Keep Your Computer Secure When Surfing

Only a few years ago, most people looked forward to the arrival of new phone books. Today they seem superfluous. We have become accustomed to finding the information we want online. We have even started to do a lot of our shopping online. But how do you protect your privacy, important information like credit card numbers and your computer itself while online surfing?

The first step is to make sure you have a good software firewall in place. It should be a firewall that stops unwanted outbound (dial-home) attempts as well as inbound ones. The firewall that ships with Windows XP only stops inbound attempts and this is not sufficient. (You may also want to contact your internet service provider to see if there are any settings you can change on your router to increase your on-line security.)

Secondly you need a good antivirus program, with up to date virus definitions installed and actively running on your computer. Third, use a safe browser- older versions of Internet Explorer should be avoided. Whichever browser you use, you will want to keep it up to date, as most browsers are constantly patched to close security holes as these are found.

You want to avoid phishing attempts. Never click on a link in an email that purports to be from your bank or any other site where you would enter a sensitive log-in when you get there. Most companies will not tell you by email that there is a problem with your account, just because of this. If you ever do get such an email DO NOT follow the link, instead type the name of their web site into a new browser window. That way you will know that you have arrived at the genuine site and not a copy owned by crooks for phishing purposes.

There are certain types of sites that are notorious for being places your computer can pick up a virus. These include porn sites, crack sites (no, not the type of crack you smoke, the type that helps you run software without paying for it), and gaming sites. If you must visit such sites you need to take extra precautions as no firewall or antivirus software is perfect. You should run an isolation program like Sandboxie. These programs keep all your surfing activity quarantined, and make it easy to delete all files that were created during a surfing session.

Two more suggestions. Once in a while you should use a different antivirus program to scan your computer. The best practice is to download their virus definition updates, disconnect your computer from the internet, turn off your regular antivirus program and then scan. You can use the free versions of Super Anti Spyware and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for this. If you suspect that you have picked up a cloaked root virus, you will need a recent anti-virus program that is combined with a boot disk. It is usually impossible to find a virus in your boot sector without this type of disk. Remember to turn your regular anti-virus program back on afterwards to keep your computer secure when surfing.

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Secure Browsing At Work - Strategies for Secure Browsing At Work

Somebodies Watching You!

Every day that you use your computer at work there is someone monitoring your Internet usage. Your employer knows every web site that you've visited, and if they are extra nosy they probably know everything that you've typed. Think back to all of the things you've typed or web sites that you've visited that you wouldn't want anyone to know about-- They know about them! This is the main reason why you should never think that a work computer is your property because it isn't. It belongs to the company, and not you. Secure Browsing At Work - Strategies for Secure Browsing At Work. If you must visit your favorite sites and send out personal information please read on, and learn how to protect yourself.

How Your Company Snoops On You.

Most of us can't resist visiting our favorite social media websites and favorite Internet forums while at work because it is so ingrained into our daily routine. We often check Facebook before we check our voice mail or email accounts. We have become programmed into using the Internet in a specific way and it's hard to stop. So, for those of us who want to get away with using the company computer for our own entertainment do the following:

The first thing you must do is check your computer for key logging software. Key logging software is used to record what you type on the computer, it works in the background of the computer processes, and stores what you typed as a secret text file. How do you check for key logging software? Most anti-spy and anti-viral software can find if your computer has this kind of software installed. Do not erase it! Please remember that this is your company's computer. Unfortunately, there is a second type of key logger, and it is hardware based, which means that it is a physical box that connects between your keyboard and your computer. You can easily located a hardware key logger by looking at you keyboard cable. Check this now. Secure Browsing At Work - Strategies for Secure Browsing At Work.

How To Hide Your Internet Usage.

Now, that you have checked your computer for a key logger it is time to give you a few option for Secure Browsing At Work - Strategies for Secure Browsing At Work. If your work computer is free of any form of key logger, your best step is to purchase a VPN service with encryption. VPN stands for virtual private network, and they work by providing you with an alternative way to connect to the Internet that doesn't use your typical browser of IP Address. These are easy to find and use.

If your computer does have a key logger all is not loss. Your strategy is to purchase or create a jump drive that run it's own browser or operating system on them. This is very easy to do, and the most secure option. What this allows you to do is to plug the jump drive into your USB port, and you run your own secure operating system. This is great because your company will not be able to see what you do! It doesn't alter or hard the computer and once you pull out the jump drive the computer returns to normal. Secure Browsing At Work - Strategies for Secure Browsing At Work.

Use these options to hide from your boss.

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