If you own a computer and you surf the internet on a daily basis, it’s only practical for you to ask the question, “How can I get a virus?” There are actually many ways for you to get your computer infected with one, and almost always, it involves using your computer without virus protection. Ninety-nine percent of the users who complain about viral infections in their OS do not have updated versions of their anti-virus software installed, if they do have one installed at all. This results to a sluggish operating system, lost data, annoying pop up ads even when they’re offline, and worst of all, the possibility that they’ve just let someone hack into their system without their knowledge. You can risk having your identity stolen or draining your bank account when you leave your computer unprotected.

How can I get a virus, you ask? You can also get a virus when you visit questionable websites. These websites include databases for pornographic material, social networking sites, game stations (or sites which let you download “games” for free), unsecured online stores, and even your own email. So how exactly do viral infections prey on you when you’re browsing these websites? Porn sites and game stations allow you to download videos and games “for free”, but because of the high traffic in these websites, they’re also the perfect nesting grounds for virus infection. How can I get a virus by downloading data? Simple. Virus programs piggyback on other files, especially executable ones (those that require installation). As you’re downloading and while you’re running these downloaded programs, the virus runs too, wreaking havoc on your entire computer. These viruses will do their job silently, and by the time you notice they’re there (if you’re using your computer without an anti-virus protection), you’ve already lost most of your data, and your system’s at the brink (if not already) crashing.

How can I get a virus through social networking websites? Just like pornographic sites and gaming stations, a lot of people visit social networking websites. This also makes it an attractive venue for hackers to plant their virus programs. In Facebook and MySpace, these viral infections were planted as spam messages with links that lead to a page which automatically installs the virus into your system. Hackers plant these virus programs sometimes to “harmlessly” annoy the account owners, or more severely, to steal their passwords and gain control of their personal pages. This is very dangerous because the hacker can pretend to be you while using your account, of s/he can spread the program by sending spam messages to all of your contacts.

How can I get a virus through email? Email viruses work pretty much the same way as the viruses planted in social networking sites. You should watch out for links that lead to websites you don’t know about. While come emails already control the spam you get in your inbox by containing it in a different folder, some emails still infiltrate the system. The best way for you to dodge email viruses is to delete messages which didn’t come from people you actually know. Don’t click on questionable links, and never download suspicious attachments. Even if your email account claims to have a virus scanner, you can still risk your OS getting infected if you download files from someone you don’t trust.