My father was a career US Air Force officer. Much of his service time was spent in the Minuteman missile system that defended our country through the Cold War. When the standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union came to an end, it was much celebrated among missile folks that theirs was one military system that never saw active use. It’s a system that was built and maintained throughout quiet times and troubled times, providing an ever-present defense against a threat.

The defensive systems on your computer are much the same way. Virus scanners, spam filters, spyware killers and firewalls are all defensive systems for your computer. When an attack comes on a particular front, it’s easy to remember to keep those tools honed and at the ready. When the threats from a particular quadrant seem to go dormant, there is a tendency to neglect the maintenance of such defenses. Such is the case of viruses and worms that attack our computers these days.

The battle against spam continues, but has moved away from the front lines as more filters and protectors keep it hidden from view. And, the battle against spyware seemed to command our attention through the last year. But virus and worm attacks seem to have lessened. Virus activity was at astronomical levels late in 2003 and early in 2004, but has subsided in the last year.

Battles on the Virus Front

But, now is not the time to let our guard down. New virus names and worm variants may not hold our attention, but there’s a good chance they’ll pick up again. The last several months have been, albeit, extremely quiet on the virus front. Symantec’s Antivirus Research Center (http://www.sarc.com) tracks viruses and rates them based on their severity. My interest piques when the rating rises above a 3 (on a rising 5-point scale). Until this week, a virus hadn’t received a 3 rating since late last year. Now, a variant of the Bagle or Beagle virus has moved up to a 3.

If you’ve kept your antivirus software completely up-to-date, then good for you. If you’ve been less than diligent, though, you need to renew the fight. Use the built-in updating functions to keep the latest virus definitions installed.

Did you get “free” antivirus software with a new computer recently? Some of these “free” copies are limited, 15- or 30-day copies. The problem is that many people don’t realize this and assume that everything’s protected. Open your antivirus software and check the subscription and virus definition dates. If they’re not current, you really should get the latest versions.

Walled Cities

The reduction in hostilities between “script kiddies” writing viruses and your computer is no reason to let your guard down when it comes to a firewall, either. A firewall is either hardware or software that sits between your computer and the Internet, blocking out unwanted traffic to your computer. An effective firewall defense includes both a software and hardware firewall. The software firewall may be the new one provided within Microsoft Windows XP’s Service Pack 2. ZoneAlarm (http://www.zonelabs.com) provides a good add-on software firewall for Windows PCs, as well.

Hardware firewalls provide the benefit of moving the protection away from your PC, onto a separate piece of hardware. This separation helps keep your PC a little safer. If you use Qwest’s DSL service in the Des Moines area, the service includes a simple hardware firewall. It’s easy to set the most basic of options, so see your manual for information. Mediacom’s Cable Internet does not include firewall hardware, so you should pick one up at your favorite store. Devices from Linksys and D-Link provide good options.

Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by the relative quiet of the Internet’s nasty side. Keep ahead of the game by making sure your best defenses are up and ready.