These days a computer is probably the most important device a person can own and plays a vital role in their daily lives whether using it for work, communication with family and friends, entertainment or just fun; furthermore, a significant number of PC owners use broadband for their Internet access, meaning a computer is at risk round the clock. The risk can vary to a great degree through such as spyware, phishing. Most people use their computer completely oblivious to the fact that their computers are being penetrated. Although the vulnerability is not always severe, sometimes a computer can be crippled if infected by spywares and such.

In this part we will look at some of the softwares and tweaks you can carry out on your computer to enhance your computer’s security.

The level of vulnerability can be significantly reduced, and, though a complete impenetrability is unlikely as we have seen even NASA and the US Military, both of which take matters of security with utmost importance and employ very complex security measures, be penetrated in recent times. If they can be hacked, then, most of us mere mortals will be even easier, however, unlike these organisations, a typical computer user is not likely to be a target of such attacks because, from the point of view of major hackers, they would not be deemed as valuable or worthy and therefore there won’t be a point of utilising their resources and time against them.

This therefore means a typical household can in fact be more secure against attack than organisations who are deemed more worthy. It makes more sense to target corporations, but hackers are still interested in small time users at a lower level because fraud on the Internet against individual users is still common and quite widespread.

Most individual computer users are not tech savvy so are unable to defend their computer and home networks fully, which they can done using various methods.

This post will list various ways this can be done and explain each method in what and how it reduces or eliminates risk, not in any particular order.

Install anti-virus

The most basic requirement for any computer user is to install antivirus as it stop typical virus from infiltrating a computer. Although these may not cause a great deal of risk, they can cause a computer to slow down and perform slowly over time. It is possible to get good anti-virus software to download at places like Download.com.

Of course, you can also subscribe to such software and allow the vendor to send you updates, meaning you get more thorough protection.

Windows updates

These days operating systems allow a user to update their computer in regular intervals which will download critical (and sometimes not so critical) patches to defend the compuuter against vulnerability. This is very important because it is supposed to provide protection against new vulnerabilities.

Wireless network security

Always encrypt your network to stop others in close proximity from getting access to the network, unless of course you wish them to access in which case you would provide the necessary login information.

We all more than likely know the reason we need to protect our computers and network from hackers. We all have personal information on our computers that could in the wrong hands cause us all kinds of trouble including identity theft. There are ways you can keep your computer, laptop, and network safe and secure by learning the various things that need to be done to stop the intrusion.

Install your own firewall

Many operating systems come with their own firewall, however, due to this fact; hackers have found ways around the most common firewalls that are installed at the factory. This is the reason you should install another firewall. If you only have one computer, you can find a software firewall that is for one computer only or you can find a network firewall that was designed for protecting one or more computers.

For personal computers, you can find a free firewall such as Zone Alarm. Zone Alarm is one of the most popular free firewalls on the market today due to its easy install and configure options. For inexpensive firewalls, you will find Norton Personal Firewall. This one features all kinds of unique options including built in anti-virus and parental controls.

For the majority of network systems, there is a built in firewall within the router that will help protect the entire network, along with adding personal firewalls to each computer will aid in keeping hackers out of your network.

A firewall stops other computers or networks from entering your computer or network.

Antivirus software

There are a wide array of antivirus software available on the internet today. The most popular at this time include The Shield Deluxe, CA Antivirus, and Bit Defender. The main thing to remember with antivirus software is that the hackers are always coming up with new viruses to attack your computer. No matter, what antivirus software you plan to use, you must keep up with all updates and patches in order to stay protected from new viruses.

Antivirus software is at work behind the scenes searching and looking for viruses in all your emails, downloads, and websites you visit to ensure that your computer is not attacked by a virus. If a virus is found, the software will quarantine or rid your computer of the virus.

Anti-spyware software

Spyware is another hackers attempt to invade your computer or network. Many websites today download spyware to your computer without your knowledge as soon as you browse their website. They use the spyware to learn the various websites you visit and what you do while online for various reasons. The most popular anti-spyware software programs available include Avast and Mcafee.

Avast is a free software program that has a built in antivirus and anti-spyware capabilities to ensure that no spyware is installed on your computer or your network to collection information about the various users.

Mcafee offers several different software programs for antivirus and anti-spyware protection for personal computers and large corporations.

Patch all applications

Pay close attention when any of your applications have a patch to download and install. All of these patches including the ones for your operating system or router where created due to finding a vulnerability in the software. The patches are created to ensure the problem is resolved and that hackers cannot get into your computer through the application.

Enable and configure router settings

One of the first things you should do prior to getting on the internet once you have your router in place is to check your manual for specific directions on how to access and change your router settings. You should change the password, the SSID, disable broadcasting, turn on the firewall, enable data encryption, and enable MAC filtering. Your manual should provide you with a step-by-step guide to perform all of these changes to aid in securing your network.

Although no one can get absolute protection, the mentioned will make your computer more secure. Of course there are many other means and possbly even better methods to defend a computer, but we have mentioned some of the ways which are often common knowledge, but time and again overlooked.

In Part 2 we will look at some of the gadgets that can be used to enhance your computer’s security. There are plenty available these days that provide protection on various levels, we will will look at a few of them and what each does and how important they might be.

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