It is important to tick a lot of box’s on your computer when it comes to security.

Living in Australia we come under attack from all sorts of technical threats, not from only people who want to hurt you, but from those who want to make money from you also.

With so much computer jargon and security terminology it can sometimes be hard to know the difference is and what each security term means.

I like to think of these things in simple terms.

The best way I like to think of an Antivirus program and Firewall is a Antivirus is like a detective on your computer hunting the bad guys down and a firewall is more like a security guard at the front door denying people entry.

 

Understanding Firewalls

A firewall can either be a piece of hardware or software and is used to protect computers from attacks from viruses or hackers over your computer network or internet connection.

Just about every operating system now has a firewall built into them and if you do not want to use your native one, there are plenty of paid and free options to choose form on the internet.

You can use your firewall to decide what does and does not get onto your computer over the network and you can also choose what goes from your computer also, outward onto the LAN or internet.

If you have a router at your home or business there is usually a firewall built into it and even if there is not and you are using NAT (Network Address Translation) to share your internet, that also also be a good way to give you another layer of protection.

For the best strategy in protecting yourself it is good to have a firewall to protect your network overall from outside attacks using a hardware based firewall like in your router and a software based firewall on your computer to protect yourself from the internet and any other compromised computer on your LAN (Local Area Network).

Comodo is a very good free Firewall.

 

Understanding Antivirus

Antivirus programs are software on your computer that usually run in the background and analyse files, data, programs and plugins etc that might contain infections or exploit vulnerabilities within your system.

Most antivirus programs work in real-time and critique files as they are opened or active. Antivirus programs also check files as they enter your system and periodically do a complete scan when you are not doing anything on it.

Although antivirus programs are not 100% effective in protecting you from viruses, it is a good idea to always have one.

Unfortunately as your computer gets older and as operating system, updates and programs require more resources from your machine, you might notice it slowing down. For high end machines this is not a problem but older machines might feel the strain of running a antivirus program on their computers.

Many people complain their system slows down when they load an antivirus program on it.

Avast is a very good free Antivirus program.