Posted by: jonbuys

Using a computer is much like using your own body in day-to-day life. There are behaviors that put you at greater risk, and behaviors that can help prevent certain disease and illnesses. Understanding these "high tech, high risk" behaviors can help to reduce the likelihood that your computer will fall prey to malicious code, and the time (possibly money) consuming actions that accompany it. Being the resident techie amongst my friends, I'm often asked to fix a friends computer. After several years of doing so, I've formulated the following rules to keep your computer relatively safe online.

Rule #1

Turn on your firewall. Every major operating system available today includes a built in software firewall that filters the Internet traffic going to your computer. Many attacks start out as scans that scour the Internet looking for computers that are hooked up, but not protected. Windows XP Service Pack 2 (XP SP2) has the built in firewall turned on by default, but other versions of Windows will have to have the firewall turned on manually. If you are using a version prior to XP, you should consider downloading one of the excellent third party providers like Zone Alarm.

Rule #2

Use Windows Update. Windows XP offers a way to keep your computer updated automatically by periodically checking the update server on the Internet, however, relying on this method requires you to keep your computer turned on and online all the time. I have found that keeping your computer up to date is much safer, easier, and more reliable by pointing Internet Explorer at www.windowsupdate.com once a week or so. Most viruses exploit vulnerabilities for which there is already a patch available for; keeping your computer up to date will prevent this from happening to you.

Rule #3

Use an anti-virus program. While I personally do not like anti-virus programs and vendors, they are a fact of life. XP SP2's security indicator will alert you if it does not find an anti-virus program present on your computer, and it will also send you to a screen with a few suggestions from different vendors. There are also new open source antivirus solutions like ClamAV, which offers the program and updates for free.

Rule #4

Stop using Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. Both of these Microsoft programs offer tight integration with the Windows Operating System, and both have been riddled with holes over the years. You never know when the next vulnerability will be exploited, so it's better to just stop now. A great alternative is to download both the Firefox web browser and the thunderbird email client from Mozilla. Firefox has a ton of great features, and is safer to use on a daily basis than Internet Explorer.

Rule #5

Set up two email accounts. Nearly every online service you want to use is going to ask you to register with an email address, and not every online service is going to guarantee that they will not sell your email address to spammers. I've found that the best solution is to set up two online email addresses; one for online registration only, and one for daily use. I've had a hotmail account for several years now, and before I set up this simple system I used it for everything. Now I have a gmail account with an address I only give out to trusted sources, and I use my hotmail account for everything else. I sign into hotmail about once a month to activate a service or confirm my email address, and it is always packed with spam. My gmail account on the other hand remains relatively spam free.

Rule #6

Watch where you surf. There are three main types of web sites that I will not go to: porn, gambling, and warez. These sites are a haven for virus spreaders. While online, it is best to stick with reliable sites that you know are safe, and only go to new sites when someone or someplace trusted has recommended them. Believe me, there are enough people out there scouring the web that the best sites float to the top.

Rule #7

When you are not using your computer, turn it off. This is a lot easier for laptops than for desktops, but the main idea is the same. If you computer does not need to be on, either turn it completly off or put it in “sleep” mode. There is no point in providing an easy target for a worm scanning the Internet looking for hosts. By simple statistics, you reduce your chances of being infected the less time you are online.

Rule #8

Stay away from P2P. I'll probably get flamed mercilessly for this, but hey, I can take it. Peer to Peer programs such as Kazaa, eDonkey and Bear Share allow other computers on the Internet to download data from your computer. In an ideal world, this is a great way to share pictures, documents, and open source programs. In the real world, P2P is full of illegal content, and this includes viruses. Sure you can download free music, but I've found its better to pay a buck a song and stay away from anything with so many legal questions.

While this simple list is not the be all and end all of online security, I've found that by following these simple rules you can keep your computer relatively safe and sound while enjoying the benefits of being online.