Monday, August 17, 2009

Sometimes Prevention Is Better than the Cure

This is exactly what I said to my friend who had to reformat his entire hard drive because his computer was badly infested with those nasty Trojan, Worms, and even Spyware and Adwares. I didn't stop myself from telling him endless "I-told-you-so's" when he refused to install an antivirus. I only stopped laughing at his great misfortune once I realized that he had this defeated look upon his face. Well I am human after all and I understand how heart-wrenching it is for all your precious files, both for work and for fun, disappear just like that.

Well it could all have been prevented if he took my advice and installed an antivirus and antispyware just like I said. But no, he insisted that these programs where just scams and he didn't want to waste his money on stuff that he won't need anyway. He insisted that he is always careful not to plug-in USB Storage devices from other people and that he chooses which sites to go to very carefully. He didn't grasp the concept that even if he chooses which sites to open carefully, even the sites that he thought were safe could have links to sites that are potentially dangerous as they are virus and malware infested. Once you enter that site, your computer is directly infected if no reliable anti-spyware and antivirus is installed.

I for one believe that having an antivirus and anti-spyware software installed in your computer is a great investment as you protect yourself from the frustration and grief of losing important documents and files. But if you think that losing files is the worst part, we have to understand that we should have internet security because vital information is on the internet like our bank accounts. Imagine if a keylogging spyware is installed without your permission, your banking information may be stolen and this could lead to the very huge and common problem of identity theft.

So again, prevention is better than cure! Get yourself protected and learn from my friend's stupid mistake.

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