The benefits of having Anti-Virus protection

The real benefit of anti-virus protection is directly related to the consequences of not having anti-virus software. The internet is not a secure place by any means, and even the most tech-savvy users have a relatively high likelihood of downloading some form of malware or becoming the victim of an identity-stealing scam just by going online occasionally.

Learning just a little bit about the consequences of not having anti-virus protection should be enough to convince everyone they need it. Here are a few important reasons to get top-quality anti-virus protection for your computer:

Protection from Viruses

Viruses are the most well known computer attackers, and they can do all sorts of damage. There are many types of viruses that each have the ability to compromise PCs in different ways. Most typically, users acquire a virus by downloading questionable files that are falsely presented as other things in an email scam, or by visiting a phishing website.

While you may think you know better and that you won't download corrupt files or visit scamming sites, it's important to remember that hackers are creating trickier and trickier viruses every day. Some viruses pretend to be bogus anti-virus software; others come in email messages that are ostensibly from a friend, albeit that friend was an unknowing and unwilling sender; still others come from imposter bank websites or other important institutions with which you really are affiliated. In short, many people who consider themselves tech savvy have been tricked into allowing viruses to access their PCs.

Once viruses have infected your computer, they can drastically slow down your processing speeds, delete critical and important personal files and images, and in the worst case, cause irreparable physical damage to your computer. Viruses can cost you thousands in computer-replacement costs and cause you to lose very important documents and photos. The best anti-virus software can thwart 99.99 percent of known viruses.

Protection from Spyware and Identity Theft

Spyware is a kind of software that is specifically designed to infect your computer and spy on you. This means the spyware seeks and steals all your personal information stored on your computer. This can include financial data, passwords, social security numbers, credit card numbers and anything else the spyware can detect. Some spyware is so sophisticated that it can record and save data in real time; this kind of spyware runs silently run in the background, waiting for you to buy something online. As you enter your credit card number to pay for your purchase, the spyware records and saves your payment information, and often transfers your personal and sensitive data to its designer – a hacker in a remote location.

These hackers use the information to make purchases with your credit card, perform banking transactions and anything else they can get away with. Identity theft is a major headache for victims, and it can cause you to lose money and receive negative marks on your credit report. The best software that offers anti-virus protection also protects you from spyware.

Protection from Spam

Spam is incredibly annoying when you're bombarded with emails and ads that you have no interest in whatsoever. What many people do not realize is that if you're bombarded with spam that seems to come from nowhere every time you log in, that spam is most likely the result of a virus stored on your computer. Since anti-virus protection software keeps viruses at bay, installing security software should result in a drastic reduction of spam.
There are many types of anti-virus protection applications to choose from, and the best products offer nearly complete shielding from viruses, spyware and spam. Some of our top-rated anti-virus protection software suites are Bit Defender Antivirus Plus, Kaspersky Anti-Virus and Webroot AntiVirus.