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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5 Tips For Staying On The Safe Side While Surfing The Web

There are many people that surf the internet on a daily basis and what most of them don't know is that they are prone to being the victims of an online attack. In most cases, their data will either end up being read by someone else or even deleted. Nowadays, people use computers not only to have fun, but a lot of them use them to shop around and delve into online banking, so these require a very high level of protection in order for the personal data to not be recorded and be accessed by someone else.

In the following minutes, we will offer a few tips that can keep safe from computer hackers and make your online experience safer and more enjoyable.

1. First of all, you will need to back up your data. This is especially valid if you are someone that works with sensitive data, like online banking information. The mediums on which you can easily store your data depend on the amount of it you need to store, yet most of the times, you will find that the Flash memory sticks and DVDs are a great way to fill this need. Also, there are online storage options, but this only applies if you have a lot of data to store. No matter which of them you choose, do it as soon as possible!

2. You need to update your OS. Any OS is prone to infections and there will always be some security flaws that are not yet taken care of. Yet updates are released frequently and this means that you can increase the level of security your computer has. To make sure you will have all of the updates installed automatically, check the option in your Microsoft OS so that updates are installed without notification.

3. And of course, who can do without a firewall? The Firewall that Windows 7 for instance comes with, is very powerful and you will have a lot of powerful viruses blocked out this way. Trojans, worms and viruses will never stand a chance against a computer that is properly secured. More to that, you should know that there are also hardware firewall programs, so keep that in mind.

4. Do a check on your browser's settings. Most of the times you will see that hackers use Javascript and also ActiveX controls to gain access to someone's computer. Even though you think that cookies can do no harm to you, you should set your browser to delete them at each reboot.

5. Last but not least, make sure that you will employ a very good antispyware program and antivirus solution. Some of the best out there that you can use number Nod32 in terms of antivirus solutions and Spyware Doctor for deferring any spyware infection.

With these tips in mind, you will be 100% protected from infections and your browsing experience will be safer more enjoyable and you will never have to worry about someone accessing your data ever again!

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