What is malware and how can I protect myself from it?

Malware, short for malicious software, is software designed to infiltrate a computer without the owner's informed consent. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code. The term "computer virus" is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase to include all types of malware, including true viruses.

Software is considered malware based on the perceived intent of the creator rather than any particular features. Malware includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, most rootkits, spyware, dishonest adware, crimeware and other malicious and unwanted software.

To protect yourself from malware you can download Malwarebytes Anti-malware for free. This will remove any malware programs you may have.

Update Your Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware

We have referred many people to AVG Anti-virus AVG because it is an excellent anti-virus program and is free to personal users. However, just because you have an anti-virus program loaded on your machine, don't assume this is always up-to-date and that you are fully protected.
-If you have AVG Anti-virus loaded, you should be able to see the AVG icon (yellow, blue, red and green square) in the lower right-hand corner of your computer. Click on the bracket in the blue circle to expand the icons if you initially do not see this. Right-click on the AVG icon and select "Update Now." This will search for any updates to the software. You will need to have Internet access in order for the updates to occur.
-Even if you have an anti-virus program, you can still get viruses if you click on an unknown attachments (be especially careful with .exe attachments). Never double-click on an attachment unless you are 100% sure it is safe.

Keep Your Computer Clean

Remember to clean your computer by deleting old or duplicate files, unneeded emails, temp files and emptying out your Internet cache and recycle bin. Keeping excess documents will slow your computer down.

Back Up Your Data!

Recovering data is a lot more stressful and expensive than having an existing data backup system in place. Whether it's a daily online data backup or a periodic backup to an external hard drive, make sure you don't lose critical data! Contact us at 303.596.8567 or at support@52890computers.com for a consultation and estimate to backup your data.

Your Computer: Leave it on or turn it off?

We frequently get asked whether a person should turn their computer off, or leave it on when they leave their desk every night. A July 24, 2009 article by Mina Shaghaghi gives three good reasons why you should turn your computer off.

Nearly half of all U.S. workers leave their PCs on overnight. Here, three urgent reasons to turn off before you head out:

1. Hackers spend their waking hours prowling for vulnerable computers. Don't assume your firm has up-to-date security—a third of small businesses don't.

2. Your computer is a carbon-spewing beast. Computers left on standby will emit 20 million tons of carbon dioxide this year—roughly the same amount as 4 million cars.

3. Powering down may save your job. U.S. companies waste $2.8 billion annually keeping computers on after hours—in tough times, that's a heck of a lot of salaries.