8 Ways How To Protect Your Computer From Viruses (Complete Guide)

How To Protect Your Computer From Viruses – Computers and laptops are devices that really help human activities in the current era of globalization. In fact, there have been many jobs that require computer equipment.

Therefore, computers have a huge impact on users around the world.

As we know, computers and the internet complement each other in supporting human work to make it easier.

However, the internet itself has a dark side that cannot be denied, such as viruses, malware, and many other types of hacks.

Devices that initially operate normally can be damaged if you are not careful using the internet.

Therefore, as a user or computer owner, it is better for you to know how to secure your computer from virus attacks or other evil things.

The Importance of Keeping Your Computer Safe

This rapidly increasing technological development seems to be followed by the rise of cyber crime in cyberspace.

How not, even the attacks carried out are increasingly sophisticated and the impact is very detrimental.

Surely you have heard of one of the cybercrimes called Ransomware.

The way Ransomware works is to lock and encrypt the victim’s device and all the files on it.

To be able to recover it, hackers ask for a large amount of money in return, and even that does not guarantee that hackers will return it.

Just one example of a crime, the impact is very dangerous, right? Imagine if there were other attacks such as viruses or malware, it would certainly add to the length of cyber crime data in Indonesia.

Well, seeing this scary cybercrime, it is your duty to keep your computer safe, especially as a computer/laptop owner.

The reason is, a lot of important data or files are stored in it, whether it’s related to work, business, or personal files.

Not only that, cyber attacks can also damage your computer device, you know.

To take your worries away, we will provide you with several waysHow To Protect Your Computer From Viruses, including viruses and malware.

In these ways, you can at least reduce the risk of becoming a victim of hacking.

Immediately, here are the steps.

How To Protect Your Computer From Viruses

Actually, the method that we will provide is included in the basic steps when you use a computer.

However, because not all users are aware of this, or because they are dismissive of cyberattacks, they skip some of these basic steps.

As for the steps How To Protect Your Computer From Viruses:

1. Install Antivirus & Enable Firewall

Antivirus and firewall are the main bulwarks on a system of your computer device.

On every device, especially Windows, fortunately Microsoft has provided a free antivirus called Windows Defender (Windows Security).

Well, many users turn off this feature, especially when installing a (pirated) application.

In fact, this then opens a big door for hackers to attack you, you know.

To fix this, make sure you always activate Windows Defender or if necessary, add a third-party antivirus, such as Avira, Avast, Norton, and so on.

The antivirus that we mentioned earlier also has special protection for devices from the dangers of Ransomware.

Meanwhile, the firewall is also a security aspect that you need to pay attention to because it can protect you when accessing the internet.

In general, the function of a firewall is to block all connections that are less secure, monitor bandwidth, to block content you don’t want.

Therefore, also activate the firewall on your device.

2. Make sure the system is always up-to-date

Keeping the system and applications up-to-date is a very easy way to secure a computer but is often overlooked by users.

Some users think that even systems that are not updated can still run normally.

In fact, system and application updates work to overcome all problems and bugs that also cause device security holes to open.

Apart from that, system updates will also occasionally add some new features.

After all, the system also always gives notifications to users to immediately update, you know.

So, from now on, don’t ignore any system and application update notifications.

3. Encrypt Files with a Strong Password

Because every user must have files and data that are very important, whether it’s work, personal photos, or even company files, you should secure it with applications such as Folders & Files Lock.

Do not forget, set all passwords on your computer device strongly, use a combination of letters, characters, and numbers to get a strong password.

Make sure you memorize all the passwords.

If possible, you can also back it up to USB offline storage or online like Google Drive, Mega Drive, and so on.

4. Routinely Perform Virus Scans

The next way to secure the computer is to routinely scan the system for viruses.

Usually, this method is known as Full Scanning. All antivirus definitely support this one feature, it’s up to you who is willing to do a scan or not.

Although it is a little time consuming, this method is quite effective in overcoming the device from virus infection, you know.

The problem is, some users always skip this method because they think that if you have installed an antivirus, it means the device is safe.

Well, if you are one of the users who think so, from now on do a system scan regularly, yes.

5. Avoid Downloading Suspicious Files

As a computer user, surely you have or even often downloaded files, whether it’s applications, videos, images, and so on.

But who would have thought, the files that you download can potentially harm your computer because they are often infiltrated by malware or viruses.

With a note, the file was downloaded from suspicious sites, so not all files downloaded from the internet contain malware and viruses.

To indicate that the file is suspicious is the presence of an unsafe notification from your antivirus.

In addition, the website of the file you download is filled with a lot of ads and pop ups that are very annoying, as well as the lack of SLL certificate installed in it.6 Easy Ways to Ensure Website Security

6. Don’t Install Pirated Apps

Furthermore, this method is actually closely related to the previous one, namely downloading suspicious files.

Installing pirated applications that you download from suspicious sites is no less dangerous, you know.

If you don’t know, pirated apps are meant to turn paid features into free ones.

However, this kind of pirated application is often found to be a source of security problems with a computer device.

Not infrequently a pirated application will certainly be embedded with malware, spyware, and other dangerous things.

In fact, Ransomware can also come from pirated applications that you download and install.

So, try to always use the original application.

7. Avoid Using USB

As a computer user, surely you also often use USB flash storage to copy or store data.

Not only that, maybe you’ve also borrowed someone else’s USB storage and plugged it into your device.

After being traced, it turns out that this action is very dangerous, especially if the owner of the USB storage is suspicious.

The USB storage can infect a computer device if it is compromised by a virus or other malicious application.

The problem is, you also never know the USB was ever connected to any device.

So that the potential for USB storage to contain viruses is very large, and you must be careful when you want to use USB storage.

To be more secure, You can use USB storage and not lend it to anyone.

8. Browse Safely

How to secure a computer from viruses this last time in our opinion is the easiest, namely browsing safely.

Precisely the easiest way is often overlooked.

One example of unsafe browsing behavior is by accessing dangerous sites, for example, filled with advertisements and pop ups, and entering information on sites that do not have a security certificate.

These things cause the computer to become infected with a dangerous virus.

You need to know, when accessing a dangerous site, there are lots of threats that lurk you like you are traveling in the wilderness.

So, to overcome this, we strongly encourage you to always pay attention to the websites you visit, such as seeing a security certificate marked with a padlock logo.

Also, from now on you should always use a VPN to hide the IP address of your computer device.

The reason is, hackers can enter and do anything when the IP address of the device is known.

No less important, you should also stay away from public Wi-Fi networks in cafes or restaurants.

If you are in an urgent situation, you can use a public network provided that you activate a VPN.

It’s Time to Secure Your Computer from Virus Attacks!

After learning how to secure a computer from virus attacks this time, we assume that you already understand how to apply it, yes.

In this era of rapid technological development, you must always be careful when accessing the internet using any device, including a computer.

Because you never know if you will become the target of hackers.