Security Links for PCS

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When you leave your home do you leave all the doors and windows open, with your cheque book and bank cards lying on the hall table and all your personal papers, photos etc neatly filed in piles on the floor of your living room? That is exactly what so many people do when they step out from their PC onto the internet.

There are a zillion B A D things out there on the web just waiting to turn your PC into a doorstop - an empty shell, drained of your passwords, address book, bank details, private information - or even into a zombie PC, controlled by cyber-criminals and used to attack other PCs in the same way while you sleep. There are viruses and trojans and worms and spyware and loggers and who knows what.

And yet just as when you leave your home, you can lock the doors and windows, hide your valuables, turn the alarm on etc. In the same way, taking a few simple precautions with your PC will help protect you as you surf the web and answer emails. That's some of the good news. Programs from Microsoft, Norton and others will help you be safe. But the even better news is that most of these precautions are available FREE as "shareware". This page will introduce you to a few of the options.

6 Steps to Safety

These are the programs that I have found most useful. Of course it is only a personal opinion but if you currently have NO security software on your PC, then these are an excellent starting point while you investigate further.

Operating System

1. Microsoft.com By far the most common operating systems for PCs are provided by Microsoft. The first step in protecing your PC is to make sure that your PC is up to date with the latest versions of your operating system. The Microsoft site will automatically (1) check your software is genuine and (2) identify the versions you need and download them to your PC.

Antivirus

2. Ad-aware from Lavasoft is a very popular and simple to use anti-virus program. Download the SE Personal Edition from here, Connect to make sure your protection is right up to date, and then Scan (either Deep Scan or Simple Scan). The program will identify any threats and recommend the action to be taken. It should be as simple as ticking a couple of boxes and pressing "Delete".

3. AVG from Grisoft provides real-time protection of files and emails with regular automatic updates for your computer.

Spyware

4. Spybot - Search and Destroy is also a very simple and effective tool. Download the program from here, Search for Updates, Immunise, then Check for Problems. Again, the program will identify any threats and recommend the action to be taken.

5. SpywareBlaster works slightly differently to the two above in that it only offers a shield against the installation of spyware and other irritants. Download, Download Latest Protection Updates, then Enable All Protection.

Firewall

6. Zone Alarm from CheckPoint blocks others from accessing your computer. You may think that internet access is pretty much anonymous but it certainly isn't. Everywhere you go you leave a trail and there are people and computers looking for new victims. Without a decent firewall you are wide open to all forms of abuse - see this "Checking the defences" report for more details. Zone Alarm comes very highly recommended. The more you get to know about the internet, the more you will understand why all these measures are required.

The combination of these programs will keep 99.999% of nasties away from your PC.

Identity Theft