term. Think in terms of a firewall in a car. The firewall in a car is designed to a keep a fire in the engine compartment from entering the passenger area where it could obviously do serious harm to the automobile operator and passengers. A firewall on a computer does much the same. It keeps the bad guys from entering your computer with rouge programs and taking control of your computer.  It also works in reverse preventing any rouge or malicious application that might be on your computer from sending a signal out. Common belief was that only computers with broadband/always on connections, such as DSL or cable modem services needed a firewall. However with the rampant spread of viruses and other malware, I recommend a firewall to anyone that has an online connection whether it is dial up or broadband. As the old saying goes “It’s better to be safe than sorry”. There are several available and Windows XP has its own built in and Service Pack 2 has enhanced its efficiency.

Antispyware:
Spyware has become a major gremlin to computers and computer users this past year. “Spyware is any technology that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge” – this is an official definition from www.webpeida but it has certainly evolved. There are several types of “spyware”. I simply call it all Malware for malicious software. This includes browser hijackers, where you cannot get to your home page and are redirected to a site not of your choosing, sneakware that installs itself on your computer when you try to tell it you are not interested in it’s promotional popup but by clicking on the X or “no” button.

A recent survey by the Cyber Security Alliance shows that almost 90% of home computer users have spyware infections and don’t even know that the spyware is on their computer. This is bad in several ways. The not knowing alone is bad enough but once spyware is on your computer it runs rampant and builds like a snowball until it brings a computer to its knees. The big question I usually get when I am wiping out spyware for some one is how does it get there in the first place? The easy answer is just by being online. Not to scare anyone from being online, it’s a great place and you shouldn’t be intimidated from using it. The bad guys have gotten bolder and it is now easier than catching the common cold.

Many folks run into spyware by downloading and installing “free” software thinking that they are helpful tools. Such as Internet search bars, fancy cursors, games, memory and computer optimizers. One of the best ways to get malware is by using free file sharing services like Kazaa, Bearshare and Limeware. You just don’t know who is sharing what.  That is not to say that all the freebies are bad but I advise you to check them out first. Ask a friend or do a search on google.com. There are many folks out there trying to make a quick buck off of the malware issue. You may have seen their popup – “You are infected with Spyware, download our software to get rid of it.”  Some of these programs that claim to be antispyware actually do more harm than good. Before trying an antispyware program I suggest you check out this site - This site is well maintained and contains a list of rouge antispyware applications.

Updates: 
When I say updates, I am talking about updates for all of the above tools that we have talked about as well as Microsoft Critical updates. Theses may come in the form of service packs, which are major updates. They  may also be regular virus database updates that allow your antivirus to detect the new viruses that come out – your antivirus application is only as good as its last update.

I was at a home the other day where the folks had nice, new computers but I was on my third call within the last year for the same problem. The computers, one desktop and one laptop, both had been brought down with viruses and malware. The desktop which was under the control of the teenaged son had to be reformatted and Windows XP reinstalled. I had saved it twice before and made sure that it had good antivirus, firewall and antispyware applications installed. Disabling or even uninstalling these applications it not hard and certainly not above a teenagers abilities. That is what they usually do to allow them to get to the sites and download the “treasures”. I should know I have my own teenagers that keep me on my toes. It is not that the kids are mischievous. It is just that they see all this stuff out there on what is some times referred to as the “Wild Wild Web” and they want it – Free songs, games, screensavers, programs – you name it, it is all there for the taking. What you see is not always what you get.

The laptop, which was actually a Tablet PC, had no antivirus, firewall or antispyware software installed and was very delinquent in its Windows Updates. I had never seen this computer before; I had only been called out to fix the desktop on my previous visits. Needless to say I found several viruses, pieces of malware and several Windows Critical updates that needed to be downloaded and installed.

With newer computers it is pretty easy to make sure your computer is setup to automatically download or notify you about Microsoft’s Critical updates.  Bill Gates is not putting out these updates and calling them “critical” for the heck of it. These updates are put out because it has come to the attention of the Microsoft techies that somebody with nothing better to do has found a vulnerability in the Windows operating system. Some people are paid to find these vulnerabilities before the bad guys do. When these problems are found they in turn notify Microsoft so that a patch or update can be produced and put out to the public. This is good for you and me and spoils the bad guy’s fun. If your computer does not prompt you to download Microsoft updates you can open your web browser and go to windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Now here is a little recap. If you want to keep smiling while working on that computer this year you need to:

• Have a reliable antivirus application installed and keep it updated.
• Have a firewall installed and activated.
• Regularly use a reliable antispyware application.Ensure that your computer is up to date with Windows Critical Updates.

Some software manufacturers such as Symantec, makers of Norton’s Antivirus, McAfee, and Trend Micro, makers of PC-cillin, offer what they call program suites with the antivirus, antispyware and firewall all in one. While these are good in most respects I find these suites to be the jack of all trades but not a master at all. My recommendations for some of the better programs currently available are:

• Antivirus programs:
  • Norton Anti Virus ($50.00)
  •  MacAfee Virus Scan ($50.00)
  •  AVG Anti Virus (free)
• Firewall programs:
  •  Zone Alarm (free)
  •  Norton Personal Firewall ($50.00)
• Antispyware programs:
  •  Spybot (free)
  •  Adaware (free)
  •  Pest Patrol ($40.00)

For more information on the subject of spyware (malware) you can visit my site. Good luck and Happy Computing.