Browse safely with antivirus software
Looking closely at the internet is like looking through a microscope at a petri dish sample: you see all the creepy-crawly things that are hanging around just out of sight. The problem is that these bugs have the potential to cause a lot of damage to your computer. Let’s take a look, shall we?
- Adware automatically displays advertisements on your computer. These can provide access to spyware and keyloggers that come bundled with adware programs.
- Spam is the junk e-mail (or other message types) that your inbox gets flooded with, which can be used to spread viruses or steal identities.
- Spyware collects information about users without consent. This can range from internet history to actual keystrokes (keyloggers).
- Trojan horses present themselves as helpful software programs, but instead either collect information or spread viruses and other malware.
- Computer worms are self-replicating programs that exist without attaching itself to an existing program.
- Computer viruses are self-replicating programs that corrupt files on a computer system.
If you don’t want these programs doing harm to your network, you should have a high-quality anti-virus system installed, and always use firewalls. You can find many free anti-virus programs online, such as AVG Free and avast!.