Eight Excellent Ways To Make Your Computer Less Vulnerable

In many ways, computers make the world go round. They permit for the instant distribution of family photos to celebrate the long awaited birth of the first grandchild; they take the edge out of Christmas shopping and let consumers stay home sipping hot chocolate instead of fighting with other shoppers over the few remaining parking spots at the local shopping mall; they allow dad to reconcile the check book in the middle of the night and mom to pay the bills before the family takes off on a well-deserved vacation; they let junior do his science project research at home, and let your teenager talk to her friends via email instead of tying up the phone line for hours on end.

Of course, with this much convenience there is bound to be some drawback. The reality is that accessing the computer and using the Internet is a lot like swimming in a murky lake – you simply do not know what it out there, but you know that some form of protection is probably a very good idea and even necessity. Here are eight excellent ways to make your computer less vulnerable:

Purchase a good anti-virus program. While there are quite a few available for free over the Internet, it is advisable to invest your money in one that has been highly rated, which has a reputable company standing behind it, and which will offer you frequent upgrades. Since viruses are ever changing, and hackers are becoming more and more sophisticated in the destructive concoctions they create and unleash on the Internet, it is imperative that your anti-virus software is always up to date.

Use an anti-spyware program. Just like you need a good anti-virus program to protect you from the threats of the ’Net, you will also need a program to protect you from hackers who will attempt to gain access to your system with the help of spyware. While there may be some overlap in the ability to recognize threats, it is generally still thought to be a good idea to have both an anti-virus and an anti-spyware program running on your machine.

Train the user. There is a lot more to turning on your computer and beginning to type. You need to now what the threats are and what to look out for. Keep informed!  Your anti-virus company may offer weekly emails and this is one mailing list you will want to sign up for.

Understand that there are attempts to phish for information. Once you know what phishing actually is, you will be able to spot suspicious emails and requests and not fall for them.

Beware of Trojans. Usually they masquerade as a wonderful piece of shareware or a game; thus, if you are surfing a website and it suddenly prompts you to download something, err on the safe side and click “no.”

Restrict access to your machine. Having every Tom, Dick or Harry from your dorm room using your computer is probably not a good idea, since some folks are less computer savvy than others, and some will most likely frequent sites that are known to harbor Trojans.

Restrict cookies on your machine. You can control how cookie friendly your computer will be, and you may decide to simply refuse acceptance of some cookies.

Do periodic file maintenance, such as emptying your temporary files and recycling box. Keep a close eye on software that suddenly appears on your machine and which you do not remember downloading.

Following these eight suggestions will help you to keep your computer less vulnerable and will go a long ways to ensuring that your personal data is safe, and your computer will not be hijacked by a third party.