Today, more and more people are using their computers for everything from communication to online banking and investing to shopping. As we do these things on a more regular basis, we open ourselves up to potential hackers, attackers and crackers. While some may be looking to phish your personal information and identity for resale, others simply just want to use your computer as a platform from which to attack other unknowing targets.
1.)Dedicated Computers
It’s advisablezzz to use only one computer to store important, sensitive information for a business. When several computers hold different pieces of important data, the possibility of someone or something gaining access to the information increases.
2.)Defragging
It is quite basic really but the consistency of this will help your computer and help your wallet as well because your Laptop or Desktop will see less trips from a computer technician. Over time with all the files on the hard drive things get fragmented, kind of like a disorganized office with papers everywhere, so it takes a little while for the computer to find the file that was selected. But when the computer is constantly defragmented or organized, it is easier for the computer to find the files you are looking for.
3.)Deleting cookies
Cookies are little files that help you load your favorite websites a lot quicker and sometimes if entered into the wrong type of website they would put cookies on your system and send you to pop-up hell, and what type of websites usually send that type of cookies your way. Thats right porn sites..
But by deleting your cookies every couple of days can help keep your computer running the way it should instead of being bogged down by a ton of tiny files.
4.)Turn your computer off and disconnect it from the network when not in use.
A hacker can not attack your computer when you are not connected to the network or your computer is off.
5.)Make a boot disk on a CD or floppy disk.
In case your computer is damaged or compromised by a malicious program you will at least be able to boot your computer with the boot disk. You will need to make this boot disk before you experience a hostile breach of your system.
6.)Install additional basic threat counter-measures
In addition to the three universally needed security software programs discussed above, there are a couple of other software installations which can be basic necessities for you, depending upon your particular computer usage.
7.)Disable file sharing on your hard drives
While securing your wifi router will help keep hackers from getting access to your network, what about the potential for harm from people who already have legitimate access to your network? Having a firewall will certainly help, but it may not be enough.
One of the best ways to limit your exposure to intra-network harms is by prohibiting file sharing access from foreign machines. This is especially important if you are on a large scale or open wifi network, such as at a college library or in an office building, where you do not know who could be potentially browsing through your PC.
8.)Be cautious when downloading
While not all freeware is bad, the old saying that nothing worthwhile in life is free is generally true when it comes to free internet downloads. Spammers often hide dangerous malware in computer programs that they then offer for free on the internet. When you choose to download these free programs, not knowing they are infected, you circumvent your firewall and anti-virus protection, and as a result often open yourself up a serious malware infestation.
9.)Do not use a neighbor's wifi connection
Often hackers setup free, seemingly unprotected wifi connections in convenient locations such as apartment complexes and airports. While these unsecured connections might just be an individual who hasn't taken the time to protect his network, they might also be "honeypots", or traps set by hackers to snag your personal details
10.)Strengthen your web browser security
You connect to the internet through your internet browser. And whether you use Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera or anything else, this is a point of major weakness in any computer's defenses. Hackers often target their attacks on your computer by focusing on flaws in browsers or their plug-ins and using drive-by downloads, to get your computer to download malware through the browser without you even knowing that something was downloaded. Because of this threat, web browser security upgrades are an important early step in your PC security overhaul.
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