McAfee Virus Protection - Code Killer
Viruses used to be so rare and damaging that just the mention of the word sent people into hysterics (some even swore off the internet (gasp)). Yet today, viruses are so common, that people rarely give a worm, virus or Trojan a second thought, especially those with anti-virus programs such as McAfee virus protection. In fact, according to McAfee, there are currently 58,000 active viruses floating around looking for vulnerable computers.
So, what are viruses, really? It’s all about code. Code is a general term for the language that tells your computer what to do such as starting up, opening Microsoft Word, sending an email, and so on. Code can be used for good or for evil such as creating viruses, worms and trojans that tell computers to do bad things, very bad things.
Don’t blame your computer! It doesn’t know the difference between good and bad code and so it is the job of virus protection and internet security firewall, such as McAfee Internet Security Suite, to know the difference and destroy any evil that threatens your computer.
Don’t Just Set It and Forget It
Many computer users install virus software like McAfee virus protection and then forget about it. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple. In order for your virus protection software to do its job properly, you need to update it on a regular basis. New viruses appear daily and without a regular update, your antivirus software may not detect them.
One of the nice things about the McAfee virus protection and McAfee Internet Security Suite software is they automatically check for and download updates every 4 hours when you’re connected to the internet. If you have a high-speed internet connection that is always connected when your computer is on, that means your virus protection will keep up to date constantly.
If you are a little on the paranoid side - and that’s not always a bad thing when dealing with internet security - you can manually check for the latest updates as well. Make sure you’re connected to the internet and then do the following steps:
- Right-click the McAfee "shield" icon in the task bar (a service in the bottom right of the screen, beside the time).
- Left-click on "Updates" in the menu that popped up.
- When the SecurityCenter Updates window opens, click "Check Now."
- If an update exists, the VirusScan Updates window opens – click "Update" to install it.
It might be a little on the technical side, but if you're interested in seeing the top virus threats, and even find a map of where they are infecting computers around the world, take a look at the McAfee Virus Protection web page.
For more information about viruses and internet security, take a look at our Internet Security page.