18 August 2006
Easy and cheap security for your computer.
For those looking to make their PC safe without spending a fortune, Information Week has just written a guide providing 10 ways to protect you computer.
The first and of course most obvious is to install an anti-virus and anti-spyware program. Of course you can pay for it, or you can get both of these applications free of charge. Their recommendations include AVG Anti-Virus and Avast 4 anti-virus programs. Personally I would add Avira AntiVir to that list as well. It works with Windows and Linux and virus definitions are updated several times a day. Ad-Aware, Spybot Search & Destroy, and Microsoft's Windows Defender are their choices for anti-spyware software. The first two are fairly good although I don't know much about Windows Defender.
Their next piece of advice includes testing your security. Their first choice I consider a very good choice having looked at a few. The advise going to Shields Up which will analyse you computer for multiple vulnerabilities and give you advice on how to solve the problems.
Their third tip goes into securing your wireless network by disabling SSID broadcast, filtering MAC addresses and changing your network name from the default. Which is very easy with most wireless devices, although they advise using Network Magic to make it even easier.
Next and probably as important as anti-virus in modern computing install a firewall. They advise using a free firewall including the one that is a part of Windows itself and Zone Alarm. While these are helpful and I especially like Zone Alarm (yes I know many will disagree with me, but it's the simplest to get working that I have seen), I would actually go out and spend the little bit of money for an actual NAT router with a firewall included. It protects you from anything unwanted actually making it to your computer so long as you configure it correctly.
Fifthly they advise encrypting any data that you don't want others reading. Their choice of progams is Cryptainer LE. It seems very easy and useful for most users. If you are looking for an ability to encrypt and decrypt data for sending or just storing on your system and aren't afraid of a command line interface, I'd advise GnuPG which allows you to create public and private keys and import other people's keys as well as sign your data.
The sixth point is protecting yourself from phishing. Their choice is the Google Toolbar or Netcraft Toolbar which will warn you if a site is being used for phishing.
The next point is to disable file sharing. When you do have to share files within your network never share an entire drive. Share only the folder that you actually need others to see.
Point number eight involves surfing the web anonymously. Their choice here is using the website The Cloak to surf through or to find an anonymous proxy server to connect through. The easier and one to think about the least is using a proxy server. It takes a minute or two to set up, but from there you don't have to worry about it unless the server stops working.
Also opt-out of cookies that track your surfing habits. There is a list provided in their article of places that allow you to place a cookie on your system that tells their cookie not to install and not to trace your habits.
Their last point is to protect yourself from scams on eBay. These scams involve someone buying something and then ask you to ship it overseas to someone else. They say that they will pay after you ship it or they will send you a fake confirmation of payment.
The first and of course most obvious is to install an anti-virus and anti-spyware program. Of course you can pay for it, or you can get both of these applications free of charge. Their recommendations include AVG Anti-Virus and Avast 4 anti-virus programs. Personally I would add Avira AntiVir to that list as well. It works with Windows and Linux and virus definitions are updated several times a day. Ad-Aware, Spybot Search & Destroy, and Microsoft's Windows Defender are their choices for anti-spyware software. The first two are fairly good although I don't know much about Windows Defender.
Their next piece of advice includes testing your security. Their first choice I consider a very good choice having looked at a few. The advise going to Shields Up which will analyse you computer for multiple vulnerabilities and give you advice on how to solve the problems.
Their third tip goes into securing your wireless network by disabling SSID broadcast, filtering MAC addresses and changing your network name from the default. Which is very easy with most wireless devices, although they advise using Network Magic to make it even easier.
Next and probably as important as anti-virus in modern computing install a firewall. They advise using a free firewall including the one that is a part of Windows itself and Zone Alarm. While these are helpful and I especially like Zone Alarm (yes I know many will disagree with me, but it's the simplest to get working that I have seen), I would actually go out and spend the little bit of money for an actual NAT router with a firewall included. It protects you from anything unwanted actually making it to your computer so long as you configure it correctly.
Fifthly they advise encrypting any data that you don't want others reading. Their choice of progams is Cryptainer LE. It seems very easy and useful for most users. If you are looking for an ability to encrypt and decrypt data for sending or just storing on your system and aren't afraid of a command line interface, I'd advise GnuPG which allows you to create public and private keys and import other people's keys as well as sign your data.
The sixth point is protecting yourself from phishing. Their choice is the Google Toolbar or Netcraft Toolbar which will warn you if a site is being used for phishing.
The next point is to disable file sharing. When you do have to share files within your network never share an entire drive. Share only the folder that you actually need others to see.
Point number eight involves surfing the web anonymously. Their choice here is using the website The Cloak to surf through or to find an anonymous proxy server to connect through. The easier and one to think about the least is using a proxy server. It takes a minute or two to set up, but from there you don't have to worry about it unless the server stops working.
Also opt-out of cookies that track your surfing habits. There is a list provided in their article of places that allow you to place a cookie on your system that tells their cookie not to install and not to trace your habits.
Their last point is to protect yourself from scams on eBay. These scams involve someone buying something and then ask you to ship it overseas to someone else. They say that they will pay after you ship it or they will send you a fake confirmation of payment.
