Virus scanners may detect problems -but they can't prevent them. Is your PC slow or finicky? It might have a virus you don't know about!

Do you continually run your Virus Scanner believing it keeps your computer healthy?

Virus Scanners can give you a false sense of security. They react when there is a serious indication that something bad is happening, but the trouble is, they are powerless to prevent problems from occurring in the first place. Virus scanners only have the ability to detect a virus, after you have been infected.

For many years we recommended one virus scanner as being able to detect more viruses than another. Brand A held the competition back for more than two years.  Then Brand A failed to stop the viruses.

Virus scanners are powerless to stop the virus infections, because the source of the virus may already be in your computer.  Some viruses are distributed via Email messages; this is a quick and easy method for spreading viruses quickly.  Email distribution of viruses can be sent in bulk via email (about 5 to 15 million per infected PC), and these messages may be delivered faster than virus scanners can be updated.

Another method for infecting computers is via the web.  Perhaps you (or your children, or grand children) have visited a free social networking site (Neo Pets is one that my kids love to frequent).  Have you noticed that when they are done with the computer that it runs significantly slower?  This is because the PC was infected while visiting the website and the infection may or may not have been a virus.  Imagine if you will that the images you view on the web pages had malicious code in them.  Some of the images can then actually infect your computer with a trojan downloader, just waiting for you to reboot your PC to download additional malicious software from the internet. 

Much of the work that is involved in bringing a virus into your PC is not done by viruses but by Malicious code, disguised as valid software, so that you will download additional software to your computer.  When you run the virus scanner again, the virus is found, and you feel better about the security in your computer.  However, when you reboot the computer again, the malicious software is executed again, and the problem starts all over!

How do you stop this seemingly endless cycle? 

We recommend a multi-layered approach for security.  Obviously the single layered approach (your virus scanner), cannot stop the cycle of infection.

In developing a better tool for email security, we created the SpamZapper which acts as yet another layer of defense in security. In addition to eliminating Spam, we scan all emails for viruses as well. 

Our Servers check for updates every 20 minutes.  Can you spend that much time just checking to see if your Virus Scanner is up to date?

So to put this in other terms, Virus Scanning is like taking an Advil for your Cold.  It will not stop the Cold, but it may make you feel a little better in the process.  SpamZapper washes your hands to prevent it from occurring in the first place.

We not only stop viruses from getting to your computer, we are also able to defeat "zero-day exploits".  Zero Day Exploits are new viruses that exploit windows based vulnerabilities. Because SpamZapper employs a multi-layered approach to Email Security, we are able to eliminate the threat of the Zero-Day Exploit, thus making your business significantly better protected. So, if you suspect your computer may be infected with a virus, just as you would go to see the doctor about your personal health, pay a visit to an expert that can diagnose, then heal your computer issues. 

By: Guest Blogger: Albert Whale,

Sr. Security, Network, Risk Assessment and Systems Consultant

ABS-CompTech.

**************************************************************

I can very comfortably recommend ABS Technology. Albert has successfully nursed my pc back to health when needed. They also have (safe) free software tools that they're happy to recommend for their clients.