Security of YOUR Computer

By Irena Whitfield
Posted Tuesday, December 28, 2004

The Article shows exactly what is necessary to do and which software to get to keep your computer clean and secure for a daily use. The aim of this Article is to draw attention to one of the most serious issues on the Net - Computer Security.

There are many irresponsible people around who have not yet realised the security of the computer they work with, and behave as if it were a game to play and send out and spread viruses, bugs and all kind of pests unknowingly, simply because they underestimate or ignore their importance.

However, the situation is very serious these days, and I even consider it the most serious item on the Net. If your computer is not properly secured, you will pay the price you can't afford: loss of your work, data, time, money, privacy, even website and your email lists, and more... It all depends on you. And, don't think it cannot happen to you.

So, let's start at the beginning: as soon as you buy your computer, you should protect it from attacks that threaten you the second you connect online: hackers, Trojan horses, Trojan bombs, viruses, rootkits, spyware,..... All these are constantly moving into your computer.

The threat is more severe when you connect permanently eg through a cable, ISDN and use Microsoft Outlook, Internet Explorer and products of the kind.

It'd be excellent if there was one product you would install, forget about, and everything would be great. Unfortunately, there is no product like that.

You need several different products to protect your computer reliably:

ZoneAlarm - to protect your ports from hackers, unauthorized use etc Panda Titanium - to protect your computer from viruses, Trojan horses and bombs, permanent protection AdAware - to clean spyware
PestPatrol - to clean pests and bugs
Clean Center - to clean trash files
CookieControl - Internet Organiser - to protect your computer from unwanted control over your online behaviour, privacy control BigFix - to prevent problems from occurring
IP Agent - your protection check

ZoneAlarm: (http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp)

A free version is quite sufficient. There is an easy and fast learning curve before you configure the software to work the way you wish. It protects your ports and make your computer invisible and inaccessible from the Net.

Panda Titanium: (http://www.pandasoftware.com)

Overall antivirus protection of your computer: the largest database of Trojan horses and bombs, viruses; updated automatically every time you switch on your computer; your computer is under permanent protection incl your email software.

AdAware: (http://www.thecassiopeia.com/WebLions/adaware.zip)

This excellent little piece of software cleans your computer from unauthorized spyware, even damaging your data and system, like Alexa, Gator, iGator and related GAIN.

PestPatrol: (http://www.PestPatrol.com)

This programme cleans your computer from many pests, cleans registry efficiently.

Clean Center: (http://www.thecassiopeia.com/WebLions/cleancenter.zip)

This cleaning tool should be run often, it cleans temporary files, rubbish files, uninstall programme fractions and many others. It is very useful when your disk space is limited. If not, it helps to keep your computer system in shape.

CookieControl: (http://www.wdprojects.be/organizer/index.htm)

Internet Organizer gives you several excellent tools like cookie control, popup and popunder control. I recommend to control these manually: you can decide what you want to have in your computer, what to see and what not.

BigFix: (http://www.bigfix.com)

It helps you to fix problems before they cause a damage.

IP Agent: (https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2)

(Note: the above is not an affiliate link but where the "?something" tells the NetEngine exactly what is being requested of it.)

It's necessary to run the check from time to time to see whether your software works properly and your system is protected efficiently.

Except for the above software, you must regularly clean your computer, back up all your important work, keep your important data, like email addresses of your subscribers, offline, and of course, watch out for an unusual behaviour of your computer like losing your memory capacity, working when it should not, losing your disk capacity, finding foreign files in your computer.

The danger is not only the loss of your data but in many more cases, modification of your data which you may not notice at all, using your email list without you knowing, using your personal data, storing hacker files on your computer, serving as a hacker or even a terrorist base.

Take the below test to see how well you are informed and what more you should know:

(http://www.staysafeonline.info/selftest.adp)

A couple of comments on common Antivirus software in the market: why they are dangerous and why you should not use them.

Most of them are basically excellent tools; the danger within them is that you yourself must keep on your mind to update the virus database, and if you realise that some 20-30 new viruses appear every single day and you may forget...

Recommendation: don't underestimate the risk, check your computer regularly, watch out for its behaviour and clean it properly and regularly, back up your work and important data, use safe software.

One last note: all of the above was talking about what YOU should do but don't forget about your ISP. Be careful in making your choice.

Learn the 10 crucial tips for protection: (http://www.staysafeonline.info/sectips.adp)

The article may be reprinted or used freely as long as it is in its entirety incl the resource box below:

About the Author
Irena Whitfield is the webmistress of (http://www.thecassiopeia.com) - Internet Business Consultants for 3rd Millennium helping people to succeed in their online home business, and the Publisher of the successful Ezine 'Pathway To Success'. To start doing business profitably, subscribe here: (http://www.thecassiopeia.com/PathwaySubscription.html)