Monday, October 12, 2009

Simple Tips To Improve Your Computer Security

By Sean Byrne

Profix is a Computer Repair company and has been involved in the Computer repair & Maintenance field in and around Newry since the 1990's. During this time a massive amount of experience has been gathered in dealing with small business and residential computer users. From this, it is clear that most people have some bad habits and make a number of common mistakes that seriously weakens their internet security. Follow these simple steps to stay secure on the internet. These are powerful tips to enhance your internet security and are not widely known.

1.Keep all of your Software updated with Secunia's Free Online Software Scanner. Our experience in the Computer Repair/Maintenance field over the last 10 years shows that most computer users are slow to update their software or dont bother at all. Is this a problem? Yes, very much so. Old software is highly likely to be vulnerable to attack by hackers. These vulnerabilities must be fixed by installing the latest version of the software. The problem is that with so many different installed programs, keeping track of their status can become a chore. This is where Secunias free online Scan will help. It will check 70 of the most common programs for vulnerabilities, including Windows Updates Firefox, Messenger, Zonealarm and Java. Check it out: http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/online/

2. Strengthen all of your password. Change them regularly and make them better. Add a number or two and at least one capital letter. Use zeros instead of O's and 3's instead of the letter 'E'. Using this rule, the word 'online' would become '0nlin3'. These simple tricks will result in a much more 'hackproof' computer. If you doubt that you could remember a new complex password, think again & have more faith in yourself. Use a simple rhyme. For example, the password 'kth0w' could become 'keep the hackers out now'!

3. Be careful about what you download, particularly if you use peer to peer applications. Nowadays, the use of music sharing applications account for a massive proportion of infections. If you are asked to download something you dont recognise, Google is your friend for research. Don't be afraid to find out what you are dealing with.

Follow the advice as described and you will be the owner of a happier and healthier PC. As the number and strength of malware infections increases, you need to devote a bit of time monthly to take action.

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