LET’S TALK ABOUT COMPUTER PROTECTION

-


LET’S TALK ABOUT COMPUTER PROTECTION 
HOW CAN YOU BE AWARE FROM HACKERS, SPYWARE, VIRUSES & OTHERS



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!




STEPS TO AVOID VIRUSES & MALWARE




1. ANTI-VIRUS

Here are some popular AV’s FREE AND PAID:


Avira – www.avira.com
Bitdefender – www.bitdefender.com
AVG – www.avg.com
Kaspersky – www.kaspersky.com
NOD32 - www.eset.com
Symantec / Norton AV - www.symantec.com



In addition to anti-virus software, you should install one anti-malware program and the best is malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free (https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download/).




2. UPDATE ALL!

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 these new threats. Make sure your 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. TRUSTED SOFTWARE

If you’re not sure what a piece of software does from its 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 original application. Be careful of that because it’s usually spyware. If you’re installing software from big names sites like Microsoft or Adobe, you’re good.




4. P2P / FILE SHARING / DOWNLOADS

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. If you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t try to download or torrent.





5. DELETE UNKNOWN EMAILS

If you receive emails from random people, 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.



Also, hackers try to prey on your emotions. If something sounds too good to be true, i.e. You won some money or free vacation, it probably is. Secondly, if you get any email from the IRS or police or a lawyer or anyone else trying to scare you, don’t panic and start giving out information. These are all usually scams because no official agency emails people about serious issues.




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 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 a 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 affect your current operating system. If you want to find out more, search for “Virtual PC” or “vmware” in Google. Otherwise, simply avoid going to shady web sites! Also, check out my articles on Hyper-V and vmware Fusion.




10. TURN ON OR INSTALL A FIREWALL

If you’re running Windows or Mac, make sure 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 and the wireless network, otherwise anyone can connect to your home network and change all the settings.




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.




13. USE TWO FACTOR AUTHENTICATION

Many online services now allow you to enable two factor authentication, which means you’ll need to type in a code in addition to your password when logging in. This makes your account much more secure, even though it adds a bit on inconvenience. You should enable it on all the major services like Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc. Check out my article on setting up two factor authentication and properly configuring it.




14. USE ENCRYPTION WHEN POSSIBLE

Even if someone is able to steal your data or monitor your Internet connection, encryption could help prevent the hacker from being able to read any of that information. You can encrypt your Windows or OS X hard drive, encrypt a USB flash drive, and even encrypt all your web traffic using a VPN.




If you follow all the steps above, you can rest assured that you will be able to avoid 99% of the Internet threats that are out there. It’s really a matter of being disciplined and careful rather than being completely carefree when using your computer.

 DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE? Let me know your comments and thoughts.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REASONS TO REPLACE YOUR COMPUTER FAN AND HEATSINK

-
Image
REASONS TO REPLACE YOUR COMPUTER FAN AND HEATSINK A computer's fan and heatsink are two of its most important components. The primary role of both is to cool down the processor and keep it from overheating. A laptop or notebook does not have to be outside in hot, humid weather to overheat. In fact, even if a computer is kept away from extreme heat altogether, it can still overheat. That is because a computer's processor is responsible for processing information and giving instructions to other components in the computer. A processor can get very busy as a result, especially when it is running multiple programs simultaneously. As a result, it heats up, and if there is nothing to cool it down, it can malfunction and break down, costing the owner hundreds or even thousands of dollars. This is why a good fan and heatsink are necessary. The more demand placed on the processor, the more effective the fan and heatsink must be. This guide identifies five issues
Read more

LET’S TALK ABOUT PC AUDIO SPEAKERS

-
Image
LET’S TALK ABOUT PC AUDIO SPEAKERS Computer speakers are one of those PC accessories that are almost essential; and you can spend anywhere from $10.00 to $1,000.00 for quality PC speakers, depending on your budget.   There are tons of tons of speakers with features and different prices as we know. But as I always say: WHAT and HOW is what I am looking for. For sample: I have this one in my office and works properly, the only disadvantage is that has no RADIO and only can be played with micro SD and plugged to my computer. And only pay like $20-$25. USB charged and the battery longs for 6 hours. https://www.energysistem.com/en/products/music_box/music_box_series_/42198-energy_mini_music_box_z100_r_black Here there is some thoughts and share some personal ideas about this topic. I enjoy listening to music a lot, and because my computer is the main source for my digital music collection, a decent speaker system is essential. Expensive is not alway
Read more

LET’S TALK ABOUT - NETWORK FORENSICS

-
Image
LET’S TALK ABOUT - NETWORK FORENSICS BASIC CONCEPT Network forensics is a sub-branch of digital forensics relating to the monitoring and analysis of computer network traffic for the purposes of information gathering, legal evidence, or intrusion detection. Unlike other areas of digital forensics, network investigations deal with volatile and dynamic information. Network traffic is transmitted and then lost, so network forensics is often a pro-active investigation. Network forensics generally has two uses. The first, relating to security, involves monitoring a network for anomalous traffic and identifying intrusions. An attacker might be able to erase all log files on a compromised host; network-based evidence might therefore be the only evidence available for forensic analysis. The second form relates to law enforcement. In this case analysis of captured network traffic can include tasks such as reassembling transferred files, searching for keywor
Read more