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Have you ever wondered how your computer was infected with malware even though you have installed a new anti-virus or anti-spyware program? Surprisingly, many computer users who have contacted our support team have wondered how their PC was infected with malware despite the fact that they were running security software. Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that there is no PC that is 100% protected from malware no matter what type of virus or antispyware protection you may have installed.

Just about any security researcher and the members of our trained technical support staff will tell you that even the best top-rated security software cannot protect you from every bit of malware that is in existence. Security companies that develop and implement sophisticated software to keep your system protected simply cannot keep up with the amount of malware that is created every day. However, many security vendors have made strides in combating some of the latest and most complicated malware parasites in the wild.

New malware are created every day in the form of trojans, viruses, keyloggers, spyware and others. Each malware infection type is specifically designed to perform certain malicious actions and can be installed on a computer through many different methods.

Anti-spyware and anti-virus software can only remove computer parasites that it are programmed to detect. If a newly created virus or spyware parasite is not in the DAT file (a pre-programmed document that tells the software which parasite to look for), it cannot be detected or removed. This is why the vendors of anti-spyware and anti-virus applications consistently offer updates to the application so that new parasites can be detected almost on a daily basis.

Out-of-date software is one major culprit in the spread of malware. The importance of keeping your software (Windows operating system included) and anti-virus/anti-spyware applications updated cannot be stressed enough. This is the easiest thing to do in protecting your system from malware infections. Not to mention, an out-of-date anti-spyware or anti-virus program is almost like having no protection at all. What is the point of running security software if it cannot detect the newest threats?

One of the main ways that malware is able to slip onto a PC is through a vulnerability in another application. Usually these applications are ones that you use on a regular basis such as the web browser software or Adobe products. Using these types of applications cannot be helped but once a hacker discovers a vulnerability within the program, malware is able to slip by without security software seeing it.

Have you ever clicked on a link on a web page and it redirects your browser to an unwanted site? The infection of malware through this method happens all the time. Before you know it, you land on a site that is designed to spread malware. Not only will your Firewall potentially fail you in blocking newly created malicious websites but if your anti-spyware or anti-virus program has not been updated, then your system can be easily infected with malware.

The use of more than one security application is not recommended but it could prove to be beneficial in some cases. The use of more than one security program may help you in the event that one security program discovers a file to be a false positive (not a real threat) and the other detects a file as an actual virus. This is a case where you want to remove the threat just to be on the safe side. As they say, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

In what ways has your computer been infected with malware while running a security application?