Social Networks

Social networks have become another platform for Internet security companies, both for marketing and to inform us of ongoing threats. Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ are themselves breeding grounds for malware so it's fitting that these companies have a presence there. While they compete for your dollars, they all have a deep interest in protecting your computer or they would disappear from the market.

Most of the well known products will catch 80% or more of the known and brand new malware. Some will detect and eliminate close to 100%. Since there are millions of them crawling around the Net, that's no easy task for any company. For the 30 to 80 bucks that most of them cost, it's a real bargain for a year or more with some peace of mind.

Until I started using the social networking sites more frequently (and I fought it, let me tell you), I didn't even know that many of these companies had presences there. But there's a host of great and current info available if you'll just visit their pages and subscribe to their Twitter feeds.

Another good reason to do this is that I've noticed they run contests for free Internet security software sometimes. It's worth getting connected with them just for that reason. You never know what you can get just by dropping by.

Here are some links to many of the major antivirus companies' social pages: