Computer viruses hit one million

by mclean | April 11, 2008 at 08:35 am | 584 views | 2 comments

UPDATE with how to protect your computer from viruses. Computer viruses has reached the one million mark from the first day they were born. So far, my computer has been infected by 28 of them. How's about yours? Please mention this at work so that your friends will bewared of them, and take proper actions before they grow to 100 million.

The number of viruses, worms and trojans in circulation has topped the one million mark.

The new high for malicious programs was revealed by security firm Symantec in the latest edition of its bi-annual Internet Security Threat Report.

The vast majority of these programs have been created in the last twelve months, said Symantec.

Cyber criminals pump out malware to fool anti-virus programs which look for characteristics they have already seen.

How to be safe?

Use a firewall
Firewalls keep out some viruses and hackers
Install anti-virus software
Prevent virus infections
Get the latest Windows updates
Keep your applications and operating system fit and healthy
Stop spyware
Don’t let strangers get inside your computer
Make regular backups
Protect your data from disaster
Secure wireless networks
Without protection, Wi-Fi (wireless) networks are vulnerable
Stop unwanted email
Spam email is a security threat and a pain in the neck
Browse the internet safely
Make your browser safe and avoid dodgy websites

Anything else should be included here? please recommend.

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Jarrett Martineau

at 09:13 on April 11th, 2008

good stuff:

mclean, thanks for this post. Viruses are a huge problem in the PC market. So far, it's been safer to use a Mac...but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before malware and vicious strains of cyber virals find their way into Apple's fortified OS.