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Most computer users in the United States have heard of the foremost American antivirus vendors. Manufacturers such as Symantec, McAfee, Computer Associates, and Trend Micro. These organizations have a market leading presence in the United States. Microsoft, too, has aspirations to become a key player in this enormous growth industry.

In fact, Microsoft acquired intellectual property and technology rights from GeCad software in 2003, a company based in Bucharest, Romania. They also purchased Pelican Software, which had a behaviour based security product, as well as the Giant Company Software for spyware and Sybari Software, which controlled virus, spam, and phishing filtering.

A great deal of debate concentrated on whether Microsoft would end up in a dominant position in the antivirus market by simply bundling its recently acquired software technologies up with its Windows operating systems at no charge. This is a comparable technique that has been used in other markets such as word processing and Internet browsers. In fact, this is precisely what did happen. Microsoft has come out with a free product called Microsoft Security Essentials.

It is too soon for me to advise whether MS Security Essentials is a world-class antivirus product, but it is not free to everyone. Microsoft has been battling Windows piracy for a while now with its Windows Genuine Advantage sneaky download and sure enough, this new product from Microsoft will only work on Windows systems and even then, only with operating systems that pass the Windows Genuine Advantage test. (Please click the link at the bottom the page to find out more).

There is nothing wrong with that per se, but it does mean that scarcely anyone in the Third World will be able to make use of it, because a pirated operating system comes bundled with every computer that I have ever seen in Asia and probably elsewhere too. People save for years in order to afford a computer and the last thing they care about when they plug it in is whether the operating system is authentic or not.

Of course there is a number of other antivirus manufacturers prominent in this market. There are many companies with great market presence in other countries that are beginning to become more extensively recognized. These vendors include GriSoft from the Czech Republic, Sophos from the United Kingdom, Panda Software from Spain, Kaspersky from Russia, SoftWin from Romania, F-Secure from Finland, Norman from Norway, Arcabit from Poland, VirusBuster from Hungary, Nod from Thailand and AhnLab from South Korea.

It is not yet apparent where the industry is heading and everyone in this market is confronted by a swiftly changing landscape. The amount of effort necessary to discover and deliver updates for new viruses is quite staggering. Malicious programs are getting more and more complex and the quantity of them is increasing.

Many companies may find themselves without the capital to match the hard work of those truly determined to create mayhem. The antivirus companies are getting hundreds of new samples of viruses a day! Moreover, the new viruses are getting “cleverer” in that they propagate themselves quickly and they often hide themselves too. Some are even smart enough to move around in a system by renaming themselves in an effort to make it hard to remove them.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching the Microsoft antivirus software. If you have an interest in such software, please go over to our website now at Computer Antivirus Software

Tags: advice, anti-virus, computers, entertainment, family, hacking, home business, internet, kids and teens, other, recreation, security, software, study, Uncategorized
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If you log on to the Internet, you definitely need anti-virus software. It does not matter whether you do not use a computer. Whatever you use to get on line you must have anti-virus software. Although there are hundreds of malicious idiots producing viruses to attack those who log on to the Internet from a computer, there is an increasing number who are focusing on mobile phone users as well.

It is more difficult to clear viruses from your cell phone as well, because there are less vendors for the anti-virus software and cell phone users are often less technologically knowledgeable than computer users, although the technique of clearing the virus is fairly analogous.

Let’s just use the example of using computers to go on line. If you go on line, your ant-virus software is your most important item of software. It does not matter what you use the Internet for – transferring data back to base or reading emails from friends – you are subject to attack.

For instance, if you use the Internet only to communicate with your head office, a hacker could try to piggy-back your link to gain access to the mainframe at head office and possibly access financial or other personal data and if you just send to and receive emails from your friends and family, you are open to attack from malicious fools around the globe.

If you use webmail such as that offered by Yahoo, Hotmail and MSN to name only the most popular, you will be protected from the most obvious attacks, but still not safe. If you receive your email via an email client such as Outlook or Outlook Express, then you do not even have that small amount of protection.

If you do not use email, but only surf the Internet for research or whatever, you are still not safe, because some websites and loaded with viruses, trojans and worms, waiting to unload them onto unwary surfers.

Therefore, whatever reason you surf the Internet for, you could do with some type of security. Luckily, anti-virus software for personal use is low-cost and can even be free. Business users will usually get tax relief on their purchases.

However, be careful with the free anti-virus software, because not all of it is effective enough. The exceptions that spring readily to mind are Avira and AVG. These are exceptional products and have justly achieved worldwide acclaim. Just Google the two names to get the download URL.

The anti-virus software that costs something (typically $25-$50 per annum) invariably offer one to two months free examination before you buy and a discount in price, if you pay for more than one year at a time. Names that fall into this category are Kaspersky, McAfee, Norton and Nod.

Once you have chosen your software, the subsequent steps are the same for free and paid software. First install it and then configure it. If you are not certain how to do that do not be concerned, the default settings are fine for the vast majority of users. The only choice you will get that it is vital you make properly is to consent to automatic updates.

New viruses are being discovered or fixed every day and for your anti-virus software to be effective, you must permit it to bring itself up to date whenever it wants to.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the network antivirus software. If you have an interest in such software, please go over to our website now at Computer Antivirus Software

Tags: advice, anti-virus, computers, entertainment, family, hacking, home business, internet, kids and teens, other, recreation, security, software, study, Uncategorized
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Shielding your computer from viruses is becoming more and |more difficult each day. While it may sound a little paranoid, it is true that you cannot let your defense down for one second. Even corporate giant Microsoft has found its own systems compromised on more than one occasion.

Do you remember the ‘good old days’, before the advent of the Internet and downloadable programs? Life was straightforward then in terms of computer viruses. The primary way to catch a virus then was via floppy disks. By today’s standards, it used to take quite a while before a virus was able to infect a computer and slow down the system. The antivirus software of that time was usually able to identify and eradicate viruses before they caused too much damage. Moreover, computer users were pretty savvy about how to protect themselves by scanning all floppy disks before using them.

The Internet changed all that. The Internet provided a medium by which viruses could move from host to host with lightening speed. A computer user had to start to think about email, email attachments, peer-to-peer file sharing, instant messaging, and software downloads as virus entry points. Today’s viruses can attack through multiple entry points, propagate without human intervention, and take full advantage of vulnerabilities within a system or program. With technology advancing everyday, and the union of computers with other mobile devices, the potential for new kinds of threats also increases.

Fortunately, the advancement of antivirus software has kept up with the virus threats. Antivirus software is indispensable to a computer’s ability to fend off viruses and other malicious programs. These software products are designed to guard against the ability of a virus to enter a computer through email, web browsers, file servers and desktops. Moreover, these programs offer a control feature that handles deployment, configuration and updating. A computer user should remain diligent and follow a few simple steps to guard against the threat of a virus:

You should evaluate your current computer security system. With the threat of a new generation of viruses being able to attack in a multitude of ways, the tactic of having just one kind of antivirus software has become outdated. You have to be sure that you have protected all aspects of your computer system from the desktop to the network, and from the gateway to the server. Think about a more comprehensive security system which encompasses several features including antivirus, firewall, content filtering, and intrusion detection. This type of system will make it more difficult for the virus to infiltrate your system.

You should install antivirus software developed by a well-known, reputable company, because new viruses erupt daily, so it is important that you update your antivirus software daily. Become familiar with the software’s real-time scan feature and configure it to start automatically each time you start up your computer. This will protect your system by automatically checking your computer each time it is powered up.

Set your antivirus software to scan all new programs or files no matter from where they come from and apply caution when opening binary, Word, or Excel documents of unknown origin particularly if they were received during an online chat or as an attachment to an email.

Make sure you perform regular backups in case your system is corrupted. It could be the only way to retrieve your data if you computer becomes infected.

There are numerous applications available to consumers, so with a little research, you should be able to choose the program that is right for you. Many programs provide a trial version which allows you to download the program and test its capabilities. However, be aware that some anti-virus programs can be difficult to uninstall, so as a precaution make sure you set up a System Restore point and take back-ups before installing it.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the cheap antivirus software. If you have an interest in such software, please go over to our website now at Computer Antivirus Software

Tags: advice, anti-virus, computers, entertainment, family, hacking, home business, internet, kids and teens, other, recreation, security, software, study, Uncategorized
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Adware, spyware and anti-virus software share some similarities, one of which is that all three are major nuisances for computer users. Let’s make a distinction between the three.

Spyware is software that does not necessarily harm your computer. What it does is build links whereby someone else apart from the computer owner can communicate from that computer. Normally spyware records the different kinds of web sites you go to and sends that information to web advertisers, who then later send you unwanted emails and pop-ups.

Which is why spyware is disliked and avoided. It is more intrusive than adware. Spyware has its own separate executable programs, which allow it to record your keystrokes, scan files on your hard disks and look at other applications that you use, including but not limited to chat programs, cookies and Web browser settings.

Spyware then sends the information that it had gathered to the spyware author. The author will then use this data for advertising and marketing purposes. They also sell the information to advertisers and other parties.

Adware, on the other hand, is a more legitimate form of software.. It is similar to spyware but adware is advertising spyware which is bundled into free software or a free program and is installed automatically once that particular program or software is loaded into your computer system.

Some kinds of adware, on the other hand, download advertising content when a particular application is being run. Some adware acts like spyware in that it tracks and reports user data to the program’s writers.

The signs of spyware infection include pop-up ads that seem to be unconnected to the site you are looking at. Sometimes spyware pop-ups are advertisements about adult contents. Furthermore, if you become aware of your computer slowing down, there is a big chance that spyware and its components have found their way into your operating system. If Windows desktop takes a long time to load, it is best to scan your computer for spyware infections.

Viruses, on the other hand, are a harmful kind of software. They were designed and created for one reason alone and that is to inflict chaos on your computer. They may destroy whatever data they come in contact with, can instigate self replication and then infect as many components of the computer’s operating system or network as possible.

These days, a lot of anti-virus software also offers spyware and adware scanning and removal utilities. They then remove it as well as its components located in the system registry and other places on your computer. It is therefore, good practice to regularly update your anti-virus and anti-spyware scanner to ensure that your computer is protected from the thousands of spyware and viruses in the Internet. Beware of free add-ons or free anything really.

Adware might be spyware in disguise and could be just waiting to be deployed for its writers to gather your data. Learn how to set up a firewall and pop-up blocker in order to minimize the risk of computer infection and ensure the security of all your computer records.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching the best virus protection software. If you have an interest in such software, please go over to our website now at Computer Antivirus Software

Tags: advice, anti-virus, computers, entertainment, family, hacking, home business, internet, kids and teens, other, recreation, security, software, study, Uncategorized
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