Cyber Inoculation

I can’t begin to stress the importance of having decent anti-virus software on your computer if you’re going to visit shady internet sites. In the case of computers and software, it can be worth it to get the upgrade cyber inoculation.

Upgrading software is not like comparing the difference between a Plymouth Voyager and the Chrysler Town & Country. Where with a car you can be smart and save cash by forgoing the wooden paneling, molded leather seats, heated captain’s chairs, smoother handling, and better sound system by getting the streamlined model minivan, the Voyager, and you will still have a serviceable vehicle.

However, if antivirus software was a car, this would be the instance where getting the upgrade is the difference between barely surviving the trip versus getting there in one piece.

What I have experienced in my forays of blocking the attacks on my computer from the ugly world of the internet is this: you get what you pay for most of the time.

Sometimes free is not worth it in the long run.

AOL purchased the rights to use McAfee’s software for their System Monitoring package. It sounds good, and it runs well, but in the long run, you wonder if McAfee has its head under a rock because it didn’t have the basic list of viruses that my husband had allowed to invade his desktop PC.

So there they were running amok on his computer popping up web pages with abandon and to what seemed no end. Despite the blue boxes’ assurances that his status was “good” and his definitions were “updated”, his computer showed all the signs of a serious infection.

I don’t mess around. I have a subscription to Norton Antivirus on my personal computer. I have used their software in some shape or form for at least ten years. Hasn’t let me down yet. I had to uninstall McAfee and install Norton on his computer. Problem solved. Computer fixed, viruses deleted and malevolent software quarantined.

Sometimes it’s worth shelling out the $34.95 a year for virus protection. Unlike a car, which is really just going to get you from point A to point B with fewer comforts, but still, in the same fashion, with software, you can’t afford to go cheap.

Moral of the story is…

It also pays to stay off of shady internet porn sites and read the pop-ups when you are downloading things and not just click the mouse in rapid succession because you are too impatient to read the messages, and too dumb to realize your computer is being infected. Just sayin’.