Staying Protected With Avast Internet Security

Antivirus software is a crucial part to any computer, without it you are leaving your system exposed to all kinds of threats that can compromise your data and identity.

Identity and data theft are a huge problem nowadays and online 'gangs' operate to generate massive profits by stealing important financial information and data. They do this by using many different exploits, but the most common are:

Phishing websites
Backdoor Trojan horses
Keyloggers

These major threats operate with the same intention; to steal key information that relates to your identity or your financial information. By retrieving this data an online thief can easily access websites such as your online banking or PayPal and then transfer funds to a nominated account.

Without proper anti-virus protection, these kinds of exploits can easily end up on your system without you even knowing. You may download a file that you think is safe and get infected. You may even visit a legitimate website that has been infected maliciously and that will silently install a Trojan horse virus onto your machine when you visit it. Sadly, nobody is safe. Browsing the Internet nowadays without any form of anti-virus protection is a disaster waiting to happen.

There are many flavors of Anti Virus software available, both free versions and paid for versions. In general, the paid for versions will offer extra features that the free ones cannot. Having used most of the major anti-virus packages I was most impressed by Avast. I have had experience with the free version, the pro version, and the Internet Security version and each one offered a very high level of protection and very impressive detection rates when compared to other major vendors like Norton, Mcafee, and Kaspersky.

The main advantage of the Avast Internet Security package is that you get all-around protection from one application. To break this down you get the following:

Real-time protection from viruses, spyware, adware, and malware
Comprehensive and advanced firewall protection
Mailbox monitoring and scanning
Web Browser monitoring from hijacked websites

These are the key features that Avast Internet Security are based upon. One of the most impressive extras is the 'sandbox' feature. This allows you to run a potentially dangerous file or browse to a potentially unsafe website without causing any harm to your computer. It does this by creating a secure and localized 'sandbox' where the file or site is executed in. Any malicious activity cannot get out of this sandbox and infect your machine or alter important system files.

Don't take your computer security for granted! Avast Internet Security can keep you protected from dangerous malware that can wreak havoc on your computer or worse; steal personal and financial information!