Why You Should Always Run Anti Virus Software and Firewalls
Earlier today I was sitting in the lounge of a major International airport and I connected my computer up to their free Internet service, via a wired connection, which is provided to all visitors of the lounge.
Literally within minutes my computer was being attacked, and fortunately I am running both Anti Virus software and a Firewall, which meant in this case, the attack was blocked. The software I am running also performs continual updates which means as long as I have a connection to the Internet I am updated with whatever updates and definition files are available.
Even so, I decided to remove my computer from their network as it was badly configured and unprotected!
The moral of the story is this, no matter where you are, no matter if you think your computer will be safe, always, always, always make sure that you are protected as best as possible. And always think before connecting to an unknown network, even if you would think that something provided by a reputable airline would be safe.
Using Windows Home Server 
Not only were you fortunate enough to have updated antivirus and firewall applications, but you were fortunate in that you were using a notebook. Consider those who are buying netbooks…
Paul
March 7, 2009 at 9:34 am
thanks Paul – that is a very good point!
Andrew Edney
March 7, 2009 at 11:37 am
Confused why is a Netbook is not as safe as a Notebook? My Netbook has Anti-Virus and Firewall where is the difference?
Keith
Keith
March 9, 2009 at 7:37 am
Keith – in my opinion its all about processing power and speed. I know a few people with Netbooks who disable AV to make it run faster – very dangerous in those situations.
Andrew Edney
March 9, 2009 at 11:02 am
Andrew
The same would apply to bottom end Notebooks. My Acer netbook 1GB mem running XP PRO not Home is fast enough for my MS Office 2003 use with Avast protection AND defraged manually daily. I would not blame Netbooks blame users.
keith
Keith
March 10, 2009 at 8:42 am
Keith – you are completely correct, I have noticed that more people running netbooks shut down essential components to make it run faster. For whatever reason a lot of people expect a netbook to run as fast as a normal notebook.
Andrew Edney
March 10, 2009 at 12:32 pm