I sometimes live my life with rose colored glasses. Everybody loves each other, and there aren’t people out there who are trying to hurt you or exploit you. Realistically I know that isn’t true, and I know that there are people out there who will take everything they can from you and not even think twice about it. But I would much rather live my life believing in the good in people.

That being said, I’m not an idiot. I know that I need to lock my doors, and I know not to leave the keys in my car when I run into the mall. I also know that I need to put a virtual lock on my computer. There are people who will do whatever is necessary to get into your files, and steal your information for their own selfish gain. Other times, people just want to get into your computer and destroy it, because they can. These people utilize a variety of tools, which can all fall under the umbrella of viruses. There are many different types of viruses out there. There is grayware, which is fairly benign. But there are harmful types out there. That is what you need to be aware of.

Malware, spyware, Trojans, call them what you will, they work basically the same way. They get into your computer without your knowledge and then will do various things depending on what they were programmed to do. Some are key loggers, which will keep a record of every single keystroke you make. Some delete files so your computer won’t work properly. If you can imagine it, chances are someone has created a program to do it.

Keeping yourself safe is fairly simple. You can find a variety of programs online that are specifically designed to get rid of these malicious nuisances. Some are free, some cost money. Some of them are online, and you don’t even need to download any software. Basically, the program scans your hard drive, and looks for programs that are known to be malicious. It is fairly quick and very efficient. Once it is finished you are given the option of deleting the files. You can run these programs daily, weekly, monthly, it all depends on what you are comfortable with. The best thing to do is educate yourself about what is out there, and ways that you can protect yourself.