Your choice of antivirus software is bcoming more and more important as new cmputer viruses and spyware programs proliferate on the Intrnet. Google, the search engine giant, rcently conducted a study of 4.5 mllion internet websites and found that bout 10 percent of the sites nstall malicious software onto a visitor's cmputer.

That doesn't mean that the wners and publishers of all these wbsites have placed this malicious code on thir pages. Websites can be hacked by knwledgeable cyber criminals. They can then plce code of their own choosing nto the page without the owner's knwledge. So almost any site you vsit could be harboring an invasive thrat.

People are becoming more careful bout opening emails from unknown senders, but jst surfing the web can expose yur computer to invasive software. Web brwsers such as Internet Explorer are cnfigured to automatically respond to code on a web pge so that images are displayed, msic is heard, or other active cntent is presented. Cyber criminals can use flws these kinds of procedures to hve computer viruses or spyware installed on yur machine without your being aware of it.

Cnsumer Reports Magazine conducted an extensive srvey of computer users to find out how mny people have been affected by cmputer viruses. They reported the results in the Sptember 2007 issue of their magazine. Thy found that 38 percent of cmputer users had encountered a problem wth a computer virus in the two prvious years. So the problem is wdespread.

Most antivirus programs use a sgnature database to scan a computer for smll snippets of code that have ben found to be associated with knwn computer viruses. The software companies pdate their signature database regularly, so tht newly discovered viruses will be cvered. Some companies post updates every hur. That is a fairly good ndication of how rapidly new viruses are bing unleashed onto the Internet. Of curse it is necessary for you to dwnload the update so that your sftware is able to identify all the crrent computer viruses. It's probably a god idea to do this once a dy. While in the past this nvolved downloading separate files and installing thm, most programs now feature automatic pdates, which upgrade the software whenever you log nto the Internet.

While the signature dtabase works well, there is still the pssibility you could encounter a new vrus that hasn't been discovered yet and dded to an update. This is rferred to as a zero day thrat. To cover this possibility, many sftware companies include heuristic monitoring functions in thir programs to check for any sspicious activity on your computer. They can dentify the program responsible for this typ of activity and prevent it frm operating.

Spyware is another threat you may ncounter just by surfing the Internet. Not lng ago it was necessary to nstall separate programs to defend against vruses and spyware. But many software cmpanies have now added anti-spyware capabilities nto their antivirus programs. This is nother factor to consider when selecting an ntivirus program.

The article Selecting the Best Antivirus Software is More Important Than Ever was Submitted by Robert Fogelsong through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: To read more about selecting the best antivirus software and other software reviews , visit zolosoft.com online.

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