2. How to stay protected against malware infections

The antivirus program always tries to recover data from the infected files, but it can only rescue the part that was left intact, assuming the file wasn’t completely destroyed.

Anyway, it is always easier to prevent than to cure. It is reasonable to rely on your antivirus for constant protection, but you can also help keeping your information safe from cyber threats.

Our team of security experts recommends you to:

1. Always scan email attachments before you open them, even if they are presented as text files or if they came from people you know. Viruses often disguise themselves by forging e-mail addresses in order to trick users into opening infected attachments.
2. Keep your software updated. Most of nowadays threats are based on security vulnerabilities.
3. Always scan floppy disks before use and write-protect them after you have finished writing on them
4. Make sure you set your computer to boot directly from the hard disk instead of a floppy or a CD-ROM drive
5. Install only original software
6. Perform antivirus scanning for every new program installed on your system
7. Be careful when dealing with macros in documents, especially where they are not needed.
8. Remember that it is safe to use the “read only” option on all files on networks.
9. Use an original antivirus solution, keep it up to date and ask your antivirus vendor for all the information you need.
10. Be careful when using any type of shared folders. In case you want to share information on your computer, make sure not to allow full control permissions unless absolutely needed. Moreover, try to share only specific folders instead of large directories, such as full drives or entire data partitions.
11. Don't open files received via instant messengers without a virus check. Try to contact the sender to see if it was really his/her intention to send you this file. Many worms have the ability to send themselves without the knowledge of the user.
12. Although most antivirus solutions have advanced techniques to recover the infect/destroyed information from your computer those are not 100% full proof. For this reason, it is strongly recommended that you backup (make a safe copy of) all the important files on a regular basis.

Virus Science