Awareness is key to computer security. You must first believe that viruses/spyware are a real threat and then you must implement anti-virus and anti-spyware protection.
Viruses and Spyware have become one of the main sources of income for deceptive websites and malicious criminals. I consider viruses/spyware anything that is not upfront about what is being installed on your personal home computer.
You must be aware of what you are doing when installing software that you have downloaded. Most software will look very clean and professional and may even be from a well known site. However, this software can have check boxes during the installation which you agree to install their tracking software in order to serve you relevant advertisements.
With this being said here are a few tips to help prevent viruses and spyware.
1. Stay away from free pornography websites - These types of sites will always install viruses or spyware on your PC just from you visiting them.
2. Do not participate in P2P networks that offer pirated or cracked software. This is a sure way to get a virus or spyware installed when you download and install an illegal cracked version of software. If they can crack the software to bypass the security of the licensing they can also hook in a snippet of code to track your browsing or display pop-up advertisements.
3. Install a well know anti-spyware and Internet security suite of software. There are several free versions available for the home user. I use Microsoft’s free anti-spyware tool called defender. You can search for it on the Internet. You should also install anti-virus protection, anti-virus and anti-spyware are not the same and you must protect from both. I recommend purchasing an Internet security suite if you have the money. This is the most economical and most secure solution. If you do not have the budget then there are several free option available. But be careful not to install just anything. There are some criminals that will advertise that their product will secure your PC and it is in fact written as spyware or a virus in itself. Make certain that you update the definitions at least once per week or more!
4. Do not trust advertisements that pop-up and offer to clean your pc. These are malicious programs that will NOT clean your PC from Spyware but will infect it thoroughly.
5. Pay attention to every word in a license agreement when installing free or trial software. There is nothing more aggravating than installing a free or demo software package and then realizing after you installed it that it has embedded some type of code into your browser and you cannot remove it without rebuilding your operation system.
The Google Pack offers Free Spyware and Free Virus Protection. Be aware of what you are installing with this package as there are several options; all of it is legitimate software, you just may or may not need all of it. You can select what you do or do not want to download and install. Here is a glimpse of the Free Anti-Spyware software.