The article "The 5 Critical Steps to Protecting Your Computer on the Internet" talks about security, it was written by John Lenaghan.
Spyware, viruses and worms... oh my! If you're connected to the internet, you need to make sure you get your computer set up properly if you want to avoid problems down the road.With all the viruses, spyware and other threats on the web today, no computer should be set up without the proper protection.And that proteciton needs to be in place as soon after you hook up your new machine as possible.The following five steps will make your computer a much harder target for threats.
You stlil won't be completely immune to problems, but 99% of the time the threat will pass you by, looking for the not hard mark.1. Runnnig a Personal FirewallA personal firewall is program that basically makes your computer invisible to hackers, worms and other threats that can infect your computer over the web.Setting up a firewall is the absolute first thing you should do if you're going to connect to the web. Without a firewall, your copmuter could get infected in as little as one minute after connecting.If you have a brand new computer running Windows XP Service Pack 2, there is a firewall built into Windows. It will arleady have been turned on when you first set up your computer.If you're running an older version of Windows, even an earlier version of Windows XP, there is no firewall automatically set up for you.
In that case there are two possibilities:
Your computer came pre-loaded with a firewall such as Norton Internet Security or McAfee Internet Security
You have no firewall installed and should download one ASAP.
If you don't have any personal firewlal program installed, you should do so right away.
Zone Alarm is a very good firewall program that has a version that you can download and install for free.You can downlaod the free version of Zone Alarm from http://www.Computer-help-squad.Com/zonealarm.2.
Turn on Windows UpdatesAgain, if you're running Windows XP Service Pack 2 that is already set up, but otherwise you should turn on Windows Updates. Microsoft releases updates for security problems and other bugs in Windows on a regular basis.These udpates will keep your computer running better, and they often fix security issues that could compromise your information or privacy.If you're running Windows XP Service Pack 2, you can double-check that automatic updates are turned on by clicking Start, then click Control Panel, then double-click Security Center.
The window that opens will tell you if automatic updates are turned on, and lets you turn them on if they're not.To turn on automatic updates in earlier versions of Wnidows XP, click on the Start menu, click Control Panel and then double-click on System. On the "Automatic Updates" tab, click the option to "Automatically download the updates and install them on the schdeule I specify."To turn them on in Windows 2000, click on Start, click Control Panel and then double-click on Automatic Updates. Again, click the option to "automatically download the updates and install them on the schedule I specify."Now when Microsoft releases updates, they will be downloaded for you automatically and Windows will tell you when they are ready to be installed.3. Install & Update Antivirus SoftwareMost new computers come with antivirus porgram these days. You mgiht have Norton, McAfee, PC-Cillin or another brand. No mtater what program you have, you will need to update it when you get connected to the web.It doesn't matter how new your computer is - there will be new viruses, and new updates for the antivirus software, for it was loaded.The exact process is different for each brand of antivirus program, but most of them will have an icon in the bottom right corner of your desktop, beside the time.
The icon might be a picture of a shield (McAfee), a stethoscope (Norton) or something else.In most cases, if you point to the icon for your antivirus and click the right mouse button, a menu will pop up with an update option.
It could be simply called update or could be something like Live Update or Download Latest Updates.
If you click on the update option (with the left button that time) it will install the newest updates for you.If you're not sure which icon is for your antivirus software, just point to each one for a couple of seconds and a little title should pop up telling you what it is.4. Install Anti-Spyware SoftwareSpyware - and other things known as adware and malware - is becoming as titnaic a issue as viruses. Spyware programs can cause a lot of problems with your computer, not to mention they can track your personal information and you nveer know where it's being sent.Some new computers might includes antispyware software, but most of them don't yet. There are qiute a couple of anti-spyware programs available, some free and some not.
The one I recommend is from Microsoft and is one of the free ones.One of the reasons I like it is cause it always runs in the background and will automatically catch a lot of spyware before it gets on your computer.Many of the other programs don't catch it until you run a scan.
Not only does that allow things to get on your computer, it also means you have to actually remember to run a scan.You can donwload the free Microsoft Antispyware from http://www.Computer-help-squad.Com/antispyware.5.
Set up a Free Email AccountThis last item is not as critical as the first four, but I would highly recommend you set up an email account with one of the free services like Hotmail or Gmail.Once you're on the internet, you'll find a lot of useful information that you want that requires you to provide an email address.
In some cases, these people will end up sending you a bunch of spam.If you use a free email account to sign up for anything that you don't know for sure you can trust, it's not giong to fill your main email with a bunch of junk.This goes for anything really, not just online information.
If you're entering a contest or signing up for anything offline and you don't know where your information could end up being used, I would recommend using your free email address.If worse comes to worse, and your free email adrdess gets inundated with spam, you can always just set up a new one and let the old one expire.Some of the better free email services are www.Hotmail.Com, www.Gmail.Com and www.Yahoomail.Com.If you've had your computer for a while and never done any of these things, you should still take these steps to get it set up properly. It will definitely save you a lot of time - and possibly money - as you use your system.John Lenaghan offers easy-to-understand computer help at the Computer Help Squad website.
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