To start off, if you don’t already know, a computer virus is a malicious piece of code that can replicate itself and infect a computer system, causing at best unwanted annoyance, and at worst, loss of data and hardware problems. The piece of code that is the virus can also be unintentionally transmitted from an infected computer by way of email, file downloads, or even ActiveX scripts. If none of this sounds pleasant to you, here are a few tips on protecting yourself from virii and preventing the spread of infection.

For starters, if you use Internet Explorer, it is a good idea to disable ActiveX scripting, or at least force Internet Explorer to prompt you for permission when it wants to run a script. To do this, go to Tools>Internet>Options>Security>

Internet and select the Custom Level button. Scroll down to the “ActiveX controls and plug-ins” section. Make sure
to use the following settings:

• Allow previously unused ActiveX controls to run without prompt: Disable
• Allow scriptlets: Disable
• Download signed ActiveX controls: Prompt (This will allow you to use your better judgment and decide whether or not the script should be run.)
• Download Unsigned ActiveX controls: DisableNow scroll down to the Scripting sections and check the following:
• Active Scripting: Prompt [* ]Allow status bar updates via script: Disable

Now that we’ve gone over script settings, it would behoove us to talk about common sense surfing. This means that you should use good judgment when deciding which websites to view and what files to download. To be safe, make sure you only download content from a trusted site. Most secure sites are those that belong to a company or respected organization, and all content should be signed. To make sure the page you are surfing is trusted, right click on the page, select Properties, and look at the tab or section marked "certificates". The website’s security certificate information should be available. however, not all sites have a security certificate, and this does not mean that they are untrustworthy; like I said, use your own judgment. If you do not feel comfortable downloading content from a particular site, don’t do it!

To go along with common sense is user responsibility. Make sure that you update your OS often and do the same for your anti-virus software (which you do have….right?). If you do not have proper anti-virus software, or would like to see what’s out there, here is a list of some of the more popular ones, along with a short description of each:

AVG Antivirus (Grisoft): An easy to use anti-virus tool from Grisoft. It’s available with a free trial which eventually expires and will still work, but the best service can be obtained by registering.
McAfee Antivirus: A well-known company in the anti-virus field, this is a safe bet if you’re willing to pay for it.

Sophos Antivirus: Another good, and well-established anti-virus program. You can try it free for 30 days.
F-Secure: Yet another anti-virus option, but from a smaller company.
BitDefender: A free virus scanner and removal tool.

Norton Antivirus(Symantec): According to many, this is the granddaddy of them all. The best protection is gained by paying for the entire suite, which not only functions to protect your system from virii but also enhances computer performance and repairs problems. You can find more information at Symantec’s site.

This concludes this article on virus protection. It was not intended to be all-inclusive, but to give you some tips for defending your system from viruses and using safe web surfing practices. Taking this information into consideration will reduce your risk of becoming infected by malicious code.