How To Protect Yourself On The Internet Part 1

First Step – Is Your PC Compromised
Everyone has heard of Viruses and Spyware and by now should know to have scanners and protection software. Most good computer consultants don’t recommend any one vendor over another because the main players, Microsoft, Norton, McAfee, AVG, essentially catch all the really bad stuff. That said Microsoft does have a good anti-spyware program that everyone should install called Defender you can get it at http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx.

After you buy and install a good antivirus program it is essential that you ‘keep it UP TO DATE’. Most software has auto update ability, make sure it is turned on and working. I set it to update 2 times a day. Also make sure your anti-virus and anti-spyware are set to auto protect your PC. And even with auto protection make sure you do a full system scan on a regular basis, at least weekly.

Please note that while the concepts in this report relate to most operating systems, some of the step by step instructions are specifically for ‘Windows’ based computers. One of these is the ‘Automatic Updates’. This comes standard with Windows XP Service Pack 2 and higher. If you haven’t seen it goto ‘Control Panel’, and click ‘Automatic Updates’.

Make sure the ‘Automatic’ is selected. What happens is that anytime you go online this program goes out and sees if there are any critical/security updates for your PC, and the first 2 option tell the program to just automatically download them. It is important to note that the updates are not ‘installed’ until the time specified above or when you allow them. If you leave your PC on overnight, 3 am is OK. If not you can just manually install the updates, I recommend 5-10 minute before you take a break from the PC because some installs require a reboot and you don’t want to be annoy by the popup that tells you to reboot all day.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If your computer has already been compromised and/or you have been specifically targeted by the someone these precautions may not help you. For instance, if someone put a simple key logger (which keeps track of every key you type) on your PC, anytime you type in a password for say your encrypted email, they can just look at the log and know exactly what it is. If you think your PC is already being used to spy on you please contact a computer consultant who specializes in security to check it out.