How to prevent computer viruses [malware] from infecting your computer

Your computer can be infected with a computer virus in many ways. The most common is from the internet, by downloading programs, music, opening email attachments, or downloading any “free” software (including crack) on the net. Others get it [a worm] from their local network if one of its peers got infected. And another very common is from our removable storage device which includes our USB Flash Drive, Memory Card, Cellphones, Digital Camera, External HDD (and more – everything that can store data) – as soon as we plug it in a computer that is infected, these devices will become a carrier of a computer virus – because a virus can copy itself to any storage devices for it to propagate. But no worries, computer viruses can only infect computers with a specific OS (Operating System) so, your devices will not be affected. It’s a program so it has also system requirements like it can only be executed on windows operating system or linux os..

So a computer virus behaves like a biological virus. First, it needs a host, second, it needs a medium so that it can infect others, third it is destructive in many ways, and fourth it needs to be triggered before it releases its payload.

Here is a very common scenario of how a virus spreads.  Continue reading →