While cyber incidents like hacking, viruses, and threats are on the rise, you can use these simple steps to protect your PC.
According to IMDA, nearly 87% households in Singapore have at least one computer, meaning that nearly 8 homes in Singapore have a computer. And 91% of them have Internet access.
But where is a compute, especially the Internet enabled one, there is a virus.
Computer virus or malware also affect personal computers at home. Every year, many domestic computers in Singapore are hit by viruses, spams and malware due to dated antivirus, unsafe surfing or clicking over malicious links.
Computer viruses harms your PC by slowing down the speed, deleting files or creating new one, sapping computer, crashes and reformatting the hard drive.
Here we have come up with some simple yet efficient steps you should use to protect your PC from viruses, malware and other threats.
Install Anti-Virus:
While it is the very basic step to protect the PC against viruses, not all people are serious about it.
Antivirus software is the first line of defense against malware and other threats. It keeps your system clear and protects it from viruses and worms through scanning process. Antivirus software detects and blocks malicious content and files before they enter your system.
There are many free anti-virus programs like Avira, Bitdefender and Panda.
Update Your Software:
Installing antivirus is just the basic step. Make sure to keep it updated to deal with the new viruses and malware. All you need to turn on the automatic update feature of your antivirus!
Use Only Trusted Software:
You should be extremely careful while downloading free software or purchasing them from an unknown vendor. Don’t download the programs from links via email.
Then, many programs insist the users to download other features during installation. But stay away from such programs as they can be spyware.
Remove Emails That Come From Unknown Person or Source:
Never click over the emails being delivered from unknown person or sources. Just delete it. To trick the people into downloading the malicious material, cyber criminals pose as financial institution and auction sites.
Use External Devices After Scanning:
External devices like flash drives or HDD not only transfer data from on PC to another, but also transfer the viruses. In fact, many virus programs are automatically activated once you insert USB stick into PC’s port.
Needless to say you should have an antivirus program in place which automatically scans the external devices.