Have you felt that your security is being threatened by viruses and identity thieves? It happens to everyone, from the best geeks to the most normal Internet users like you and me. One of the first things you notice once your computer has been infected with these viruses is that your computer slows down and refuses to perform the simplest actions like fast right-clicking.

These virus infections on your computer come from a variety of sources. They can be via your friends’ USB stick or from an email attachment your grandmother sent you. The other methods a Trojan attacks your computer is through chat messengers like MSN Messenger (now called Live Messenger) or Yahoo Messenger.

Viruses that infect your computer through these chat clients like MSN and yahoo are especially dangerous as they tend to spread virally through your contact lists. Once your computer is infected, the virus sends out random, seemingly real chat messages like “Hey, is it okay to upload this image to MySpace?” and is followed by a link to an image.

Once the link on the messenger is clicked, it downloads the Trojan virus and it will infect your PC with more viruses. This cycle then continues from the infected computer to the contacts on that Yahoo or MSN messenger.

One thing you should do once you buy a new computer is to install proper antivirus software and use a firewall to protect yourself from infection. Also, I personally would recommend not clicking any suspicious links in messengers, even if they are sent by your friends.