COLUMNIST: Got a slow computer?

If you read the tech section of any major news Web site, you may have seen an article mentioning a botnet. Last week, the reporting was on the Mariposa Botnet, which was dismembered by the FBI in December. This botnet was geared toward getting financial data of individuals and more than 12 million PCs had been compromised. Many of these PCs included workstations within Fortune 1000 companies.

A botnet is a network comprised of computers that have been compromised via software means such as a virus or malware and can be remotely monitored and controlled by someone who is not the owner of the machine. Much of the spam on the Internet is sent by botnet; many of the cyberattacks carried out against corporations or government divisions are done via botnet.

With reports like this becoming more common, the line between what was traditionally called a virus and what is being called malware is being blurred. In the past it used to be that a virus had one goal: to infect a machine and cause malicious harm. That purpose has evolved to include monetary gain by individuals who wrote and released the virus. Now that more people than ever have PCs and are installing software they have downloaded from the Internet, extraneous software such as browser toolbars are offered in these installs. Sometimes, extraneous software installed is detrimental to the computer. This extraneous software is known as malware or spyware.

Most vendors of anti-virus software offer packages that protect against both threats, virus and malware. For instance, McAfee (www.mcafee.com) offers Antivirus Plus 2010 for $40 that protects not only against virus threats, but spyware and malware. Symantec (www. symantec. com) offers Norton AntiVirus 2010 at the same price point, advertising the same protection. Both are well known anti-virus packages and provide fairly comprehensive protection against most major threats. Other lesser known vendors are popular. These include Avast! (www.avast.com) as well as AVG (free.avg.com.) Both of these vendors offer anti-virus and spyware packages that are free for home use. They both also offer a broader package at the $40 price point seen at McAfee and Symantec.

If you want support from whichever company you decide to use, you will want to purchase an anti-virus package from any one of these reputable vendors. If you do not consider yourself adept with computers, I recommend the support option. I have used Avast! for four years and have had zero complaints.

One of the most important things you can do when installing these packages is allow the software to do a full scan of your computer. Most, if not all, of these packages will reboot the machine and do a system scan upon installation. It is perhaps one of the most important steps of the process for ridding your computer of any virus or malware that is residing on the system.

By keeping your anti-virus software up-to-date and moderating your browsing and download habits, you can keep your machine in shipshape. Do not run any files on your computer that you don’t explicitly trust or know the origin of. If you don’t know where it came from, don’t run it. If it’s attached in an e-mail that’s been forwarded by a family member or friend, don’t run it.

Remember that it only takes executing one simple downloaded file to ruin your whole day.

— Senior Production Coordinator Matthew Broughton is taking the “ech” out of tech. E-mail him at mbroughton@florencenews.com.