How to protect your PC from viruses and other external attacks
Here're
some tips on how you can protect yourself and others:
1. Never
ever open/forward unsolicited
messages, especially those with attachments, even if it were from a
trusted source as viruses can easily masquerade as your friend! And
even if you confirmed it is sent by your well-intentioned friend,
avoid opening it as he/she may have obtained the email from other
sources. Don't assume your anti-virus software can protect you
because there is always a lag time between the appearance of a virus
and the solution to identify and remove it.
2. Ignore all pop-up windows and close them by pressing "Alt-F4" - don't try to click on anything in such windows, not even the "cross" icon because you may unwittingly activate a virus or malware. Better still, configure your web browser to disallow all pop-up windows except for certain trusted websites where pop-up windows are necessary.
3.
Install a reliable anti-virus
software and update it regularly. One good anti-virus is avast!. It
is FREE for non-commercial use and it also has FREE unlimited updates
and it can be downloaded at: http://www.avast.com
4. Install an anti-intruder software - this offers double protection on top of the existing Windows basic firewall. One good FREE anti-intruder software WinPatrol can be downloaded here: http://www.winpatrol.com/
5.
While you are surfing the Internet, you may not be aware of the
cookies (A cookie is a file
created by an Internet site to store information on your computer,
such as your preferences when visiting that site) that are saved on
your computer. Some cookies store information about you that can be
sold to third parties. In addition, whenever you install programs
on your computer, some of them actually contain computer codes that
can track your surfing habits, profile your shopping preferences,
hijack your browser start page or pages, alter important system
files, and can do this without your knowledge or permission. Hence,
to protect your privacy, install a FREE program called Ad-aware to
clean up your computer: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/
6.
There are also virus hoaxes
floating around. Hoaxes are emails which are not infected but contain
instructions to supposedly warn and protect you against viruses.
Instructions may include asking you to delete certain files or
modifying your registry. Beware of such emails as they may do more
harm than actual viruses! Before trusting/forwarding such emails, do
check with me first or check out recent virus hoaxes at:
http://vil.mcafee.com/hoax.asp
7.
Always update your Windows
Operating System at least once a month. To do so, launch your
Internet Explorer, click on the menu item "Tools" and
select the "Windows Update" command and follow the
instructions to install critical updates.
For
Windows XP, you can rely on its Auto Update feature to automatically
detect and download the latest security fixes from Microsoft. Auto
Update can be configured to automatically download fixes in the
background and then prompt the user to install them once the download
is complete. To configure Auto Update, click System in Control Panel
and select the Automatic Updates tab. Choose the first notification
setting to download the updates automatically and receive
notification when they are ready to be installed.
8.
One last tip: Always BACKUP your
important files on CDs/DVDs - You can never know when a psychotic
computer whiz writes a virus that is so powerful that it can wipe out
everything on your computer the moment you connect to the
Internet!
Remember, it only takes one careless move to infect
your computer and in turn, infect others as well. So be responsible
Internet users and take heed of the above tips. You are most welcome
to verify the viability of the above points and let me know if
anything needs to be removed, improved or added to better protect
ourselves against computer viruses.
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