Keep your computers "healthy"

As I am typing this post, I am hearing vacuum-like noise from my CPU, as if it is hinting me that there’s something wrong and need me to do a regular checkup on my computer. I have to admit, it’s been a long time since I last checked the “health status” of my computer.

Few days ago, I’ve just learnt that there are a few symptoms of computer virus attack. Firstly, your computer will start to slowdown, secondly, it will shut down by itself and lastly, it will crash. I then realized that recently, I need at least 15 minutes just to start up my computer and it takes really long to load my websites. I guess I am oblivious to all the symptoms that my computer is having, thus, I am certain now that my computer is really “sick” and it is invaded by viruses. However, what kind of virus? Research was done and I subsequently found out that there are a fair bit of different computer viruses like “Trojan Horses”, “Worms” and “Zombies”


The “Trojan Horses”, as majestic as it sounds, it is not really a good idea to have that in your computer system. Unlike other viruses, “Trojan Horses” need to be installed in your computer in order for it to work its “magic”. This may be achieved by someone having physical access to your computer or in the more common way by you downloading and installing a seemingly harmless piece of software. Once it’s being installed, it acts as a function which remembers the key that you typed. Imagine, every password you typed on your computer, credit card numbers, e-mail passwords or even passwords of your bank accounts, are recorded by the “Trojan Horses” . Hackers then are able to retrieve personal information from you or even “steal” your money from your bank accounts.

Secondly, it is the “worms” virus. Unlike normal virus, it has the ability to replicate itself, and generally do not require human interactivity to do so. “Worms “copy themselves from computer to computer rather than file to file like most viruses, and because they require no human help to do so, they can spread much more rapidly through a system than a normal virus. Usually, it arrives in an email with an attachment, tempting users to open it. Once it is open, “Worms” will start wiggling and spreading through your computers.

Lastly, it is the “Zombies” virus, just by the name of it; we know it is not something we want in our computers. The “Zombies” itself doesn’t cause any damage to the system; however it serves as an aid for hackers as they simply trigger it to attack one’s computer system. Similar to “worms” it arrives in emails and tempts users to open it.

So how do we prevent those imbeciles?

I would say that there are a few precautions we can take and it will lower the risk of getting those viruses. Firstly, we should “build’ a firewall, software which will block out harmful sites which may contain viruses. Secondly, we need to constantly update our anti-virus software as it definitely serves as an “anti biotic” for our computers and the ability to eliminate the viruses. Lastly, we take responsibility by not opening emails which contents that we are not sure of. As long we are discipline to not get tempted, we are doing our computers a big favour.