Your PC can help you tremendously with many day to day activities. If you were to believe all the hype reported in the media, you would probably never use your PC for fear of getting a virus, getting hacked, personal information read, credit card number obtained etc. However, with a few precautions the risks can be minimised.
Viruses The biggest threat to your computer's security comes from computer viruses. If they get onto your PC they can infect various applications, deleting or overwriting files and can reproduce themselves to pass onto others, usually via your e-mail address book. Never open an attachment if the e-mail has an odd title such as 'A poem for you', 'Load this great screensaver now!', etc, even if it appears to come from a known contact. Deliete it off you PC straight away (shift, delete)
Purchase, set-up and keep up to date good quality anti-virus software. It's worth reading the user guide to set it up correctly, and get updates automatically in the background. There are some free anti-virus products available such as . You can also purchase well known branded anti-virus software too, but be aware, that some of these do take a lot of your processor speed to run them. Only download files you trust, from known sources, and if you are unsure, run them through your virus checker before installing.
access your information. Your first line of defence
against hackers is a good firewall. Many broadband
rounters incorporate a reasonable firewall.
However, these cannot control which applications on your PC are allowed internet access, so treat these as a minimum. A good firewall will stealth unused ports on your PC (the route in that hackers usually take), and render them invisible on the internet. They will also prevent Trojans (a program that allows a hacker to look at your PC as if it were their own) from operation, control which applications on your PC are allowed internet access, control the sending of personal information and the running of Active X and Java Applets. With an 'always on' broadband connection and Wi Fi, a good firewall is essential, best of all is a Security Suite that includes anti-virus, firewall, anti-spyware, spam filtering and network intrusion detection.
Having said all this, even a good firewall an be broken through by a determined hacker, but as with other types of crime, they will more than likely look for an easier target.
Hackers try to access your PC's files, destroy them or
Online Fraud . Some years ago the media was full of security breaches such as online bank customers being able to access other customers accounts, credit card numbers being collected by fraudsters and so on. Now things are much more secure and there is no reason why online services cannot be used with confidence. In fact, it is probably more secure to shop and bank online than in the High Street if you follow some simple precautions. When doing any
transactions online, always look for the padlock symbol in the lower corner of your browser. The padlock tells you that you are running in SSL (secure Socket Layer) mode, which means that every request you send is encrypted (scrambled
and coded) using a certificate from a legitimate security authority. When banking via your internet banking website, make sure that the padlock is visible before you logon.
All the passwords and security questions needed may seem like a pain, but it all helps to prevent fraud and becomes quite straightforward with use. DO NOT use auto-complete incorporated into some modern web browsers for completing sensitive personal information, such as bank details.
Choosing your password can sometimes be annoying but below is a handy tip for creating very strong passwords. The stronger the password, the harder it is to crack. Try choosing a password using the following method:
(capitalised 3 letter word) + 1 number + 1 symbol + (3 letter word)
Example: Tea2+mug (do not use this sample password)
Dont get paranoid about internet security! Unless you are using your computer for anything illegal no one's really that interested in it. Out of the millions of PC's worldwide, the chance of a hacker picking your PC to attack is unlikely, If you run a good anti-virus and firewall software, keep it up to date and spend a little time checking security settings then you will go a long way to avoiding trouble.
PC Security
