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The best protection against computer viruses is NOT antivirus

It may surprise you to know that the best protection against viruses on your computer is NOT antivirus software. “But, aren’t you cheating yourself out of business by saying that?”

Not at all. Antivirus software is valuable and a must-have layer of protection. But antivirus software isn’t going to stop viruses that you introduce, willingly, to your computer.

“But, I’d never put a virus on my own computer!”

However, most infections are just that. Users introducing viruses to their computers. How? By going to unsavory or virus-laden websites.

“I’m still confused. How can we tell the difference?”

Actually, that part’s easy, too. If it’s not a name you know and trust, don’t go to it. Sure, we all use the Internet to search for all kinds of things every single day but there’s lots of names and brands that we know and, for the most part, can trust on the Internet.

CNN. Gap. Nike. Google. Microsoft. Amazon. You get my drift. These are all names we can trust not to have a hidden payload of viruses hidden just behind their home page.

But when your search terms start to yield results that point to websites you’ve never heard of before, proceed with caution. You visit their website, you get a seemingly harmless pop-up and bam, virus loaded on to your PC. Yes, it’s that simple.

Take full advantage of Google’s search previews (click the screenshot to the right for an example.) You can click on the little magnifying glass next to your search results and get a preview of the page you’re going to visit. If it’s loaded with ads you can bet it’s probably not worth visiting.

If you’d like to know more about how you can protect your computer from viruses, let us know. We’d love to talk about how we can help you or your organization be safe and secure.