Don’t forget to activate antivirus protection

Although we are all aware of the perils of being online without antivirus software, it can be tempting to turn internet security off if it seems to slow down your computer while you’re playing games online.



But the danger is that if you don’t remember to switch your antivirus or firewall back on, then you can leave your computer open to potential attack from any virus or Trojan that happens to access your pc via the internet connection. Kaspersky internet security warns its users of doing just that, as although it is a simple click of a button to turn the protection off and back on again, it is not always easy to remember to reactivate it unless you set yourself a reminder.


Some antivirus suppliers now produce packages designed for gamers and people who use a lot of multimedia applications. The software automatically recognises whether you are gaming or watching a film, and if you are, switches into multimedia or gaming mode. This means that all scans and messages are put on hold until you finish playing – or watching a movie, etc – after which normal service is resumed. But what it gets around is the onus being on you to remember to turn it back on again yourself.

Of course, it depends what kind of antivirus software you have. If you only have free anti virus downloaded onto your computer, its functionality will be limited compared to a paid-for package. If you haven’t wanted to pay for antivirus until now, it might be worth looking again at the different antivirus software packages that are available. With increased competition amongst suppliers, the yearly subscription fees have really come down. An average cost is £30-£40 a year, and that’s nothing compared to the potential cost of having your pc frozen by a virus, or having valuable information deleted or stolen from you.