How+to+protect+yourself+from+malware

=How to Protect Yourself From Mal-ware = Braden is a typical 14-year-old. Over the past 6 months, he’s grown three inches, gained four shoe sizes, and eaten his way through nearly a ton of pizza. He’s also unintentionally trashed his family’s computer no less than 12 times. Now lets take a second and think. How many times have you had your computer rendered worthless by one of the various types of malware? If you're anything like me the answer is more than likely at least once or twice and that kind of thing can get expensive as all of us well know. As bad as malware is, it can be kept at bay fairly easily with little effort from you.

Malware is the generic term for malicious software and malware literally means precisely that. There are also several different kinds of malware including Viruses, Worms, Trojans , Bot armies , Keystroke loggers , Spyware , Adware , Scareware , and Ransomware. To protect yourself from malware such as the ones just listed, there are a few steps that are easier than you might think. When you buy a computer, often times they will come pre-loaded with some sort of anti-virus, whether it be //Norton//, //McAfee,// or any of the countless other antivirus packages out there. Any of these should do the trick to protect against viruses. I say should because even though you have an anti-virus software you still have to keep it updated. The reason for this is that computer viruses mutate the same as a real virus. If you don't keep your anti-virus software up-to-date those mutated viruses can creep in like you don't have it at all. The easiest way to keep your computer updated is by turning on automatic updates for whatever anti-virus software you have. This way it keeps it updated automatically and you won't have to worry about viruses at all.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Sabon','serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">Aside from anti-virus software, all computers come with security holes. If you are saying to yourself, "Why, that doesn't sound good" that's because it isn't. Computers use what is called a program to run, and these programs are written by programmers, that's right human beings. And we all know one flaw with humans, we make mistakes. Security holes come from chunks of code that are "flawed" and allow "weak spots" for hackers to take advantage of in order to get into your computer and steal information or even use your computer to send out other malware. The way you "close" these security holes is by downloading security patches. These are often regular updates put out by the company that owns the program. (ex: Microsoft, Apple, etc.) These are very easy to get, all you have to do is enable automatic updates on your web browser. (ex: Google Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer)

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Sabon','serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">Security patches and anti-virus software keep you safe from some of the malware listed above but even that can't keep you safe all the time. Trojan horses are a common type of malware that tags along with other downloads to find it's way into your computer. They are often paired with //emoticon// downloads or //toolbars// for browsers such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. There are some fairly simply techniques you can apply to keep other malware away however. The things you want to watch for are ads, emails, and downloads. You should always be careful about what emails you open because any of them could be teeming with malware waiting to latch onto the inner workings of your computer. Never open an email from a person or organization you don't know. Ads can also be carrying malware so you have to be watch out for any ads at all, literally any of them could be infected with malware so be careful. Remember those wonderful trojan horses we talked about earlier, well here is where they come into play. Downloads are often a part of owning a computer however if you don't know where a download is coming from, don't download it. Only accept downloads from reputable sources.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Sabon','serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">Now that you have a little information about malware and how to avoid it, the rest is up to you. Happy surfing!