It's depressing and infuriating that computer security software is even necessary. It shouldn't be that way. It's an appalling, infuriating testimony to the state of our society that there are people out there who have nothing better to do than try to damage or destroy other people's computers or steal their data or identity, and for the most part they can do it with impunity. The productivity lost due to the heinous activities of those criminals is staggering, as is the loss of peace of mind, the ability to feel safe, and our general faith in humanity. What we're dealing with here is a combination of coward and schoolyard bully of the worst kind, with part huckster and common thief thrown in for good measure. That said, computer crime is a sad fact of life, and like it or not, you need to protect yourself. This means Internet security software that can handle the assorted malware, spyware, and handle virus removal and virus repair. The problem here is that protecting your computer, diagnosing what's wrong, and fixing infection problems can be complex and very time-consuming. On top of productivity, you can lose entire days just trying to figure out if there's something wrong, or how to repair things. As a result, a lot of people install one of the major general purpose Internet security suites. These security suites are certainly a good thing and they can help protect your computer. Unfortunately, they can also be very intrusive and quite costly. It's quite possible to find yourself in a position where an overly protective or improperly configured security suite or piece of anti virus software slows you down as much or more than a virus or a worm. It's no fun to find yourself fighting with the security software on your own computer, but that is often what happens if the settings are too strict. Another problem with computer security software is that it can nickel and dime you to death. Some will constantly nag you to sign up for this or that, try to get you to upgrade to some additional service, or pepper you with other annoying requests. Yet others haven't figured out that security software should run in the background and quietly and unobtrusively protect your machine from harm instead of taking center stage. That can be very frustrating, too. So what can you do to protect yourself both from the bad guys and from overly intrusive security software? Quite a bit. Most infections can easily be prevented by following a few simple rules of safe computing. Learning what to ignore, not to click on, and not to download can cut down your risk of getting infected by 90% or more. Many people who took the time to learn about the risks and how to avoid them run their systems without any special security software and they never have any problems. That approach can be risky, of course, as some Trojans, viruses, spyware or phishing attacks are nearly impossible to detect. Another good way to go about keeping your computer safe is to educate yourself and get advice from folks who follow both malware and the various ways to protect yourself. Some have websites where they explain things in simple language, offer advice, and recommend options in case you get yourself in trouble. I like that much better than calling the help desk of some big computer security software company.
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