Top 10 Small Business IT Questions

#5 What is the best way to protect against viruses?

Viruses are computer programs written by malicious programmers to infect your computers. Most people aren’t aware their computer has contracted a virus because a virus can come from an email (usually at attachment), website, social media site like Facebook, or even your phone.

The best way to protect your computer against viruses is by using anti-virus software. There are several software companies providing good solutions. I did a search for the “Best antivirus software” and the top three on the website www.top10antivirussoftware.com are:

1. McAfee
2. Kaspersky
3. Bullguard

I currently use the free version of AVG on my computer but there are higher rated software companies available. I did another search on “Best free antivirus software” and the top three on the website www.pcmag.com are:

1. Malwarebytes
2. Panda free antivirus
3. Bitdefender antivirus free version

UPDATE 12/17/2015: Consumer Affairs (www.consumeraffairs.com) lists their top 10 Antivirus Software products:

1. MyCleanPC
2. Norton Security
3. McAffee
4. Trend Micro
5. AVG
6. BullGuard
7. Avira
8. Webroot
9. ESET Antivirus
10. Kaspersky

Anti-virus software works by scanning your computer for viruses and can run in either an active or passive mode, based on settings you control. When the setting is passive, you need to schedule the scan or manually click the scan. The scan could take several minutes to complete. Using the active setting means your computer is constantly scanning for viruses. I recommend the active setting, which will slow down your computer, but provides the best defense against viruses.

Good antivirus software will detect the virus and then ask you to delete or quarantine the virus. Sometimes, the virus can’t be deleted without impacting the operations of your computer. For these types of viruses, the anti-virus software will isolate the virus into a separate “quarantine area” of your computer where it cannot cause harm.

Antivirus software is critical to maintaining the health of your computer, so make sure to do your part to defend your computer from attack.

I wish you the best of luck and remember to always use protection!