Today, many people are using their computers to connect with friends and family, manage their finances online, and to shop. All of these activities make it increasingly important for users to safeguard their computers, since you could inadvertently be welcoming the schemes of hackers, attackers, and crackers.
Some might be targeting you for identity theft, while others may use your computer to launch attacks on other victims.
Here are 12 simple steps to securing your computer, that won’t hit you hard in the pocketbook.
- Make a backup copy of information that is important to you, and keep it separate from your computer.
- Make sure that you frequently update and patch your software, browser, and operating systems.
- 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.
- Review your browser and email settings for optimum security. Why should you do this? Active-X and JavaScript are often 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 Internet 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.
- Make sure you have antivirus software installed and that it is set to receive automatic updates. Automatic updates insure you are protected from the latest viruses.
- Do not open unknown email attachments. It is simply not enough that you may recognize the address from which it originates because many viruses can spread from a familiar address.
- Programs should not be run if you do not know the origins. These should not be passed on to friends and coworkers. Along with funny or amusing stories or jokes, they could also contain a Trojan horse waiting to infect your computer.
- If you have hidden file name extensions you should disable them. If the default setting has not been changed, then Windows will automatically ‘hide file extensions for known file types.” To allow Windows to show file extensions, disable this option. Some will stay hidden, but you will also be able to catch some unusual file extensions that don’t belong.
- When your computer is not being used you should turn it off and disconnect from the network. This will help to prevent an attack from hackers.
- To protect your computer from a malicious program, you should think about copying a boot disk on a floppy disc, so you will have it saved. Obviously, this is something you need to do this BEFORE your system is compromised.
- Unrestricted physical access to you computer should be prohibited. Allowing others to use your computer can put the security of your computer at risk if there is sensitive or proprietary information on it.
- Don’t use weak passwords. Use passwords which are difficult for someone to figure out. People frequently use the names of children, pets, anniversary dates, or birthdays. Because there seems to be a password needed for everything, it is not uncommon to see many people using the same password for everything. Big mistake! The use of only one password provides a hacker with easy access to a smorgasbord of personal information. If you have to write your passwords down, it is best not to leave them on a post-it, attached to the screen of your computer. You may chuckle at the absurdity, but it happens more than you think.