Protecting your computer while surfing
I surf a lot each day and one of the things that worries me is the threat of having my computer compromised by viruses or unwanted ads. It is not only a pain to remove them, it also means I have to remove my computer from the home network until I removed the problem and that means no surfing – talk about withdrawal.
I now have several layers of protection which I hope will either prevent or at least make it difficult for any unwanted visitors in my system.
You need a firewall
Use a firewall. If you don’t have one get one. Windows XP and Vista come with firewalls.
You need anti-virus software
This is probably the most important component. I use the Avast home edition. It is free and all you have to do is download it and install it. Once you have it installed it you need to register for a key and that key will work for a full year (you can then get a new key). Avast offers all the real-time protection you need, it updates automatically once or twice a day. It will also scan and protect your emails and you can do full system scans.
You need spyware protection.
You need to protect your computer against spyware and adware. Most free spyware protection only allows you to scan your PC but does offer real time protection. One that does, is called Spyware Terminator and in my opinion it beats many of the paid solutions. Spyware terminator will work 24/7 blocking spyware before it reaches your PC and it will also automatically update with all the latest definitions.
With those three levels of protection you will find that surfing the net is relatively safe. Of course you still need to take some common sense steps. Only download software from reliable sources. Use a virus scanner on software prior to unzipping.
