With people in Britain spending 65% more time online than they did three years ago (source: UKOM, quoted in BBC News 19 May 2010), much of that using social networking websites such as Facebook, it is absolutely imperative that users have up to date, effective anti-virus software installed. The need for this has been highlighted in recent days at Felpham based business Bognor PC Doctor as owner Pierre Towers has seen a significant increase in the amount of computers being brought in with serious and potentially damaging virus infection.
"The usual source of virus infection is opening attachments on unsolicited email or visiting suspect adult websites," said Pierre, "But a check on the surfing history of computers that have been brought in to me with such infection has shown that the vast majority of my customers have been diligent in avoiding such actions. They have, however, been active users of social networking. One such customer, a lady who never opens attachments without knowing where they come from, came in with a laptop that was not functioning properly. She was shocked to find that there were over 114 different viruses on her machine. Although she had basic anti virus installed, it was not enough to combat these new forms of infection. "
This has led Pierre to believe that hackers are now using social networking websites to spread damaging viruses, through the sharing of "links" and applications. Not all creators of applications have good intentions in mind, Pierre believes.
Although practically all of his customers have anti virus software installed, much of it is not up to date, or sufficiently effective enough to deal with this new form of spreading viruses.
Pierre recommends that all computer users ensure that their anti virus software is regularly up dated and that virus scans are run at least once a month.
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Green Tick Media
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