Viruses have plagued PC users almost from the time PCs where invented.
Spyware came later as the number of PC users grew and people saw an opportunity to exploit people's computers for financial or malicious gain.
The explosion of the web due to the invention of web browsers has allowed viruses and trojans to proliferate.
P2P is also to blame here as people are looking at every opportunity to take advantage of people through various channels.
So how can you reduce and avoid a PC infection by a virus or spyware? Here are some common ways people get infected and what you can do to avoid compromising your system.
Web Browsing One of the primary delivery methods of viruses/spyware is via web browsers.
The coding available via HTML, DHTML, Javascript, PHP, ASP and more can create popups, pop unders, automatic file downloads, browser hijacking and more.
It takes only a slip in concentration to become infected with a trojan or other malware and once infected you will find the number of viruses or spyware will quickly increase.
One way to avoid infection is to make sure you have a web browser that supports pop up blocking such as Internet Explorer or Firefox.
These browsers also have various security and privacy settings to stop automatic script execution or prompt for approval before an Active x component is run.
If you're using an old version of Internet Explorer upgrade to ensure you have the ability to block popups.
Downloading Applications There are many applications available via shareware or freeware arrangements and without antivirus/antispyware installed you again put yourself at risk.
You can reduce the risk by downloading applications from reputable and large application aggregators such as download.
com.
Even so be careful with what you install on your system Emails Spam emails can deliver a multitude of harm to your PC.
Emails can deliver viruses, spyware and phishing emails designed to collect you financial user names and passwords.
They do this by copying the websites of your financial institution and pretending you need to update your username, password, address etc.
These sites are so convincing that again it only takes a moments lapse in concentration to compromise your security and privacy.
Firstly you bank or financial institution would never ask you to update information via email.
There is actually a simple way to check if the email you received is legitimate.
Most email these days is delivered in HTML format which gives you richer emails with text and graphics.
Move the mouse over one of the hyperlinks and in the status bar of the browser you will see the domain the link is really going to take you.
If this is not the domain of your financial institution it's spam and delete the email.
If it does match complete a further check.
Somewhere in your email client you should see a 'View Source' option.
Select that and you will see the HTML code that composes the email.
Look for the link and make sure the address in the 'href' tag is a legitimate domain for your financial institution.
And finally make sure you have an anti-virus/anti spyware application installed as an additional defence against the nasties that exist in the internet and PC space.