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This
post has been inspired by the situation of one of my cousin's computers
in India. I recently made a trip there and since I'm in the IT field,
she asked me to take a look at her computer since it was acting
"funny". The "funny" act was that the computer would automatically
restart whenever you tried to install ANY software onto it or download
any program from the Internet. First thing I noticed was that there was
no anti-virus software installed on the computer, so my first goal was
to install AVG anti-virus and check for viruses. But of course, the
virus that was already on the computer would not let me install or
download anything! Smart virus! To make a long story short (and I mean
a LONG story), there were 2256 viruses on the computer and 110
instances of spyware. I have never even heard of such a ludicrous
number of viruses on a computer before!
Most of the viruses on the computer were hidden in files that had
been downloaded off the Internet: songs, videos, and movies. I was
amazingly surprised that the computer lasted for 2 years with that many
viruses! So I gave my dear cousin a serious lesson in how to protect her computer from the dangers of the Internet and I will go through them here for anyone else who might be interested!
This is by no means a comprehensive list, so if you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment and I'll add them on!
1. Install Anti-Virus Software - This should not even have to be
listed, if you don't have anti-virus software installed, you're asking
for trouble! And if your reason for not installing anti-virus
software is because it's too expensive, then that can reason can be
shot down because there are several free anti-virus programs out there
that are considered better than commercial software packages. Here are
two of the most popular ones:
AVG Anti-Virus ' Very good and completely free.
Avast Anti-Virus ' Almost on par with AVG.
Kaspersky Anti-Virus ' Not free, but one of the best detection rates.
2. Update All Software - Installing an anti-virus program by itself
is not enough. There are hundreds of new threats that are found daily
and the anti-virus programs release updates regularly to combat the new
threats. Make sure you anti-virus program is set to update
automatically so that you don't have to rely on your memory to do it. Also, this goes for all the software on your computer. The most important software to keep up to date is your
Windows operating system. It is essential to have Automatic Updates
turned on and set to download and install updates automatically.
3. Install only Trusted Software - If you're not sure what a piece
of software does from it's name, then don't install it. Also, don't
install anything you didn't intend to install in the first place.
Sometimes programs will ask you to install other programs during the
install of the first application. Be careful of that because it's
usually spyware. Install software from big names sites only, such as
Microsoft or Adobe.
4. Avoid P2P File Sharing Software ' If used with great caution, P2P
software is quite useful for movies, songs and software, but if you're
not very technically savvy, you might end up downloading a song that
has a keystroke logger attached to it that will send anything you type
to some other computer over the Internet. It's almost impossible to
tell that this is occurring unless your anti-virus or anti-spyware programs pick it up in their scans.
5. Delete Unknown Emails ' If you receive emails from random
people's names, do not bother to open the email, just delete it. If you
have any doubts after reading the name and the subject, it's probably
not someone you know. Never download or open attachments unless you are
sure it's from someone you know. Give the person a call quickly and ask
them if you're not sure. Most large companies that you create online
accounts with will not send you attachments unless you specifically ask
for them through their web site. Also, be wary of any emails from sites
pretending to be banks, auction sites, etc asking for you to verify
bank account info or address info. No bank ever does that.
6. Do not click on Ads - Avoid clicking on ads if you can.
Especially those ads where something is flying around and if you shoot
the duck, you win some prize! Ads have become more sophisticated in
that they try to make the ad interactive so that you'll be tempted to
play it like a game.
7. Run Virus Scans Regularly ' If you're not in the mood to scan
every day, at least run a scan once a week. Actually, setup a schedule
for your computer in your anti-virus software to run a scan late at night or whenever you don't use your computer and that way you won't be bothered with a slow computer.
8. Be careful what you attach to your computer ' This is a
more common way to transfer viruses than you might think. Everyone now
has a USB flash stick that they carry around on their key chains, ready
to snap into any computer. But who knows what your viruses are on your
friends computers and what accidentally got transferred to their USB
stick. A lot of virus programs will auto launch right when the USB
stick is put into the computer, so you don't even have to open or
download any of the files to be infected.
9. Avoid Shady Web Sites ' If you need to look at porn, then make
sure you do it in a virtual environment. You are DEFINITELY going to
get some virus or spyware if you browse porn sites on your
computer. Virtualization basically allows you to run programs like
Internet Explorer in a virtual environment that does not effect your current operating system. If you want to find out more, search for "Virtual PC" or "VM Ware" in Google. Otherwise, simply avoid going to shady web sites!
10. Turn On or Install a Firewall - If you're running Windows XP, make sure Windows Firewall is turned on. A firewall prevents hackers from gaining access to your
computer by limiting the number of ports that are open to the public.
Also, when buying a wireless router, make sure it has a built in
firewall. Having a software and hardware firewall is better than just
having one or the other.
11. Secure Your Wireless Network ' Most wireless routers are
set to no security when you install them. Be sure to log into the
router and at least set the basic security that requires a password.
There are stronger encryption options, but if you don't understand
those, then simply set a password on the router, otherwise anyone can
connect to your home network and access everything.
12. Use a Complex Password for Login ' This means that you should already have a password to login to your
computer. Not having a password at all is not a good idea. Create a
password for all user accounts and make sure it's complex. Complex
means it should have numbers, upper case characters, lower case
characters, and symbols. This makes it way more difficult for a hacker
to get into your computer.
SARA on Permalink
very usefull info…………thanx for sharing