Nowadays, the Internet has become a vital part of our daily life. Home computers and smartphones store most of our personal information; that’s why it is critical to protect it more than ever. If you do not take the necessary steps to protect your device and data, you are in a risk group.
You might be attacked by malicious programs that are aimed at stealing personal information and damaging the normal computer activity. Modern antiviruses can plan regular checks of the computer at a particular time with the periodicity set by the user. If you don’t know what application to use, read the best free antivirus of 2019 review.
Although there are different types of malware, one thing you can say for sure is that you must avoid it in all possible ways. Fortunately, there are many tools available to block various threats, and many security features are already built into the desktop and mobile operating systems.
However, a good security strategy goes beyond installing an antivirus and hoping for a good outcome. You will achieve the best results by combining high-performance software and do all the possible steps to avoid potential threats.
Let’s see how you can protect your desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or data from any malware, including viruses, encryption, Internet worms, trojans, spyware, adware, and others.
How Can You Get Infected?
There are a lot of possible ways to catch a virus on your device: flash drives, malicious Internet sites, local networks, key generators, cracked applications, games, and many others. While offline drives are not very popular now, the Internet is the most dangerous source.
All any website contains additional advertising modules. The website can earn some money without offering paid subscriptions. Usually, advertising works as follows: the advertiser puts his product on someone’s site and pays the website owner the money depending on the number of clicks on the publication.
However, this scheme can be penetrated, and the criminal will redirect the user to another site. There are such variants of fraud with Internet advertising. There are several ways of advertising fraud. As a result, they are aimed at intercepting personal data and installing invisible modules on the victim device.
Additionally, a virus may result in a subscription to an unwanted premium service, spending money, or stealing a banking card number or passwords. The malware behind popular and seemingly secure applications is becoming smarter, as mobile ad fraud is an industry worth $40 billion.
How to Understand that Your Device Is Infected?
There is no universal evidence because all malicious programs are different. Some become visible after installation: a banner appears, and access to the device is blocked. Others may not disclose themselves away for a long time. If your device has the following symptoms, it is likely to be infected:
- You find out the unfamiliar applications on the device.
- There is a banner on the screen asking you to pay the criminals. You cannot use the device.
- The device starts working significantly slower.
- The battery drains faster.
- There are larger bills for text messages or calls, and your mobile Internet plan has run out faster than usual.
- Strange applications consume mobile Internet traffic extensively.
- Increasing size of some files.
- Unauthorized sound and video effects which are created by programs-tricksters.
- Spontaneous system reboot.
- Getting a lot of promotional emails and spam.
The Ways to Protect Your Devices Against Viruses, Trojans, Worms, and Other Threats
- Install antivirus. Everyone can choose an antivirus depending on financial possibilities. You can install a free antivirus that provides basic computer antivirus protection. Remember that free antivirus does not mean worse protection. Paid antiviruses usually provide the highest level of protection against virus threats, but the installation of free antivirus is much better than no antivirus at all. For the normal functioning of the antivirus solution, the active Internet connection is vital for the timely updating of virus bases and the scanner.
- Install the latest system updates. They fix the vulnerabilities of the previous versions.
- Install a firewall. The firewall will allow you to monitor and filter network traffic. By installing it, you can restrict the access of installed applications to the Internet. Many mobile devices have a built-in firewall. You can block apps from accessing the network.
- Check email attachments and visit trusted websites.
- Get the applications exclusively from the official app stores or websites.
Protect your device is very important today. However, if you follow some simple pieces of advice, you most likely will never get infected.
