It is a fact; the Internet is just not a safe place to connect your computer to. There are worms constantly scanning for vulnerable computers to infect, trojans disguised as helpful programs but actually install malicious ones, spyware that reports your activities back to their makers, and hijackers that take control of your web browser and browsing experience. For those people who have been the victim of one of these mentioned infections, removing them and getting your computer back in your control can be a daunting, frustrating and expensive experience. The purpose of this article is to teach you how to setup your computer in such a way that you minimise as much as possible the risks of contracting one of these infections. Each step is very easy to do and you should have no trouble following it. It is also important to note that there is not one step listed below that is more important than the other. They are all equally important to keeping your computer safe and secure.
Use an AntiVirus Software - It is very important that your computer has an antivirus software running on your machine. By having an antivirus program running, files and emails will be scanned as you use them, download them, or open them. If a virus is found in one of the items you are about to use, the antivirus program will stop you from being able to run that program and therefore infect yourself.
Personally I recommend Symantec's Norton Anti-Virus, especially the latest (2005) version but McAfee, Panda, F-Secure and AVG are all good programs too.
Update your AntiVirus Software - There is no point running an antivirus program if you do not make sure it has all the latest updates available to it. Then if a new infection appears in your computer, the antivirus program will not know that it is bad, and not alert you when you run it and become infected. Therefore it is imperative that you update your Antivirus software at least once a week (Even more if you wish) so that you are protected from all the latest threats.
Occasionally Run Online Virus Scans - Unfortunately not all antivirus programs are created equal. Each program may find infections that other antivirus programs do not and vice-versa. It is therefore recommended that you occasionally run some free online antivirus scanners to make sure that you are not infected with items that your particular antivirus program does not know how to find. Two online scanners that I recommend are:
Every once in a while, maybe once every 2 weeks, run one or both of these scanners to see if they find anything that may have been missed by your locally installed antivirus software.
Visit Microsoft's Windows Update Site Frequently - If you are a Windows users you must visit http://www.windowsupdate.com regularly. This site is a Microsoft site that will scan your computer for any patches or updates that are missing from your computer. It will then provide a list of items that it can download and install for you. When visiting the site, if it asks if you would like to install the Windows Update software, allow it to do so. When the site is loaded you should then allow it to check for new updates and download any "Critical Updates" that it finds. If it has you reboot your computer, reboot and when your back at the desktop visit the site again and check for new updates. Repeat this process until there are zero critical updates available. This will ensure your computer has all of the latest security updates available installed on your computer and is secure from any known security holes.
Use a Firewall - I can not stress how important it is that you use a Firewall on your computer. Without a firewall your computer is susceptible to being hacked and taken over. You may say "Why do I need a firewall?" I have all the latest updates for my programs and operating system, so nobody should be able to hack into my computer". Unfortunately that reasoning is not valid. Many times hackers discover new security holes in a software or operating system long before the software company does and therefore many people get hacked before a security patch is released. By using a firewall the majority of these security holes will not be accessible as the firewall will block the attempt.
Install Ad-Aware - Just as you installed and use an antivirus program, it is essential these days to use a Spyware protection and removal program. Ad-aware is a program that you can use to scan your computer for spyware, dialers, browser hijackers, and other programs that are malicious in nature. This program should be used once a week, remembering to update it before you use it, to scan your computer for malicious programs. Download Ad-aware from Lavasoft here.
Install Spybot - Search and Destroy - Just as a particular antivirus program does not find the same things as another antivirus programs, spyware removal programs do not always find infections that other spyware removal programs do. Therefore we recommend that you not only run Ad-Aware once a week, but you should run Spybot -Search & Destroy along with it, as always updating it before you scan with it. Download Spybot - Search and Destroy here.
Install SpywareBlaster - Many known malicious programs are ActiveX programs that integrate into Internet Explorer. If you use Internet Explorer, then we recommend that you download and install SpywareBlaster. This program will load a huge list of known malicious programs into your computer's configuration and make it so that you can not run these programs on your computer and therefore become infected. Download SpywareBlaster here.
Update all these programs regularly - As always if you do not update your programs, your programs will not be able to find the newest infections that may be racing around the Internet. It is therefore important that you upgrade the software and spyware/virus definitions for a particular program so that they are running the most effectively.
Make your Internet Explorer more secure - This can be done by following these simple instructions:
From within Internet Explorer click on the tools menu and then click on Options.
Next press the Apply button and then the OK to exit the Internet Properties page.
By following all these steps you are sure to keep your computer at minimal risk to future infections or hack attempts. This is unfortunately not a foolproof method of securing your computer as new risks are released almost every day, but your susceptibility to these attacks will be diminished greatly.
See also: Spyware, Adware, Hijackers, Dialers and Trojan Horses
This article has been adapted from various sources around the web with a lot of the more technical language removed to (hopefully) make it easier for the layman to read and understand!
With thanks to Bleeping Computer and Experts Exchange for their assistance!
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