The battle for online security when browsing is one that has no obvious solution, at least certainly not in the near future. With the advent of every new piece of protection software comes the release of the latest virus, unleashed to cause havoc with your computer. Antivirus protection is a must for all manner of technology gadgets as the battlefields widen.

In terms of consequences, an infection on your computer can range from considerable annoyance and inconvenience to nothing short of a catastrophe. Typical symptoms of infection include: files and data being deleted, a noticeable slowing in the device's ability to load programs and applications, distorted or unusual text and images appearing on the screen, file names changing for no discernible reason and the hard disk either operating excessively or becoming inaccessible altogether.

One of the most common types of virus is a Polymorphic problem. This is an encrypted virus that hides from anti-virus software through scrambled data before decrypting itself and spreading throughout the computer. Not only does this wreak havoc on your system, it is also difficult to track down as it generates a brand new encryption routine each time it infects a new file, thus making the virus signature different each time and problematic for virus scans to detect.

Similarly annoying is a stealth virus. These infections hide modifications made to files and boot records by altering and forging the results of calls to functions.

Retro viruses can also present significant problems, as they attack and target the very software designed to delete them. This particular infection will typically attempt to attack the anti-virus data files, such as the virus signature store, which in turn disables the ability of anti-virus software to detect and delete viruses. Furthermore, a retro virus may also attempt to alter how the anti-virus program operates.

Equally debilitating can be the presence of a companion virus. As the name suggests, this will create a companion file for every single executable file on the computer that the virus infects. This can become particularly troublesome if it chooses to save itself as scandisk.com; if it does so, each time the user chooses to execute scandisk.exe, a regular occurrence for all responsible owners, the computer will load scandisk.com and thus infect the system.

Of all the infections, it is phage viruses that are perhaps the most violent and destructive. Essentially, a phage virus will re-write an executable program with its own code, rather than attaching itself to a file, as other infections tend to do. As a consequence, such a virus will usually attempt to delete and destroy each and every program it infects.

You'd be forgiven for feeling a little punch-drunk after such a barrage of threats, but the sooner you start acting to improve the security of your computer, the better. As with so many things, there is no substitute for thorough and wide research as you look for the perfect program for your needs. Many free antivirus downloads are available which allow you to try out a number of programs before settling.

It is also well worth remembering that, in the modern age, it is not just computers that need protection. The advent of smartphones has not only opened up a whole new world of freedom and communication for users, but has also presented a most welcome batch of new, potentially unaware, vulnerable targets for attackers; mobile antivirus is, therefore, simply a must.

Keeping up-to-date with the latest developments in protection software, as well as employing a good deal of common sense and precaution, particularly when browsing, should help you keep ahead of the attackers and safe from infection.