Today, additional and much more people are using their computers for everything from communication to on the internet banking and investing to shopping. As we do these things on a extra regular basis, we open ourselves up to potential hackers, attackers and crackers. While some may be looking to phish your personal information and identity for resale, others simply barely want to use your personal computer as a platform from which to attack some other unknowing targets. Below are a few easy, cost-effective steps you can take to make your computer more secure.
Always make backups of crucial info and store in a safe place separate from your computer.
Update and patch your operating system, web browser and software frequently. If you have a Windows operating system, start by going to www.windowsupdate.microsoft.com and running the update wizard.
This program will help you locate the latest patches for your Windows personal computer. Additionally go to www.officeupdate.microsoft.co to locate possible patches for your Office programs.
Install a firewall. Without a good firewall, viruses, worms, Trojans, malware and adware can all easily access your computer from the Internet. Consideration should be given to the benefits and differences between hardware and software based firewall programs.
Examine your browser and email settings for optimum security.
Why should you do this? Active-X and JavaScript are normally used by hackers to plant malicious programs into your computers. While cookies are relatively harmless in terms of security concerns, they do still track your movements on the net to build a profile of you. At a minimum set your security setting 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 more current versions.
Do not open strange email attachments. It's simply not enough that you may recognize the address from which it originates due to the fact many viruses can spread from a familiar address.
Do not run programs from unknown origins. Additionally, do not send these types of programs to friends and coworkers since they include funny or amusing stories or jokes. They may consist of a Trojans horse waiting to infect a personal computer.
Disable hidden filename extensions. By default, the Windows operating system is set to “hide file extensions for known file types”. Disable this choice so that file extensions display in Windows. Some file extensions will, by default, continue to remain hidden, but you are further very likely to see any unusual file extensions that do not belong.
Turn off your computer and disconnect from the network when not using the computer.
A hacker can not attack your personal computer when you're disconnected from the network or the computer is off.
Contemplate making 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 previous to you experience a hostile breach of your system. It is always much better to have a plan in case of any problem even if the chances are minimal.
You should also run a registry cleaner on a regular basis to clean out possible harmful files in the system registry.
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