Internet Security ABC - Top Ten Tools to Boost your Internet Security

Top Ten Tools to Boost your Internet Security

When you think of security, you likely think of banks and financial institutions or at least companies in fear of corporate espionage. However, they are not the only ones that have to be concerned about security. Anyone, including you, who use a home or business computer to get on the Internet, should be concerned about security. The Internet, though a wonderful tool full of a wealth of information, is also full of hackers, viruses, and scams that can cause your computer a great deal of damage. Luckily, though, there are ways to prevent a lot of what is out there from getting to your computer. There are tools and precautions that you can take. The following is a list of ten that can go a long way in protecting you and increasing your internet security.

First of all, make sure that you have a firewall up and running on your computer as well as a virus

checker. In addition, make sure what any firewall that is included in the software that you are using, has been activated and is set properly. Consult a professional or your software's manual to make sure you have the settings on and correctly placed for optimum security.

Secondly, try not to share your computer. Obviously there are times when, especially with a home computer, that there will be multiple users. The problem is more with kids than anything. Children have a tendency to download anything they think they might need without thinking it through. If you do have to share your computer with kids, take time to talk to them about the risks of downloading software.

Third, backup your data often, especially what you consider it to be essential data. If you don't do anything else, make sure you backup your files. Anything you backup can then be recovered if there is a problem. Viruses, worms, and the like can eat up files and before you know it family photos, business files, or important contact information can be lost.

Fourth, make sure you know what you are doing before you download anything. Don't click on any unknown link that asks you to agree to install software to view their page. Sometimes those contain spyware.

A fifth way to increase security is to be careful about any business or sensitive information you access or pass on a public computer. You don't know what has been downloaded onto those computers that could affect your files. Public computers could even have spyware, key logger software, or a number of other programs that could steal sensitive information. If you must use a public computer, make sure you sweep it with some sort of spyware seeking program.

Sixth, carry a flash card with you. You can load your own software onto the flash card for use on any public computer. This will help keep you safe from viruses. You may also want to use it if you are going to be using a family computer that you are not positive its virus and spyware free.

Seventh, be aware of visiting porn sites or anything like that. Those sites often contain spyware, Trojan horses, viruses, and all sorts of nasty bugs. These sites can even have software that will run in the background of your computer without even asking you, so it is a good idea to just stay away.

Eighth is to never open SPAM email while you are still connected to the Internet. Many times, just by clicking on SPAM you may be adding yourself to your own email address to another SPAM list. Often your email address will be used as the sending address and you will not know this, until your account is closed. You can also end up with viruses or worms from clicking on SPAM emails.

Ninth, turn off your Internet connection if you are determined to see what is in the SPAM email. If you really feel like you need to look at a message, but are unsure where it is from, shut off your connection at the firewall first.

Lastly, make sure you have a good virus checker installed on your computer. There are many free ones out there and they work well at protecting your computer from viruses. Look for a virus checker with regular updates, even daily updating, and make sure you receive those updates. Virus software will help protect your computer from new viruses and new worms that get discovered on the Internet. By making sure you are updating regularly, you can keep up with the viruses that are out there.

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◦ Are You an Enabler? What Enabling Cookies
◦ Can the Spam-How to Filter Out All the Unnecessary Junk
◦ Channel the Cookie Monster in You - Computer Cookies Can Be Bad For Your Computer's Health
◦ Chat Room Challenge - Five Tips to Ensure Your Anonymity
◦ Computer Band-aid - How to Know if You Need to Download that Security Patch
◦ Computer Deep Freeze - Ten Tips to Keep your PC Up and Running
◦ Computer Junkyard - Does Spam Filtering Really Help?
◦ Dial-Up vs. Broadband - Which is the Safer Alternative?
◦ Doesn't Ad up - Three Things that Adware does to your Computer
◦ Don't Click No! How to Safely Close those Pop-up Windows
◦ Don't Get Hacked Off-How to Stop Computer Interlopers in their Tracks
◦ Exercise Parental Control - Five Tips to Keep Kids Safe on the Internet
◦ Exterminate those Bugs on your PC
◦ Getting Down With Downloads - How to Protect Your Computer
◦ Hijacked at Home - Five Steps to Protect Your Home PC
◦ Identity Theft via Internet Security Flaws
◦ Inoculate Yourself against Computer Viruses
◦ Internet Anonymizers - Why and When You Should Use Them
◦ Key Logging Capers Part Two - Three Reasons why it is a Problem
◦ Key Logging Capers - Three Reasons Why You Need It
◦ Let's Go Phishing! - Five Ways to Avoid Being Hooked by This Scam
◦ Maintaining Your Privacy on the Internet - Five Things you can do
◦ Malicious Instant Messages-Three Ways Instant Messaging Compromises Internet Security
◦ Malware is bad for your Computer
◦ Picking Blackberries - Why Mobile Technology Needs More Security
◦ Pound Those Pop-Ups
◦ Six Tips for Staying Healthy in a Computer Virus World
◦ Something Doesn't Register - Cleaning your Computer's Registry for Safety
◦ Spies Everywhere - What is Spyware and Why is it so Bad?
◦ Squash those Worms - Four Ways to Keep your PC Critter-Free
◦ That Wasn't Scripted! Why Scripted Viruses are Bad News
◦ The Basics of Internet Website Encryption
◦ The Cookie Monster - How Do Cookies Influence Internet Security?
◦ The Digital Certificate - What's It Mean and Why is It Important?
◦ Three Benefits to Using an Internet Remailer
◦ Three Reasons to Wipe Your Computer's Internet History Files Clean
◦ Three Ways that an Internet Firewall Can Be Compromised
◦ Three Ways to Identify a Virus Hoax
◦ Three Ways to make sure your Online Credit Card Transaction is Safe
◦ Toolbar Traps - What You Should Know BEFORE Downloading that "Helpful" Toolbar
◦ Top Five Reasons to Install a Firewall
◦ Top Five Spyware Threats to Internet Security
◦ Top Five Vulnerable Areas in Internet Security
◦ Top Five Worst Viruses and How to Protect Your Computer against Them
◦ Top Four Ways to Ensure a Secure Password
◦ Top Ten Tools to Boost your Internet Security
◦ What IP Addresses Mean in the Scheme of Internet Security
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ID Theft

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