Computer Protection Products. Why You Need Them?

By: Tim Stokes

Is your identity and computer safe while you are surfing the internet? There are several harmful programs such as spyware, adware and viruses all waiting to infect your computer. To ensure you are safe, I am going to discuss why the need for computer protection products is so great today.

1. Spyware is computer software that is secretly installed onto your computer as you surf the internet. It is designed to take full or partial control over your computer without your consent or knowledge. Often these spyware programs gather information about your surfing habits and report back to a third party. Other programs take complete control of your computer. Spyware programs, without your knowledge, can redirect your web browser to a site containing harmful viruses.

Have you noticed lately that your computer may be running very slow? The cause my be attributed to several spyware programs running on your computer all at the same time. Some may be a low threat while others may be a high threat.

2. The computer virus is a small software program that is intended to spread from one computer to another. It is intended to interfere with the operation of your computer. A virus can corrupt or even delete data on your computer; it may even erase everything on your hard drive. Viruses are also designed to spread itself from computer to computer through the use of your e-mail program.

Some of the methods used to spread a virus are through video files, images and most commonly through e-mail attachments. Viruses can also be found in illicit software and other programs that you may have purposely or inadvertently downloaded from the internet.

3. Worms and Trojan Horses are two programs that are often confused as a virus. A virus needs an existing file to attach itself to while worms and Trojan horses do not. A worm sends copies of itself by way of a computer network which in turn harms the network. A worm’s side effects may be minimal or they may damage or even erase files.

A Trojan horse is a file that appears to be harmless but in reality it has disguised itself in hopes that a user will open the program releasing its harmful effects. Some Trojan horse programs are harmless but the majority are designed to do harm to your computer and others by spread of the program.

4. Ok, now for the good news, there are ways to protect yourself from these harmful programs. Computer anti-virus and spyware detection programs are common today. I have found that a single protection program is not sufficient protection for the computer.

For my everyday protection, I have a program to remove spyware and a separate program for virus protection. Where the anti-virus program is great for virus protection the spyware program is great for removing spyware and Trojan horse files. The important thing to remember is to update your program files often and at least run your spyware program everyday. Get rid of the bad programs by quarantining them and start enjoying yourself on the internet again.

I hope by writing this article that I have helped you to understand why you need computer protection products. There is no reason why we all can't make a living on or even just use the internet for fun. Just because there will always be people out there that get a kick out of making people suffer, make sure you are protected.

Text 9

1. Read the text and express the idea of it in several sentences.

The Future of VoIP

The future of VoIP seems to be looking bright. It appears that VoIP will become mainstream. As more and more people are becoming aware of this new technology its popularity is hugely increasing. If all you need is a simple piece of software downloaded from the internet to make free phone calls, then it’s not surprising.

Consumers undoubtedly will soon change how they make phone calls, but in order for softphones to become more widely used, the technology will have to be accessible to more devices than just a PC or laptop. Some predict it is only a matter of time before people across the world will be able to use VoIP-enabled softphones on a mobile device.

Ever since Skype introduced software for voice calls on computers, the industry has been buzzing. Google has entered the VoIP market with an instant chat and voice application, and is testing a Wi-Fi consumer service that could help it deliver phone and information services to wireless devices.

Technology executives are betting that consumers will soon change how they make phone calls, reducin; the need for a phone service from a traditional provider. VoIP essentially turns telephone calls into just anothe piece of software running over an IP network, and due to this simplicity the future for VoIP seems promising.

The electronics companies are already starting to sell dual purpose products such as digital cameras tha appear to be a normal digital camera, but when a person slides the back of the device down, there’s a keypad fo making calls. Memory sticks that store from 64 megabytes to 1 gigabyte, preloaded with a softphone are also now available. They come with a microphone and earphones.

Internet companies such as Yahoo, Google, America Online and Earthlink have already experimented with this technology. Not a long time ago Yahoo added improved VoIP calling to its Yahoo Messenger. EarthLinh launched the beta of its Vling Internet calling service. Google has debuted Google Talk. AOL announced i would be offering its VoIP service called TotalTalk. AOL’s TotalTalk will essentially let people replace their traditional landlines. It has advanced communication features, such as unified voice, e-mail and instant messaging, and call-management.

Accessibility must improve in order for this industry to really expand to its potential. As people don’t always want to boot up their computer and put their headset on to make a phone call.

The phone companies will face a challenge with these drastic changes emerging with VoIP technology and will need to expand alongside it before other companies take over to fill the void.

All in all, VoIP is becoming increasingly popular with Internet companies and electronics manufacturers alike, all developing products and services that harness VoIP technology. It appears that the future of VoIP is healthy and VoIP is here to stay.

Св. план 2009, поз. 35

Учебное издание

Методическое пособие

по развитию навыков чтения на английском языке

для студентов ФТК и ВФ

Read and Speak

for full time students of the

Telecommunications and Military Faculties

Авторы-составители:

ЛевковичТатьяна Викторовна

Кравченко Маргарита Валентиновна

Крутченко Алла Владимировна и др.