Protect your computer? Prevention is priceless.

The flu season is in full swing, rows of employees and students have thinned out, and adverts for medicines dominate the commercial breaks. But viruses need not torment us only physically. They can also spoil our work on the computer, if the virtual ones get into it. A computer will not start coughing, it will not have aching joints or a runny nose, but the consequences of its infection are often all the more serious. So that after an attack by harmful software you are not left with nothing but tears, pay attention to preventive measures. There are plenty of them on the market, and many of them will not even dent your wallet.

What harms us?

The problem in the world of computer viruses is called malware. The name comes from combining two English words – malicious (vicious, harmful) and software. It is a specially developed program or part of a programme code that aims to attack your computer and behave in it in such a way as to cause you some harm intended by its developer. Besides computer viruses and worms, this category also includes, for example, Trojan horses, spyware or ransomware, or even adware.

The most common sources of harmful software are email attachments from unknown senders, or programmes that you download from more or less dubious websites. Keep this in mind whenever you open anything from an unverified source.

From Cookie to really serious problems.

The development and deepening of IT knowledge has also taken the world of malware to a different level. A curiosity in the past was, for example, the "Cookie" virus (in Czech "Sušenka"), also called "Gimme". If your computer was infected with this virus, every now and then a new window would pop up on your monitor with the message "Give me a cookie". To get back to your work, you had to feed the virus, that is, type the word "susenka" (the Czech for "cookie") into the window that had been generated. The creator of this pest probably did not aim to get money from you, but only to annoy the user of the infected machine. 

The days of these curious viruses are behind us, though, and the goal that their spread now pursues lies elsewhere. If the most vicious viruses or worms attack your computer, you can lose your data, or your data can fall into unauthorised hands. Subsequent blackmail is not unusual either, where, for example, after a hacker's attack you are asked to send a certain sum of money to some account.

How to defend yourself against harmful software?

If the previous paragraphs have frightened you, here is a reassuring part of the text for you now. Through preventive behaviour you will drastically reduce the probability of a malware infection. It is enough to follow a few basic patterns of behaviour on the internet. In addition, there is a large number of solutions on the market whose aim is to protect you from malware, both for Windows and for operating systems from Apple.

• Never open email attachments from dubious senders, and it is better not to visit unverified sites at all. Likewise, do not download attachments from messages from unknown users on social networks.
• Do not download apps, programmes, films and the like from unknown sources. If you land on the wrong website, you will not save anything in the end. On the contrary, you may well "earn" yourself a lot of trouble.
• Before you open downloaded files, have them checked by an antivirus programme.
• Nor is it worth underestimating regular updates of your operating system. Developers include in the latest versions changes that provide a safer environment for their use. So if you keep postponing updates, you increase the probability that your operating system will lack sufficient security measures and may therefore be attacked.
• Protect your computer with a good-quality anti-malware programme. Below we list some of them.

What should you use to protect your computer?

There are many anti-malware solutions on the market. If you need to secure your home computer, you can also choose from some of the free versions. Among the best-known antivirus programmes in the Czech Republic are Avast, Eset, AVG and McAfee.

TIP: Read one of our most popular articles The best antivirus solutions (not only) for Windows computers

Avast

Avast is a Czech antivirus programme, available in both a free and a premium version. With it you can protect computers and phones running different operating systems. So it does not matter whether you have Windows, Apple or Android, your data will be safe thanks to Avast. The premium version costs CZK 1,190 per year for one device, or CZK 1,590 per year for 10 devices, if you decide to protect all your devices or share the protection with your loved ones. Unlike the free version, the premium version protects you not only against viruses, but also detects fraudulent websites and ransomware (blackmail software, i.e. a programme that encrypts your computer system and demands a ransom to restore it).

Eset

Just across the border, in Bratislava in Slovakia, the antivirus programme Eset was developed in the early 1990s. You cannot get it in a free version. The amounts for protecting your devices start at CZK 1,209 for computer protection, or CZK 289 if you want to secure a phone with Android. Eset provides internet protection for devices with Windows, macOS and Linux, and for phones with the Android operating system. You can buy the software for one device, or protect yourself and your loved ones by purchasing attractive packages for three devices.

AVG

Another domestic example: the anti-malware programme from the company AVG is available for devices with Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS and Android operating systems. You can download the AVG antivirus for free, or get the premium version for CZK 1,349 per year. In 2016, AVG was bought by a domestic competitor, the company Avast. It is therefore not surprising that even the difference between the free and premium versions is not very large – for the annual fee, beyond the free version, you get protection against ransomware, fraudulent websites and, in addition, phishing (known in Czech as "rhybaření", i.e. fishing, a technique used by hackers to obtain sensitive data such as passwords, credit card numbers and the like).

McAfee

From the non-European solutions we will introduce the antivirus programme from the company McAfee. It was developed in the USA and, just like the previous anti-malware solutions, McAfee is available for computers with Windows and macOS, and for phones with Android or iOS. It offers a free 30-day trial version, after which you can sign up for a recurring payment. By purchasing a licence you protect up to 10 devices, which is especially worthwhile for families in which children and parents have both their own computer and a smartphone. McAfee costs CZK 1,149 per year.

Even with careful behaviour, always keep in mind the most important thing – back up, back up, back up. Ideally, keep your most important data in more than one place. Regular data backups save you many hours and therefore money if the data is lost. Several months of work, which you would lose if your computer were infected by a virus, can turn out to be very expensive because of a forgotten backup.

Safe, fast and affordable internet in Prague and the Central Bohemian Region is provided by UVT.

Updated 13 March 2024