Postini is available for all MAIN email accounts. This service uses automated filters to check each piece of incoming mail for viruses, and may also be set to catch spam. Filtered mail is kept out of your inbox, but available for viewing at your convenience. Click the above link for complete details.

To prevent infections, you may want to use AVG Free Edition, a program from Grisoft.com for non-commercial users. Note: If you have another antivirus package, it may not be compatible with this - see the links for other antivirus manufacturers for information about those packages. We do recommend AVG over other programs, however, especially if you have an anti-virus program and still have been infected - this suggests your existing program may have a problem. AVG will clean up the infection, and hopefully offer better protection against future viruses.

Trend Micro's House Call is a free general-purpose online virus scanner that can assist in the identification and removal of viruses. Be sure to double-click the virus name (if one is found and not marked as Cleaned) for further directions on how to clean out the infection.

Other options for virus scanning and protection include Kaspersky.com, Panda Software's ActiveScan, and Symantec's Security Check.

If you know you have an infection, you can try the Trend Micro System Cleaner Package. Be sure to read this first, and download the latest pattern file for use with it.

Most anti-virus software will not protect you from spyware. If scanning/cleaning your system for viruses does not alleviate your trouble, check the links and information about anti-spyware programs available for download on our Web Extras page. Two popular free anti-spyware programs are Ad-Aware and Spybot.

For a frequently-updated, detailed listing of viruses to watch out for, visit Trend Micro's Virus Information Center or Symantec's Security Response.

The free protection program Surfin' Guard (suitable for machines with at least 64 MB of RAM and 300 MHz processors only) does not require frequent updates, and will protect against malware (viruses, worms, etc.) that have not yet even been written, and it will work WITH other antivirus protection systems to provide added protection.

Firewalls

Zone Alarm from Zone Labs is a free personal firewall for non-commercial use on Windows. This will help block hacking attempts into your computer while you are online.

What is a firewall?
From Webopaedia (http://www.pcwebopaedia.com/) A system designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination of both. Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet, especially intranets. All messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified security criteria.

How do they work?
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/firewall.htm

Where can I learn more?
http://www.firewall.com/goto/2492

More tips on how to prevent viruses.