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Back in September 2009, I wrote an article about virus and malware protection from Microsoft called Security Essentials. “Antivirus protection comes at a cost? Not always.”

Well, the guys and gals at Microsoft have released an major update to their 2.0 version for the Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE). While this update from 1.0 to 2.0 is a major update, most users will not see any noticeable differences in functionality. The updates are focused under the hood and increases the level of protection against viruses and malware, as well as an introduction to a network inspection system for those working in a network environment. I’ve always felt that MSE 1.0 worked very well protecting against malware and with the updates in MSE 2.0 it should be even less likely to be hit with malware.

Unfortunately, if you already have MSE installed there is no way to automatically update. As with new users to MSE, everyone will need to download the installer and go through the standard installation process.

Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 is available for download for free for individuals as well as small businesses up to 10 PCs at the Microsoft Download Center.

Following up from an earlier post titled “Virus Meets Spyware” I reviewed the difference between virus and spyware. Yesterday, Microsoft released their FREE anti-virus software through the Microsoft Security Essentials software. Microsoft is now offering real-time protection against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Oh, and by the way…. did I mention it was FREE?

All that is required is a genuine copy of Windows XP SP2 or SP3, Windows Vista SP1 or SP2, or Windows 7. If you already have an anti-virus program installed you will need to uninstall it prior to attempting installation of Microsoft Security Essentials.

Like any other anti-virus program, you can schedule quick or full scans, setup automatic updates, exclude files and locations or file types, and setup how you are notified of potential threats.

I am truly appreciative of what Microsoft is doing here and so far have been impressed with the simple setup, clean interface, and real-time protection.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who currently doesn’t have any malware protection. For those of you who have malware protection already, I wouldn’t jump ship from what you have just yet and only time can tell who is going to provide the highest level of protection. But for me, I am onboard with Microsoft Security Essentials.

Tei Baishiki
Chief Technology Officer
tei.baishiki@rwnc.net

What’s a virus? What’s spyware? Both give you a headache and they are both referred as malware at times. Malware is a general term for any type of unwanted software that infects your computer.



The main difference between viruses and spyware is the way they are spread. A virus spreads software, usually malicious in nature, from computer to computer. Viruses can erase data, corrupt files, and cause usability problems on computers that they infect. Some indications that your computer might be infected may include your computer running more slowly than normal, stops responding periodically, or restarts very frequently.



Spyware, or sometimes referred as adware, collects information about you without appropriate notice and consent. Often times spyware is unknown and hidden from the user. Unlike viruses, spyware does not usually self-replicate. Spyware can come bundled with other software. When a user downloads a program and installs it, it may additionally install the spyware. Some spyware infects computers through security holes in web browsers. When a user navigates to a website which has malware on it the spyware uses the browser security hole to download and install the spyware. Symptoms include unwanted behavior (i.e. pop up advertisements) and degradation of system performance.



There are numerous ways to prevent malware from infecting your computer. Good commercial antivirus software is advisable over free antivirus software due to the frequency of virus definition updates. If you think you may have a virus, the Microsoft Windows Live OneCare safety scanner will scan your computer for viruses at no cost. Another good starting point is to make sure that your computer is up to date with the latest bug fixes for Microsoft Windows using Windows Updates.



For spyware, I believe Microsoft Windows Defender is the best software on the market and it is free. It will protect against spyware with real-time protection, detection, and removal.



It’s great to be protected with software against malicious malware software. However, your best protection is to be smart with what you do on the computer. We all get emails from websites, (i.e. Facebook notifying us a message a friend sent or Amazon.com notifying us about an order we’ve place, etc.) which include a link in the email. This may sound fine, however, it is not wise to click on the links in the email. You have to take precautions that it isn’t a malware email sent to you. Many times, someone who has your email in their address book is infected and you are being sent an email to trick you in clicking the link, further spreading the virus to all of your friends.



I am guilty of clicking links sent to me from emails just like everyone else else. Having been there, I wanted to spread the precaution (instead of a virus) on to you so you can be careful what you click!

Read Part II – Virus Meets Spyware

Tei Baishiki
Chief Technology Officer
tei.baishiki@rwnc.net