Securing your PC… 5 Easy Steps

Excuse me for the long delay, but even an avid computer security fan sometimes gets fed up with all the wrongs in this industry to a point that he doesn’t feel like writing a post for a few months.

So after a long delay, I thought I’d attend to a simple question that many people ask me…

“How can I protect my PC without much hassle?”

People don’t want to get extremely worried about details… All they want are some automatic methods to setup once and just go on with their lives. Here are 5 must dos to secure your PC.

      1. Windows Updates

      

       Run windows updates automatically (for the windows and office products)

Select Control Panel from the Start Menu

Select Windows Update from the Control Panel, if the view is different from the above image, choose "View By: Small Icons"

Ensure that the settings are as above. To get to this screen, press "Change settings" in the Windows Update page.
You can choose the "Install New Updates" time and frequency to fit your needs.

      2. Anti-Virus Protection 

           

      Install an anti-virus with malware protection, and most importantly KEEP IT UPDATED! Any trusted anti-virus is advisable. Since I am not affiliated with any anti-virus company I can recommend a few.

a.       First there are the known ones which you pay for to get the updates, such as Norton, McAfee, Kaspersky…

b.      Second there are the free ones such as AVG (http://free.avg.com/ww-en/free-antivirus-download) and AVAST (http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download).

Personally, I use AVAST anti-virus and anti-spyware.

I repeat that the most important thing is to keep updating the signatures. Every anti-virus has its way, but all can be configured to update automatically.

      3. Third Party Application Updates

      Update third party applications, namely Adobe products, Java and Web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. This is very critical, as most vulnerabilities and risk is through third party applications. 

      

      Adobe (pdf reader and flash) has become prone to issues, and thus requires constant updates. They have lately allowed automatic updates, making the lives of all users a lot easier. 

      

      Chrome auto-updates in the background so need to worry here, while Firefox always asks you to upgrade… Always accept. 

      Internet Explorer issues are handled via the Windows updates mentioned in part 1.
      
      Update Java if it is installed on your machine, and if possible uninstall it completely.

      4.  Windows Firewall

      Make sure Windows Firewall is running. This protects your PC from any unnecessary internet traffic from and into your PC.

      5. Trust

      Never EVER press any link they do not trust or download attachment they are not sure of. If you suspect any link or website, you can use the site http://www.aceinsight.com to test that site.