3 Reasons Why You Should Protect Your Computer

With anything you have whether it is your home or car you have to insure it to protect yourself from unexpected dangers. When it comes to your computer the same rule applies when it comes to security. Your computer is like a machine with electronic parts that wear out and need to be replaced. They can also become damaged due to outside forces.

If you have an internet connection and you surf the web then you are exposing your computer to a huge host of dangers that have the potential of wrecking havoc on it. These infections can happen in numerous ways that you may not have even thought of. For example your computer can be infected by copying files from a CD that you borrowed from your friend. You can affect your computer by opening a file that has been sent to you by an e-mail. When you go on the internet and download music or video files there is a risk that some form of malware can infect your computer.

These dangerous infections can affect your computer from causing a mild annoyance, slowing down your computer to the extreme of corrupting your operating system and hard drive making your computer useless.

Although these dangers come in many forms they are commonly grouped into the following three categories as follows:

The Virus: These are basically a program that has the ultimate aim of causing havoc with your computer. These virus programs are written by criminals with no moral fibre and enjoy causing pain and misery. These viruses once infected in your computer will proceed to destroy data and files, corrupt your operating system and generally slow down the performance of your computer. There a viruses that can change your operating systems settings that can cause your computer to freeze. This is commonly known as the blue screen. This means your computer has to shut down due to a serious fault. This overtime can cause irreparable damage to your computer

Adware: You get these when you surf the web and visit certain websites. Although not as dangerous as the virus they can be absolutely annoying. You will know when you are infected with these little critters when pop-ups advertisements keep popping up everywhere trying to sell you every kind of garbage that will add no value to your life whatsoever.

Spyware: As their name suggest these programs spy on you. Not you, but the way you use your computer. For example, they track what websites that you go to on a regular basis, what products or services you buy and the type of music you download. These programs can be used by marketing companies to help them sell to you more effectively. They can also be used for more dubious reasons such as criminal gangs trying to get your banking details and passwords.