Cyber ​​mosquitoes

It may sound strange, but mosquitoes have more in common with computer infections than just being annoying. A recent battle on the hiking trails of western New York reminded me of the battle our computers wage against infection.

After a vigorous day of hiking, my friend Rob and I found a nice, level spot under the trees to spend the night. There was still work to be done, but we decided to rest. That’s when our unwanted guests arrived – a swarm of buzzing, blood-sucking mosquitoes! But we weren’t going anywhere. No, it was time to act!

The insect repellent idea came before the trip, but we concluded that when carrying a backpack, lighter is better. Besides that, people have survived in the desert without repellent since the beginning of time. As an opportunist, being in the wild works for me. Many corrections are obtained through observation or good trial and error.

Of course, being one step ahead of the game helps, which I learned after trying to ignore the mosquitoes. My body was like a warm-blooded factory for little pests; Any exposed area was just another chance for them! Instead of slapping myself, I covered myself with pants, sleeves, and a hat. What a difference that made! With the battle concentrated in one area, it greatly reduced my risk of being bitten.

However, we were not completely safe. The mosquitoes kept buzzing around our heads, landing on our faces, being annoying. Getting closer to the fire helped even more, but the only way to fully protect ourselves from mosquitoes would be to completely isolate ourselves from them. We could have climbed into our tents, but personally the mosquitoes have won the battle at that time. If we were to exist in nature, we would have to accept the duty of squashing some pests from time to time.

So how does all this relate to the infection of our computers? It is simple! In that story, I play the role of your PC and mosquitoes are infections. With the amount of traffic on the internet, cyber infections are numerous and wreaking havoc around the world. It’s called “malware” (aka malicious software) and there are swarms of these things! They come from emails, file sharing, downloads, even looking at a website can surprise your PC with something nasty! And no, ignoring infections or the fact that they exist does not work.

Protecting your computer from them does. Putting on pants, sleeves and a hat in the wild is the equivalent of installing infection protection on your PC. Through years of experience repairing and disinfecting computers, I have found that the three most popular malware infections are viruses, spyware, and adware. By installing protection against them, you drastically reduce the risk of your PC getting hit, which is very important advice! It will only cost you a little of your time because there are free programs that do a great job of preventing each of those infections.

New viruses are created every day. Antivirus companies cannot find a cure until a virus exists and has already caused damage. If we are going to use the Internet, we will only have to accept the duty of squashing one or two cyber mosquitoes. To be completely safe, we would have to isolate our PCs from the Internet. Since that’s not feasible, I recommend protecting against malware and running those scans at least once or twice a month. Good luck giving your PC a long and healthy life!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *