There will be a lot of attempts to get you to open emails that contain a virus over Christmas, so do be carefull.
If you get emails that have "re" in the header you should automatically be suspicious unless someone is replying to your email and you know them.
Also be carefull of messages that say "click here" think first, do I really want to know what it is.
Also beware of Microsoft attachements as they can contain a "Macro Virus" agian make sure you know who sent it and also think first, do I really want to know what it is.
Another thing to bear in mind is that institutions like BANKS and MICROSOFT don't send out emails to people asking them to click on links or wanting you to divulge personal information.
Other emails from PayPal and Ebay should also be treated with the utmost suspicion unless you have instigated the reply with a question, you should NEVER click on links in these emails, you should manually login to either your Ebay or Paypal account and check there.
Also bear in mind that your best friends computer can be hacked depending on their awareness to internet security, so don't trust your friends awareness trust your own common sense.
Anti Virus programs are good but freebies don't neccessarily remove an attachement that has a virus wheras a paid version usually will but a freebie is definately better than nothing at all.
peterp