Please forgive us for being blunt, but there's one thing we can't stress enough. If you're not running some kind of antivirus or antimalware software on your computer, YOU'RE ASKING FOR IT.

Perhaps your computer came with virus protection pre-installed. If you didn't purchase the full program or subscription package, it may have stopped updating itself after a 90-day trial period. This means you're not protected from new viruses and security threats that come out every day.

There are many products available that protect against viruses and malware, and for the best and most complete protection, a commercial package with a paid subscription may be the right choice. The packages offer different features and levels of protection, and some programs will work so hard to protect you that they'll slow down your computer or prevent you from using programs it thinks are security risks. We'll help you pick out the right level of protection for you and we'll help you set it up.

We also know that some of you won't pay for virus protection no matter how low the price is. For those of you who feel this way, you should know that there are plenty of good free alternatives to commercial virus protection (for the PC or the Mac) that offer excellent basic protection from most malicious software.

We strongly suggest that all users run antimalware software at all times. There's no reason not to.

Good virus protection, in combination with a good computer firewall, provides basic computer protection that no computer should be without. Contact us to help find the malware protection software that will help protect your computer, your data and possibly your identity.

Even with the best virus protection, computers sometime become infected. If you don't have any kind of protection on your computer, chances are you've downloaded some kind of malicious software.

Viruses and malware get installed on your computer a number of ways. Opening infected attachments in e-mail messages, downloading and installing infected software, even just surfing the Internet can result in a "drive-by" infection.

Some software tries to run silently. It may wait for a particular date and time to activate, it may contact a computer in another country from time to time to get instructions, or it may even be logging what you type on the keyboard in an attempt to steal account numbers or passwords.

Other software makes itself known by taking over your computer, popping up windows or hijacking your web browser. Some even demand a credit card number to "purchase" software that will remove the infection.

Don't ever give your credit card numbers, user names, or passwords to this kind of software. Contact us immediately and we'll scan your computer, remove the infection, and also give you some tips on how to keep yourself virus-free in the future.