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21. October 2008 by Rob.
I thought I would do a special blog on talking quickly about some ways to secure your personal computer. This Blog is directed at Windows 2000/Windows XP or Windows Vista users. I am going to focus on some free security tools and a low cost option to secure your pcs at home. This will focus on everything with the exception of WI-FI security which I will talk about in my next blog.
I personally do not believe in running any of the build in suites which ISP’s provide. They provide some protection which is fine and dandy but their are better low cost alternatives if not free ones which will give you as much protection that you require. The ISP suites are also pretty locked down which means you can not configure them to meet your needs.
At least every user should run a virus checker to prevent you from the most common viruses which are designed to bring down, steal your data and even use parts of your pc without you knowing it is happening. At work the hospital I work at uses the MCafee Anitivirus system. It runs great but I use a free one at home. On my home computers I am currently running AVG free by Grisoft. I have run this virus checker for over 3 years and never have had an issue. The thing I really like is the resource requirement is low. This means it does not use much system memory and that the package does not require a lot of CPU processing power to run.
Avast also provides a free virus checker which also runs very well and is less resource intensive.
Personally I would stay away from running Norton Antivirus. It is very resource intesnive and even slows a new pc down running 4 GB of Ram. Not good at all.
Spyware is becoming one of the most common reason’s computers slow down and get infected. Most of today’s spyware is either designed to steal information from you or to use part of your system to hack other systems. I use 2 free spyware checkers called Spybot and Adaware.
One thing that should be set on your pc is the Windows Firewall turned ON. This Setting can be done via your system control pane and clicking on Windows Firewall.
Speaking of firewalls, everyone should run a router even if you only have one pc. For a description of what a router is please see below:
The cost of a router is about $30-40 dollars.
The last thing that should be done is have automatic Windows updates turned on. This will automatically install all the latest security patches for Windows. Security patches are generally put out once a month by Microsoft but sometimes more often as the need exists.
That is it for now. I will do two more posts in the next 2 days on Wi-FI security as well Backups. These two topics play into the security mix as well.
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Posted in Spyware, XP, Virus, Firewall, Vista, Windows | No Comments »
29. January 2008 by Rob.
A member of my girlfriend’s family had a computer tech in today because she is so concerned about her laptop and that it can be hacked. Better a tech than me because I would not go near this one with a 2 mile pole.
The first thing the tech did was take Zonealarm off and just use Windows firewall. What he forgot is the Windows Firewall in XP is one direction and proper security measures require a BI-DIRECTIONAL firewall. For interest sake Vista has a BI-DIRECTIONAL firewall.
Problem number 2 - The tech did all the Windows updates. This includes all the Outlook Express Updates. One of the features in the new Outlook/Outlook Express updates is that Outlook will not allow you to click on a web site directly. The reason for this is to protect the end user of Outlook from Phishing sites. By copying and pasting the URL there can not be anything behind it masking itself.
Phishing is the act of tricking someone into giving them confidential information or tricking them into doing something that they normally wouldn’t do or shouldn’t do. For example: sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft.
This is so funny because this person claims she is paying all this money to protect herself from identity theft. How some people can be so gullible.
Rob
Posted in Phishing, Firewall, Security | No Comments »
21. January 2008 by Rob.
Many people have asked me over the years what I use for computer protection. Well I use a pile of free utilities plus one paid utility to do my yearly backups.
The following is what I use:
Virus Scanner - AVG Free
Firewall - Zonealarm free.
Spyware Scanners - Adaware/Spybot - both free.
Spam Blocking - Gmail - all ,y accounts are forwarded to Gmail and it’s spam filters are great.
Backup - I use Carbonite - $50 US per year.
I run Windows updates on a regular basis.
Plus I use a lot of common sense. Do not be on sites you should be on. Be careful of the attachments you open.
Rob
Posted in Spam, Backup, Spyware, Virus, Security, Firewall, Windows | No Comments »