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Security Tips and Tricks

 I wanted to give a brief, yet hopefully informative, little guide on internet security and how to protect yourself online.  There are four major areas that I'm going to cover:

1. Updating Windows

2. Firewalls

3. Antivirus Software

4. Email

     Updating Windows is the first suggestion that I would have for you.  When you installed your brand new Windows operating system they didn't have all the bugs worked out of it and they issue updates for your operating system.  These updates will fix many of the security holes that were found in the original operating system.  So, how do you go about updating your Windows?  Go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and click on the link that says product update to the left.  Microsoft will quickly scan your computer, see what version of Windows you have and what patches you have missing.  It will give you a long list of files that have to be updated and its a long tedious task to update, trust me, lots of installing, rebooting, going back to the website, getting the next element, etc.  This however is the most important thing you can do to increase the security of your computer.  These updates will fix known exploits or holes in your system.  Trust me, they know about these holes in the system because hackers have found the holes and used them in various exploits.  So Update! Update! Update!

     Next suggestion is a firewall, with the ever increasing number of people with a broadband connection and 24/7 connectivity it becomes even more important that you put a firewall on you computer.  Your computer has a series of ports that are either opened or closed to receive and send information onto the net.  If someone attacks these ports with D.O.S. (Denial of Service) attack they can shut your connection to the net off, but that's not that bad, but they can also look at these open ports and find openings in your computer.  This is serious because they can gather information on you, can look into you hard drive, and do all sorts of malicious activities.  Go to the Firewall section of the website to download one of the free software programs there.  They will make your computer even more safe then it was with the security updates you just completed.

     The third and final suggestion is Antivirus software.  Viruses can range in severity from something simple and annoying to viruses that will wipe your hard drive clean.  So you need to get an Antivirus software program.  AVG is a free virus scanner that works excellently at protecting your computer.  Read more about the antivirus software at the Antivirus  section of this website.  Antivirus software will also help prevent Trojans from getting on you computer.  Trojans allows a user to have remote access to your computer, yes, just like the trojan horse it sits on your computer waiting for the person that put it there to use it...so antivirus software will work wonders on your computer.  Make sure you keep the virus definitions up to date!  Also avoid downloading email attachments, downloading files from an untrustworthy site, and make sure you frequently scan you hard drive.

     Email - No reputable place will ask for you to fill in your credit card information in an email, delete it or sending it to your ISP to point out this danger.  If you get an email from EBAY or AOL or any other big company and there is this link in the email asking you to update your credit card info, don't do it, it's a scam, don't do it, they just make a webpage that looks like Ebay or AOL.  This is a quick way to get your credit information stolen...so basically use some commonsense when you're reading your emails.

     These four basic steps will secure your computer and make your time on the internet a pleasurable one and not a headache.  Happy Safe Surfing!