When the Worm/Sobig.F virus made its way into cyberspace in August, we were once again reminded that we have to protect our computers, and ourselves, from Internet attacks. And I’m sure that by the time this issue of DRIVERS is printed, more high-risk cyber attacks will have taken place.

After every cyber attack, I hear the same thing from people whether their computers were infected or not: “Why should I put antivirus software on my system if it’s not going to stop me from getting the virus?”

With that kind of reasoning, why get smoke detectors if your house isn’t fireproof? The smoke detector isn’t going to prevent a fire, but it will let you know your toast is burning—or worse.

If your computer has ever had a virus, you know how catastrophic it can be. You can lose critical data from your hard drive or floppy disks, and your information can be hacked into. In some cases, that can be critical to your business.

Antivirus software is not a complete cure for computer viruses. But it can at least give you the piece of mind that comes from knowing that if your system is attacked, there’s an excellent chance it will recover.

When a new strain of a virus hits your computer, even the big guys in the antivirus software biz, such as McAfee and Norton, won’t be able to immediately wipe it out. If you have licensed antivirus software on your computer, however, it can quarantine the suspicious files until the antivirus maker can create the antidote.

The source of almost any virus that can hit your computer is email. It used to be that viruses could only be spread that way if you were using Microsoft Outlook or Exchange. But now deleting questionable email and then emptying your deleted messages folder may be only half the battle.

We now know that viruses can be spread if you use a web browser to view messages. In fact, new breeds of HTML viruses do not require user intervention in order to be activated. You can simply open your email provider—Yahoo or Hotmail, for example—and the virus begins its attack.

According to a recent white paper by GFI Software Ltd., people need to take a more proactive approach to controlling cyber attacks. This involves checking the content of all inbound and outbound email at the server level—before it’s distributed to the intended recipients. By doing this, you remove all potentially harmful content from an infected or dubious email before it can do any damage.

No matter how much software you load onto your computer, an ounce of prevention will keep it, and possibly your business, from crashing.

Keep your antivirus software updated. And if you see an email from a stranger, don’t open it—even if the subject line innocently reads: “Here’s a funny joke for you.” Chances are, it won’t be.