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I came across a Microsoft security blog post from last year talking about its latest (at the time) Security Intelligence Report. This report gives a summary of the current state of security which they get from pulling stats from over a billion PC’s as well as some of the leading sites on the internet.

One important section of the report is worth commenting on.

Systems that don’t have up-to-date anti-virus software are are 5.5 times more likely to be infected with malware than systems that are kept updated. These are systems where anti-virus software has been installed, they have just not been kept up to-date and/or the subscription has expired.

Typically when you buy a pre-built Windows computer from one of the major manufactures it will come with a trial version of antivirus software. After a certain period of time the subscription for the antivirus software will expire. This means although the software is still running and can protect you from older viruses, you will not receive any more updates to protect you from future viruses as they are discovered.

The security and support industry typically sees an increase in support calls do to virus infections in the last half of December and extending into January. This is because a large number of computers purchased for the holiday season the year before have had their subscription expire and it has not been renewed. I’ve also notice a smaller increase in late March and early April. Again several well known antivirus ssubscription will expire after three months.

What can a computer user do about this?

Simply keeping your antivirus software up to date is the easiest and most effective thing you can do.

There are a wide variety of both free and paid software that is available. As well Microsoft has it’s own software. Security Essentials for Vista and Windows 7 and Defender for Windows 8. In most cases along with safe computing practices this should be all you need but their may be cases where a different antivirus software may be needed.

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