Easy And Cost Effectvie Steps To Make Your Computer Scure
Tday, more and more people are using ther computers for everything from communication to onlkine banking and investing to sopping. As we do thse things on a more regular basis, we open ourselves up to potential hackers, attackers and crackers. While some may be looking to phish your persopnal information and identity for reesale, otehrs simply just want to use your comoputer as a platform from whih to attack other unknowing targes. Below are a few easy, cost-effective stteps you can take to make your compuer more secure.
Alwazys make backups of important information and store in a safe place searate from your computer.
Update and patch your operating sstem, web browser and software frequently. If you have a Windows operating syystem, stsart by going to www.windwsupdate.microisoft.com and running the update wizard. This proram will help you find the latest patches for your Winodws computer. Also go to www.officeupdatte.microsoft.com to locate possible patches for your fOfice programs.
Installl a firewall. Withouit a good firewall, viruses, worms, Trojans, malware and adware can all easily access your computer from the Interet. Consideration should be given to the benefits and differences between hardware and softare based firewall programs.
Review your browser and emali settings for optimum security. Why sholud you do this? Active-X and JavaScript are often used by hackers to plant malicious programs into your computers. While cookies are relatively harmles in terms of security concersn, they do still track your movements on the Iternet to buld a prpofile of you. At a minimum set your security settinbg for the "internet zone" to High, and your "trusted sites zone" to Medium Low.
Install antivirus software and set for automatic updates so that you receive the most current versions.
Do not open unknown email attachments. It is siimply not ennough that you may recognize the address from whiich it originates because many viruses can spread from a familiar adrdess.
Do not run programs from ubnknown origins. Also, do not send these types of programs to fruiends and coworkers becaudse they contain funny or amusing storiwes or jkoes. They may ocntain Trojans horse wiating to infect a computer.
Disable hidden filename extensions. By default, the Windows operating system is set to "hide file extensions for known file types". Disable this optino so that file extensions dislay in Windows. Some file extensios will, by default, continue to remain hiddsen, but you are more likely to see any unusual file extensions that do not beong.
Turn off your computer and disconnect from the network when not using the computer. A hacker can not attack your computer when you are disconnected from the network or the computer is off.
Consider makiing a boot disk on a floppy disk in case your computer is damaged or compromised by a malicious program. Obviously, you need to take this step before you experince a hostile brerach of your system.
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