Internet Explorer isn’t the only thing from Microsoft that makes your computer unsafe. Your operating system, Windows, often seems to be so full of security holes that you’d think that it’s putting out the welcome mat for malicious software.
Link: PCWorld.com: “Zombie PCs: Silent, Growing Threat”
You need to make your operating system safe. Do this:
- Get the latest Windows security patches from Microsoft. Open Internet Explorer, and go to the Windows Update website (windowsupdate.microsoft.com) and download the “critical” updates. Not surprisingly, Microsoft makes sure you can only view this page in Internet Explorer. (Can you say “monopoly”?) Check this once a week if your computer doesn’t do this for you, or more if you’re paranoid. Paranoia helps when it comes to securing your computer.
- Get a firewall, anti-virus software, and spyware/adware scanner. Although you can get some security software for free, such as the free ZoneAlarm firewall, I’ve been happy with the McAfee Internet Security Suite, which includes Virus Scan, Personal Firewall Plus, and assorted other tools. It costs about $70 US, but it seems worth it to me to get tools that work well with each other.
What will this stuff do for you? A firewall will block unauthorized access, which is vital. Anti-virus will block viruses, trojans, and worms, and will help find and remove the ones that may already be on your computer. A spyware scanner will remove spyware/adware that may invade your privacy and/or interfere with the proper functioning of your computer (like constantly spamming you with popups, regardless of what you’re doing).
- Update your anti-virus software daily. Having a virus scanner is great, but it doesn’t do any good if it doesn’t know about the new viruses out there. New viruses come out all the time. Either set up your software (like McAfee Virus Scan) to check for updates daily, or check for yourself.
- Scan for and remove spyware and adware. I can pretty much guarantee you that you have spyware on your computer right now. This stuff can sneak in when you install legitimate software or install itself when you simply browse the web or open an e-mail. It will at best collect information about you and forward it to a marketing company or, at worst, use a portion of your computer’s processing resources or hard drive for something nefarious. If you see advertising popup messages all the time regardless of what you’re doing, you have adware on your computer.
Clean the adware and spyware from your computer. I mentioned McAfee. You can also get the free Lavasoft AdAware. Like the anti-virus software, this stuff needs to be updated regularly for it to be effective.
- Stop using Internet Explorer. Use Mozilla or Firefox.
It sounds complicated, but it’s not really. You just have to get this stuff set up and update it regularly. The price of not doing it is a crippled computer. It’s up to you.