Heading back to school or back to work -- computer safety is important. Computer viruses cause an estimated three billion dollars a year in damages. Top-rated security software can help protect you. So can safe computer practices.
Consumer Reports just tested ten Internet security software programs you can buy - like McAfee and Norton from Symantec - as well as software you can download free.
"We had an outside lab create some variations of known viruses, which we keep on a disc in a safe here in the lab. We ran them on a virtual machine, which is a virtual computer which is completely physically and electrically separated from any other computer or network," explained Dean Gallea of Consumer Reports.
Those viruses were used to test the software to see if it would detect them.
"To test the anti-spam programs, we ran a 'bad e-mail' test to see how well the programs could detect real spam that we collected and a 'good e-mail' test to see how often the software actually removes e-mail you wanted to keep," said Gallea.
McAfee and Bitdefender both came out on top in Consumer Reports' tests. They sell for $50 for a year of protection.
"If you just need basic protection and you can be sure that everybody practices careful computing at home, then freeware can be a good option," said Gallea.
Three free programs that you can download worked well when used together: Avira's Antivirus Software, Microsoft Windows Defender Anti-Badware program, and Spamfighter's Anti-Spam Software.
They were all easy to use. But software is only one line of defense -- the other is safe computer practices.
Be sure your computer's firewall, spam blocker or other built in security applications are activated. And set your operating system and security software to update automatically.
When you're not using your computer disconnect it from the Internet or just turn it off.
"If your computer is off there is no way someone is going to get into your computer unless they are physically there taking it apart," explained Victor Vilas of the Geek Squad.
Also, watch what you download. Free utilities, games, and other software on the
Internet can be useful, but many are laden with viruses and spyware. And be careful with memory sticks or jump drives.
"The problem is that viruses can go onto a jump drive or a memory card very easily. So if you just plug it into your computer, unknowingly you could be putting a virus onto your computer," said Vilas.
You can get more advice on how to practice safe computing through Consumer Reports.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen.
