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Top Choices for October... |
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Internet Security Recommendations
- Run a firewall program and/or device
- If you have cable or DSL, use a router — even if you only connect one computer.
- Run antivirus (AV) software.
- Run anti-spyware software
- Run anti-spam software
- Read my security software recommendations for the specific programs I recommend
- Keep your antivirus signatures updated often. Even better, set the AV program to automatically get updates — all good antivirus programs will do this automatically, even the free ones. Watch the sales and update your AV program each year, or at least pay the subscription fee to get the updated virus signatures – and keep them up to date
- Microsoft has made many improvements in Windows for user-friendliness and ease of use; unfortunately many of these have been at the expense of security!
The bad guys love them for this and target their products.
Visit Microsoft’s Windows Update site frequently, or better yet, their Microsoft Update, which is accessable via the Windows Update link
- install the security fixes and critical updates, including for XP, using Windows Update
- update MS Office apps at http://office.microsoft.com/Downloads/.
- change from Windows Update to Microsoft Update to get Windows and Office updates at the same time.
- don't execute attachments
- if you absolutely must execute attachments
- save them & scan them with an up-to-date AV program, first
- turn off scripting capabilities in the e-mail program
- turn off html capabilities in the email program
- consider less vulnerable email programs than Outlook & Outlook Express
- if you use Outlook or Outlook Express, check http://office.microsoft.com/Downloads/ for updates to these and also turn off the "preview" panel. If you use the preview panel, it uses Internet Explorer (with all it's security issues) to display any HTML emails.
- for a long time, my e-mail program has been Eudora (www.eudora.com ) because it was less vulnerable and because I use a number of email addresses for sending as well as receiving emails. Eudora doesn't segregate these into different users.
- set scripting security option to "prompt" or off
- set Active-X security options to "prompt" or off
- consider less vulnerable browser programs than Internet Explorer
- My browser of choice is Mozilla Firefox and my second choice is Opera
- I run IE when I have to – at MS’s site and when I have to go
to the few other sites that I trust that use ActiveX, which only works with IE.
Link to this page — just add this code to your web page!
<a href="http://www.terryscomputertips.com/computers/internet-security-recommendations.php">Internet Security Recommendations</a>
Copyright © 1999-2006 Terry A. Stockdale