How to Secure Your Computer?

Computers are such a great invention of science and technology that there is not a single day when you don't use it regardless if it is a weekday or Sunday. Together with the internet it is capable of keeping you up to date even if you literally hibernate. You can use it to educate yourself, to entertain yourself, to get to know what is happening around the world, to earn money and to do shopping sitting at your home. But with all these blessings there is curse of threats to your system and that is the reason for computer security to be a high concern area. Here are some of the ways you can secure your system whether you are at home, sharing some network, working online or offline:

Use strong passwords and keep them safe: Passwords are the tools that are meant to ensure the safety of your account and system but these become a threat if you don't use these effectively. Use your creative and innovative instincts to create passwords so that others can't guess these easily. Use a good blend of letters, capitals and numbers to create your passwords. Have different passwords for different accounts but don't write them down in your drafting pads or diaries. If you find it difficult to remember so many different passwords you can try some password management software. Moreover, never say yes to browser's offer to remember your password if you are on a network where others can share your system.

Visit & Do business with Trusted Sites: Whether you are browsing or doing some business with some company or organization online, be it selling or purchasing; always make sure the site or business is a legitimate one and it is safe to visit that site. Don't handover financial and confidential data to a business until unless you read the policy document. Prefer those with SSL certification to ensure the safety of your information. You can use site advisor software also to help you identifying the danger zone sites.

Use guest account to access internet: While you are online with administrator account anything can be downloaded to your system as an administrator account comes with full rights and access to system so you are likely to get malware while you download something. Also it is advised that you work offline when you are not using internet.

Don't grant access rights to everybody: Set the limits as who can use your system and for what purposes. Protect your administrator account by a strong password and set the system to prompt for password if you don't use your system for specific time period.

Install Anti-virus Software: Install some good ant-virus software and keep updating the signatures/definitions in order to get rid of all the time appearing viruses. Make sure to do a regular system scan to get rid of all the viruses that your system can still get through other sources.

Install Anti-spyware software: A good anti-spyware is a must to keep your important confidential, financial and browsing data safe from the spywares. You may get one with the anti-virus software in a package or may buy it separately without paying much.

Firewall: A firewall is a way you can control what data is moving to and from your system while you are on a network; be it between you and internet or your virtual private network and internet. You can change the settings to ensure that nothing confidential goes out and nothing crosses the firewall that can potentially harm your system.

Keep your system updated: Keep updating your operating system and drivers in order to get new and better features which come with less security flaws. Many OS provide you with an option of automatic update; use it!

Encrypt your important data: Protect your important files by passwords or encrypt them in order to ensure safety. Save files with different extensions and save them as read only to be on the safer side.

Scan it: Always scan the device before you open them; be it USB or some CD or DVD. Another important thing is to scan all the attachments that you get via mail. Never download any attachment to your system until unless you know the source of it and until you have scanned it for all potential malware.

Remote is risky: Using remote access features like remote desktop or PC Anywhere make you prone to threats found on internet. Anybody can access you and your VPN making it very easy for hackers to hack the important data.

Delete cookies: Depending upon the frequency of the internet use, delete the temporary files from the system. It will ensure the safety of your system.

Last but not the least; hope for the best but prepare for the worse! Always have a back-up of the data. Save your important files on other devices that you can use even if you incur serious issues like hacking or crash of hard disk.

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