4 Ways to Keep Your Computer Safe from Viruses

If you are anything like many of our customers at Northampton Computer Repair, you worry a lot about your computer catching a nasty virus. While it’s true that the internet is full of viral menace, it doesn’t have to feel like an overwhelming or unavoidable thing. There are things that you as a user should do to reduce your chances of contracting a virus on your home computer or laptop – or rather, things that you should not do.

 What Not to Do

When it comes to viruses and malware, you probably already know the basic “Do’s”: do use a reliable anti-virus software, do update your computer and all its software regularly, do take it to a professional if you run into any viruses despite your best efforts. So today, we have a list of “Don’ts” that might help you sleep better at night, knowing that you’re not exposing your computer or devices to unnecessary internet plague.

1. Don’t click on links in emails. This might sound extreme, but if you’re a better-safe-than-sorry kind of person, it’s a solid rule to live by in the email world. If you’ve kept on top of email scams and spams, then you already know never to click on a link from someone or some business you don’t know. But these days you need to take it a step further. Say you get an email from your bank or your cable provider, and it has a link in it that you want to check out. Better to type the company’s URL into your browser, and navigate to whatever offer or page you wanted to look at from their homepage. Trying to tell a scam email and a legit email apart can be very difficult – scammers have really stepped up their game and can construct an email scam that looks just like a legitimate message from a company you trust, right down to the logo.

2. Don’t ever give anyone who contacts you remote access to your computer. I don’t care if it’s a phone call, an email, or the pony express – you should never trust a company who wants remote access to your computer. Remote access allows someone to do just about anything they want on your computer from another location; it can be helpful for people who need to access their office computer from home occasionally, but for most people, it isn’t something they’ll ever need to do. A recent scam we’ve heard about: a person who claims to work at Microsoft calls to tell you that your computer is infected with a virus, and that they need access to save your computer and your files. You panic, give them the information and access they need, and suddenly a stranger has the ability to control your computer, download dangerous malware, and hijack your personal information. Luckily, this scary scenario is easy to avoid: don’t ever let anyone you don’t know access to your computer – remotely or in person!

3. Don’t open email links your friends share with you until you double-check with them. We all get emails from our friends with funny photos, stories, news articles, or videos. Often you’ll need to click on a link to get to what your friend wants to share – but a little voice in the back of your head wonders, “How do I know this is safe to click on?”  Don’t ignore it! Even if the email is from your best, most trusted friend on the planet, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a trick. Hackers often gain access to an email account, and then email a dangerous link out to all those friends in the address book – disguised as a funny photo or video link. The only way to be sure your friend really sent it is to check with them before you click on it. And if you’re getting spammy emails from a friend’s email account, let them know so they can change their password ASAP!

4. Don’t download files that end in .exe, .vbs, or .lnk. These types of files can open programs or applications on your computer when you download them, and you might never even notice them running. They could be programs that capture your passwords, track your keystrokes to get private information, or even use your computer for their own purposes (most likely not benevolent, I think we can assume). Familiarize yourself with the extensions you are likely to see for common file types: .jpg or .png for images, .doc or .pages for documents, and so on. If you get an email from a friend that says “Look at this great photo I took,” but the attachment ends with .exe and not .jpg, you should steer clear of it.

These are just 4 of the many, many things you should not do on the internet or in your email – but they all boil down to, essentially, erring on the side of caution. We all want to be trusting, open-minded people, but you will be rewarded for being a skeptic on the internet.

Keep these pointers in mind when you browse or use email, and share them with others who might also be losing sleep over their computer’s safety and security. And as always, leave us any questions or thoughts you might have in the comments section below!

Have a look at our guide for Best Email Practices