Bitdefender's Pick. Computer Security Day Recalls Infamous Virus to Caution Users

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Have you changed your passwords lately? How about creating that backup you’ve been putting off? Computer Security Day on November 30 is a special date established to remind us how important it is to keep our computers safe.

Computer Security Day was created to raise awareness of cyber security issues after the devastating effects of the Jerusalem virus. A DOS virus first detected in Jerusalem in October 1987, this piece of malware caused a worldwide epidemic for the first time in 1988. It was engineered to go off every Friday the 13th, every year except 1987. It destroyed all executable files on infected computers.

Almost 26 years have passed since the first incident caused by the Jerusalem virus. File-destroying malware has become a rarity nowadays, as only 0.33% of the threats we detect try to infect or delete operating system files. New malware is more subtle, silent and unobtrusive, but extremely effective. Protecting against these silent threats is the new challenge.

Computer security breaches caused worldwide damages worth as much as $220 billion in 2013, according to some estimates.

On Computer Security Day computer users are reminded of a few simple measures they can take to minimize risk of infection. For example: update your passwords from time to time; mark emails from unknown senders as spam; backup your data; delete unneeded files; and make sure you safeguard your computer using anti-malware programs.