Have you purchased a new PC? Then you must make it as secure as possible, to prevent intrusions by antivirus and spyware from the internet.
When you purchased the new PC, it undoubtedly came with a security set up of its own. Before you do anything else, you should first analyse it, to make sure that it is adequate. However, there are five tasks you can perform in order to make sure that your PC is secured against attacks from the internet.
These are:
(1) Uninstall bloatware: This may sound odd, since you are probably accustomed to thinking that vendors pre-install only the software tools that customers need. Well, this is not the case. Vendors often install software that you will never need. For instance, you may find multiple media players installed in your PC, although you will be using only one. Well, in that case, you don’t need to keep the others, right? Go ahead.
Uninstall the rest to free up disk space, and also make your PC secure by having lesser open ports for hackers to exploit. Same goes for the trial versions of seemingly useless software loaded into your PC. Make sure to uninstall vendor-provided remote help software. If you do need remote assistance use the Remote Assistance tool bundled with Windows itself, or install TeamViewer for extra security.
(2) Install additional web browsers: No matter how Microsoft hypes its web browser, it’s no secret that Internet Explorer has more vulnerabilities than almost any other web browser out there. Install Mozilla Firefox (preferably) for greater security against hackers and spyware.
(3) Install NoScript add-on: Install NoScript add-on for Firefox. This nifty little tool will allow only your trusted websites to run scripts, while automatically disabling execution of script on others. This provides excellent defense against browser hijacking and similar malicious activities.
(4) Install all Windows Security updates and patches: This one goes without saying. The more patches you can install, the more secure Windows will be. Don’t leave out any patch, and run Automatic Update once again when it is over, to make sure there are no patches left to be installed.
(5) Optimise the settings on your antivirus/firewall: This is one step that most of us neglect to do. However, customising these settings makes your life a whole lot easier. Whitelisting and blacklisting websites in the antivirus/firewall, for instance, lets you decide which websites should open on your PC, and which ones shouldn’t.
These settings will secure your PC against most attacks that you may face from the internet. (Uniblue Systems)
Uniblue Systems is a Malta-based international software developer for the home and small office market. For more articles from Uniblue Systems with tips and information about computer use one may go to www.liutilities.com/articles/.