With all the badness in cyberspace, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep your computer secure. If you ever connect to the Internet, you’re at risk. However, it seems to me that the same people seem to have the same problems repeatedly. Security is all about what you let into your computer. If you take steps to avoid letting the bad stuff in, you will have far fewer problems.
1. Keep your computer updated. Yes, that means running Windows Update regularly, which admittedly is almost impossible to do effectively on a dial-up connection. You can choose Windows Update from your Start menu or go to http://update.microsoft.com. Microsoft has been known to provide some critical updates on CD. For example, you can get the Windows XP SP2 update using the link on this page: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx
2. Learn about email security. My personal opinion is that most viruses would be stopped if everyone ceased using Microsoft Outlook, since it has been repeatedly targeted by online scum. Many other email software options exist, such as Thunderbird, Eudora, PocoMail, and others. Some email programs also let you download only headers, so you can pick and choose the email you let on your PC and delete everything else while it is still on the server. (I use a separate tool called SpamCombat to download headers because it also includes extensive spam filtering.) An email header includes only text, so it can’t do anything bad to your system. When you download mail, let your anti-virus software scan everything coming in and don’t open attachments from people you don’t know.
3. Use a firewall and anti-virus programs and keep them updated. This tip should be a no-brainer. Windows XP even has a built-in firewall, so there’s no excuse not to have a firewall turned on and active on your system.
4. Just as you don’t want to frequent certain neighborhoods in a city, stay away from sleazy Web sites, and certainly don’t download anything from them. Avoid downloading anything that can run automatically. For example, if a file ends in .txt or .pdf, it’s just text and can’t run malicious software. If it ends with .exe, it can.
5. Don’t share your computer. I can’t believe the number of people who blame their kids or grandkids for their computing woes. For heaven’s sake, set some rules or don’t let them use the computer at all. That’s why Windows has a log in. Don’t tell them your password. Give them their own old computer and don’t attach it to your network. If you only have one computer, at least set up a separate limited account for the kiddies, so they can’t do as much damage.
With a little common sense, you can keep your computer secure. Data loss can be expensive, so think about what you let on your hard disk.