Why aren’t I protected?!?!

It seems like even the most up-to-date anti-virus software package isn’t always enough. It’s frustrating, since you’d think that it would be. One customer that came into our office recently asked me this question:

“I have virus protection always on and Windows XP firewall enabled. Why do I still get infected with some Trojan horses? I check for updates every day so I am sure I am up to date.”

First some background information:

• Viruses: All viruses are not created equal – hence all the different terms used to describe them. Some exist merely to propagate, others exist to do damage, while still others start to blur the line between virus and spyware as they install monitoring or additional vulnerabilities on your system. Some travel by email, others by downloaded applications, and others can travel from unprotected computer to unprotected computer directly through the internet.

• Anti-Virus Software: Although anti-virus software has improved over the years, it is important to know that no package guarantees 100% protection. What that means to you is that no matter what anti-virus package you run, it may miss something. Different packages may miss different things, but there doesn’t seem to be a single package you can count on to catch everything. So it’s possible to still get infected even though you’re up-to-date with your software.

• Firewalls: In addition to anti-virus software, I always recommend using a Firewall. Firewalls understand the difference between certain types of legitimate internet traffic, and types that you’d never need. They block out the unwanted stuff before your computer ever really sees it, or has a chance to be infected by it.

Now to answer the question:

Combating viruses is a race between virus writers looking for vulnerabilities, the team of anti-virus software vendors looking to catch them, and system software providers looking to plug the security holes that viruses exploit. It’s possible to be doing everything right and still get infected, if you catch a new virus before your anti-virus software knows how to detect it and before your system software has been patched to disable it.

And the most important reason …. Anti-virus programs have a hard time protecting you from yourself. For example, if you open an email attachment you don’t recognize and run it, you may install a virus before your anti-virus software has a chance to act. If, when downloading a file, you choose to ignore a warning that your anti-virus package or firewall throws up, you’re telling the software that you know better than it does what is or is not safe. Let’s hope you do.

If you think you may be infected, or just want to make sure that you are as protected as possible, please call us at 682-4990 or Email Us.