So you have installed antivirus software to protect your computer from threats. However, when was the last time you updated it?
Your antivirus software will likely come up with a little pop-up on your screen which will notify you that it needs to be updated. If you have been failing to keep regularly updating your antivirus software, you might not be as protected from internet safety risks as you might think. In fact, your computer could be at risk of a new virus that your software is not yet aware of.
In order to keep your computer safe you need to do more than simply install an antivirus program once and leave it along. It is crucial to update your antivirus software frequently to make sure that it has all of the information it needs to fight the most recent threats. Here are some of the reasons why updates are so important:
[Read also: How Effective are Antivirus Programs?]
New Threats are Emerging Every Day
Cyber criminals are always looking for holes and vulnerabilities that they can exploit to create new and more powerful viruses. If your antivirus software is not updated against the most current viruses that have been created, you are leaving yourself open for attack. Remember that your antivirus protection becomes outdated as soon as a new virus is released, so it is important to keep it as current as possible.
[Read also: 5 Worst Computer Viruses in History]
Virus Protection is Crucial for Protecting Your Valuable Documents
Did you know that some viruses and spyware can actually hack into your system and erase or corrupt the data on your computer? Some viruses can even lock away your own information with a password that you don’t know! If you have any sort of sensitive, valuable or private information on your computer (which most people do) it is vital to make sure that you are protected against the most recent viruses.
[Read also: The Essentials of Antivirus Protection]
A Hacker Could Have Turned Off Your Updates
Are you aware that someone could have accessed your antivirus software and disabled the “real-time” monitoring feature which automatically downloads updates? Sometimes this happens when someone is trying to compromise the security of your computer and other times it can happen by accident. If you have set your antivirus software to automatically update but it has been turned off without your knowledge, you could have a false sense of security which leads you to believe that you are protected when you are not. Make sure that you check in to verify that your computer has the latest software and that it has been updating with the latest virus information.
[Read also: Is Hacking an Inside Job?]
You Could Infect Your Friends
If your computer contracts a virus, it could affect not only your own hard drive but it could also pass itself along to other computers by email, USB flash drive or network links. This means that your friend’s computers or all of the other computers at work could be infected just because you didn’t update your virus protection. Imagine having to explain that to everyone else!
These are just a few of the reasons why it is so important to keep your antivirus software up to date. If you don’t, you could be leaving your computer dangerously vulnerable to infection.
Virus protection is not something that you can do once to your computer and then forget about forever. Protecting your computer and your personal files from virus threats is an on-going activity that you need to keep vigilant about. Frequently updating your antivirus software will ensure that you are always armed and well prepared in the war against viruses, malware, spyware and other harmful computer invaders.
[Read also: How to Scan Your Computer Without an Antivirus]
Why is frequently updating antivirus software so important? When was the last time you updated your antivirus software? Let us know in the comments.
Hi Stuart,
Thanks mate for sharing this tips. BTW i am using Premium Anti Virus . I just checked that i have disable auto-update and notification too.
We should Frequent Update our Antivirus. Because now a days Internet threads are increasing day by day.
I have to update my AV Now…. May be it will take 40 Mins 😉
Antivirus is the thing which should be updated daily because everyday new viruses born So antivirus companies also update their virus database. If you don’t update your antivirus software then it cannot detect latest threats.
I set mine to auto update, but I do check it every now and then just to make sure it is still getting updates. Occasionally I need to force a manual update. I don’t know if there was just an error, lack of connection, or something, but once in a while this happens to me. So it is a good idea to make yourself aware of how your particular anti virus works.
Mine is on auto update too. It seems to be updating everyday as I see this little pop up window almost everyday each time it finishes an update. I guess this tells that new viruses are indeed born everyday!
Hmm…Thank goodness my antivirus program updates automatically 🙂
Hi Stuart. Thanks for such an informative post. Not updating your antivirus and going for a suicide are similar.
this is really nice points you mentioned updating antivirus frequently. i put antivirus on autoupdate mode and update it daily.
How timely, I literally just went through an issue with this the other day because i forgot to update
my antivirus. It is essential to protect our business and computer.
Internet viruses are very much like live viruses, they change and evolve everyday. And if you don’t have a powerful vaccine that keeps up to date with the latest virus definitions, your computer may get infected and hi-jacked. Viruses can change themselves even without the help of their creators. This is through the use of innovative coding practices put to use. Luckily though you can prevent them from entering your system through updating. And if paid thorough anti-viruses are too expensive for you, you can use one of the best free ant-virus around-Avast!
to decrease malware stuff always make sure to update your anti virus.
Updating Antivirus regularly is very important. According to me one should update it regularly. New virus born daily. To keep your computer antivirus free you should update it regularly. If your computer gets affected, it may harm your valuable documents and you might have to format it and end it with losing valuable data!!!