What’s the bouncer/doorman’s most effective weapons to stop likely troublemakers in a bar? Appearance and deterrence. He’s big, he’s ugly and looks like he will cause you significant bodily harm if you do something to irritate him.
You should go for the same recipe when dealing with hackers, viruses and spyware/malware for your computers, servers and network. Sure, there’s plenty of software out there to remove these festering annoyances once you’ve got them…but the best bet is to stop getting them in the first place.
Here’s how!
Depending on what you do with your computer determines what level of security you are going to need for viruses.
If you’re just using it strictly for work purposes, or perhaps just for a little web surfing through well-known and respected websites, then your ‘threat profile’ will be reasonably low.
However, if you are downloading music, software or going anywhere near peer-to-peer downloading sites, then you’re in a different ball game. If this is you, then purchasing a quality anti-virus and malware software solution would be your best best. Click here for paid anti-virus and spyware software options.
Some kind of software for virus protection is a necessity. Period. You will sooner or later run into issues – that’s just the nature of the beast these days. However, there are some other very important aspects to protecting your computer.
Simple ways to protect your computer….
1. Ensure your Operating System and Software is up to date.
Seems simple enough, but the majority of people do not bother. The best way for Windows or Macs is to set up to download updates automatically. Mac’s are set to this by default. Windows, you can go to Control Panel – click the System Icon and in the Automatic Updates section, set to yes.
An absolutely invaluable tool for safeguarding yourself is Secunia PSI. This fantastic (and free!) software scans all your installed software, and lets you know what’s out of date, where you have likely security vulnerabilities, and even provides simple links to click to solve all the problems! Brilliant software.
2. Install Anti-Virus software and turn on your firewall
Security is a major issue for Windows, and as such, the good folk at Redmond have released a Security Essentials software package which guards against viruses, spyware and other malicious software. This software has gone from strength to strength, and for most light-internet users, this will be enough to protect them.
Check out this post here for further free and paid anti-virus software options.
Both Windows and Mac have a built-in firewall with reasonably good capability (Windows being much better than Mac, but only because it has to be!). The key thing here, is to ensure that it is turned on…as the default often is for it to be turned off for both OS’s. Get into the Security Center in the Windows Control Panel to switch it on, or to the Sharing Pane in Systems Preferences for the Mac.
3. Don’t use your name, or your partner’s name or your dog’s name for a password!
I know that you’re not that stupid, but the point here is to make sure you choose a password that isn’t easily breakable. If a thief comes across a car with an obvious alarm and a steering wheel lock, he’ll likely move onto an easier target. The same goes for password hacking software, which mostly use dictionary (and numerical) algorithms.
Choose a password that isn’t an obvious word, has a number and a non alpha-numberic character (@#$%^&). That’s it – you’ve just massively reduced your chance of having your computer hacked. Use the same logic for any Internet site or Webmail logins as well.
4. Protect your Wireless Networks from freeloaders and hacker types
In a similar vein to the the previous point, just make sure you add security to your wireless network and give it a good solid password….using the same format as above. Hacking via open wireless network points has become a huge business for bottom-dwelling IT folk, and it’s amazing what people can access on your networks and computers when coming in via this method, not to mention using your Internet bandwidth for all sorts of nefarious downloads.
