Due to the nature of ever-evolving virus threats, virus definitions are outdated within days of their release, necessitating some sort of a constantly updating definition system. The major antivirus companies have turned antivirus protection from a software to a service as a result. They do this by selling you “subscriptions” or “licenses” to use the software. This means that when your subscription is finished, you will stop getting updates. That is why it is so important to stay on top of your subscriptions and make sure they don’t run out.

From this comprehensive set of links below, you should be able to find the updates to the program you run on your computer. Some of the products can only be updated from within the program itself, meaning that you can’t download the definitions manually. I’ve made a note of those that are only updated manually.

Anti-Virus Updates

Out of date Norton Internet Security

This copy of Norton Internet Security expired almost two years ago, meaning that for a whole year it has been running with old virus definitions. Why are virus definitions important? Well, have you ever seen or heard of a system with virus protection installed on it, but still managed to get infected? That system’s antivirus software was likely out-of-date.

Imagine that a virus definition is like a word definition in that it helps you identify the word/virus and what it does. Now imagine that you’re a foreign student traveling in America with a travel dictionary (or virus definitions) from the year 1492. Those word definitions (virus definitions) are terribly out of date, so there’s no chance that you’re going to be able to pick up new words (new viruses). An undetected virus can be on your system right now if your antivirus software is not up to date!

Many modern PC makers will bundle trial versions of anti-virus products with a computer that will only last 90 days before expiring. This can be even worse than having no anti-virus at all because you might think that you are protected when you actually aren’t. If that software is now telling you your computer is not completely protected anymore, it’s telling the truth!

Please take a few minutes today to make sure that your anti-virus software is updated and running correctly. Also be sure to check the following blog for help getting up-to-date.

NOTE: If you do not have any Virus or Spyware protection installed on your system or it has expired, be sure to contact us before you become infected.