We are living in a time of malicious viruses, malware, spam, hackers, and other virtual threats.

All of these treats are trying to compromise the security of your personal information. However, there are many easy steps that can be taken to help prevent any of these threats from compromising your virtual security.

Use a Firewall

A firewall is the first virtual barrier that you can place between yourself and hackers who are looking to delete files or find your personal information. A firewall is like putting up a fence to keep out unwanted visitors into your computer.

Currently, every version of Windows after Windows XP Service Pack 2 provides a built in firewall. However, there are other firewalls that you can buy provided internet security suites. It is critical that you have a firewall from a reliable source and that it is always enabled to help protect you from malicious hackers that are trying to access your personal information, files, and data.

Install an Antivirus Program

Antivirus software detects and removes viruses, which are usually transmitted through suspicious emails and files on the internet. When the antivirus program detects a suspicious file, it will usually alert you about the file and quarantine it, much like a doctor would quarantine a sick person.

Once the file is quarantined, the virus program will ask you if youd like to keep the file in quarantine or delete the file. Another benefit of an antivirus program is that most can be setup to regularly scan your computer for infected files.

Sometimes infected files get past the antivirus program and can make its way onto your hard drive and start doing damage. By having the antivirus program do a full scan of your hard drive it will find all infected files. It is recommended that you have your antivirus program conduct a full scan at least once a month.

However, having the antivirus program scan your hard drive once a week is more beneficial. It is also important to make sure that you antivirus program is always updated. New viruses are created every day and by making sure that your antivirus program is as current as possible, it will be able to detect the latest threats that are released.

Use Antispyware Software

Spyware is software that secretly tracks the activity you are doing on your computer. It can track web browsing habits, make changes to your computers settings without your consent, and eventually slow down and damage your computer.

Also, any changes that are made from the spyware software can be difficult or impossible to change or remove. Spyware is very hard to detect unless you are using antispyware software.

The antispyware software will detect and remove any programs or files that can cause this type of damage to your computer.

By routinely running scans on your computer with antispyware software, you can prevent spyware from tracking your web browsing habits, permanently changing your computers settings without your consent or even permanently damaging your computer.

It is also helpful to have a data storage solution to backup any critical files in the event that spyware or viruses do permanent damage. Many document storage companies can help you find the right computer security solutions.