To protect your information and your computer from these various
types of malware, you can do several things:➟ You can buy and install an anti-virus, anti-spyware,
or anti-adware program. It’s critical that you install
an anti-virus program, such as those from McAfee,
Symantec (see Figure 15-1), or Trend Micro, or the
freely downloadable AVG Free. People are coming up
with new viruses every day, so it’s important that you
use software that is up-to-date with the latest virus def-
initions and protects your computer from them. Many
anti-virus programs are purchased by yearly subscrip-
tion, which gives you access to updated virus defini-
tions that the company constantly gathers throughout
the year. Also, be sure to run a scan of your computer
on a regular basis. For convenience, you can use set-
tings in the software to set up automatic updates and
scans. Consult your program’s Help tool for instruc-
tions on how to use these features.➟ Install a program that combines tools for detecting
adware and spyware.Windows Vista has a built-in
program, Windows Defender, which includes an anti-
spyware feature. (We cover Windows Defender tools
covered later in this chapter.) If you don’t have
Windows Vista, you can purchase programs such as
Spyware Doctor from PC Tools.➟ Use Windows tools to keep Windows up-to-date
with security features and fixes to security problems.
You can also turn on a firewall,which is a feature that
stops other people or programs from accessing your
computer without your permission. We cover these
two features in this chapter.304
Part IV: Being Proactive