If you don’t backup your business data regularly, go check out this video at CNN.

If that doesn’t wake you up to the need for good backups, I don’t know what will.

Hopefully you’ve created a good habit for yourself of regularly checking for updates for Windows, or preferably you’ve turned on the automatic updates.

And I also hope you’ve got your antivirus and internet security software setup to update itself automatically.

If so, you’re miles ahead of many users. But that doesn’t mean you’re in the clear.

There are lots of other programs on most computers that get security updates as well.

Things like Apple Quicktime, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Flash Player and others are installed on a large percentage of computers, either at the factory or along with other software.

Make sure you heed any warnings that pop up on your screen alerting you to new versions. These new versions are often released when a security flaw is found and if you run an insecure version, all the Windows updates in the world may not protect you.

The computer virus gets its name because of its similarities with biological viruses that infect our bodies.

When you get a virus in your body, it spreads through your system and can be passed on to other people. It almost always results in side effects that you won’t like.

Computer viruses are very similar:

• They have the ability to copy themselves
• They can spread to other computers
• They generally carry some kind of “payload” that will have undesirable effects

Like many other things in the world of computers, the term “virus” has become the standard term applied to a number of different types of malware, or malicious software. Technically, the following three things are each unique, but they’re generally all considered viruses.

1. Viruses

An honest-to-goodness virus has to have the ability to copy itself and run itself as well.

2. Worms

A work spreads through computer networks, such as the internet, through email or other means as well as being able to make copies of themselves.

3. Trojan Horses

A trojan horse takes its name from the mythological horse presented to the Trojans. It masquerades itself as a useful, legitimate piece of software, but when run it installs malicious code along with the good.