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How Do I...
Secure My PC Against Hackers?
*** Without Paying Anything? ***
Did you know how easily your bank account details can be stolen?
Did you know that hackers can easily steal your credit card numbers?
Has your PC ever caught a virus?
Did you know that your PC is under threat just by connecting to the Internet?
Would you like to protect your PC for free?
Defend Your Computer
"Defend my computer! What are you talking about" I hear you say.
Why should you be concerned? what is there to be concerned about,
it's not like there's anyone trying to smash your computer with
a sledgehammer, or looking over your shoulder ready to write down
your credit card details as you do your online shopping.
Or is there...
Your computer might catch a virus. Now some viruses don't do much harm,
they might simply pop up an advert now and then. This is like catching
a cold, it's inconvenient and uncomfortable but doesn't do any lasting
damage and can be cured easily.
Some viruses are much worse however, potentially they are capable of
deleting all your data and trashing your operating system. Worse
still are the viruses that quietly wait for an opportunity to steal
your online bank accounts and credit card details. These viruses
can cause lasting and devastating damage to your computer, your
finances and your life.
How does your computer catch a virus...?
One of the most common ways to catch a virus is by opening an
attachment to an email. If the attachment is an infected executable file then
you have contracted the virus. The hacker has tricked you into installing
the virus on your computer. The rule of thumb is "If you don't trust
the source of the email then don't open any attachment".
Another way to catch a virus is to load an infected file from a CD, floppy,
flash memory stick or the Internet etc. Some viruses can attach
themselves to files on another computer and then infect your computer when
any of those infected files are transferred to your computer. Once
the infected file is on your computer it can then infect all your files.
In this way the infection spreads like a virus which is where they
get the name.
Another less obvious way for your computer to become infected is
simply by being connected to the Internet. Modern computer operating
systems are designed to make life easier and go to great lengths
to achieve this aim. These operating systems, like the one running
on your computer, are fiendishly sophisticated and complicated. It
is this very complicated nature that makes it impossible to ensure
that the system is completely secure. The system will always
have imperfections, bugs or simply things that the programmers never
thought of when they were creating the system.
Hackers study the operating system you are using in great depth, always
looking and probing for vulnerabilities that would allow them to gain
access to your system. Please remember that known vulnerabilities do
exist and the hackers are finding new ones all the time. From time
to time the operating system vendors release security updates that
you should install when they become available. But, while these
updates fix bugs and vulnerabilities they rarely fix them all and
can never be completely up to date. There will always be opportunities
for the hacker to exploit.
Your computer can also get infected with 'Spyware'. This is a name given
to mechanisms deposited on your computer that are designed to gather
information with the intent of transmitting the information to a
server somewhere. Spyware can take the form of a 'cookie' in your
web browser or it might form part of an application that you have
acquired and installed.
Cookies play a legitimate part in your online browsing experience,
they can remember which page on a web site you visited last and return
you to it automatically. They can remember details about you so that
the website that deposited the cookie can identify you when you next
visit. There are many legitimate uses for cookies and some less
legitimate. They can be used to track your browsing activities without
your knowledge for instance.
Cookies can be placed on your computer at any time you browse a web site
if you have cookies enabled in your browser. Most people enable cookies
because the benefits outweigh the threats.
Perhaps the most alarming threat to your computer is the ever increasing
trend for 'always-on', broadband Internet connections. If you could examine
the data traffic between the Internet and your computer while you are
connected you would see a continual barrage of attacks on your system.
Some of these attacks will be from search engine robots like Google and
Yahoo looking for web servers on your computer that it can analyse or
'spider' as they call it. Attacks from search engines do no harm and
have a legitimate purpose but there are always attacks from hackers with
less noble intent. The longer you are connected to the Internet the more
attacks you will receive and the more chance there is of one of them
getting through and infecting your computer.
***
How to protect your PC easily and cheaply (Free)
***
My computer is connected many hours a day but I make sure that it is
protected the best I can. The good news is that I don't spend any money
doing it. Read on to find out how I secure my computer against viruses
and spyware.
The four free products below have been installed on my computers for
many months now, I use them every day and I'm very pleased with them.
If you want to install them on your PC right now just follow the links
in turn, download the free versions of the products (you might have to
search a little for them) and install them on your computer.
Note that the products discussed are free for non commercial use so you
might have to purchase the full versions if you are using them for your
work.
Free AVG Virus Checker
Protects you computer from virus infections when loading files. It also
scans all your emails as they come in to make sure that there are no known
viruses contained in them. It also scans outgoing email to ensure that you
don't infect your friends when you send mail to them.
I use Mozilla Thunderbird for my mail but I'm sure that AVG will work fine
with Outlook, Outlook Express and other popular email clients.
To install AVG visit the web site here
and follow the links to download the free edition.
When you have downloaded the file to a suitable place on your hard drive
double click on it to run the setup program. Follow the instructions to
install the application. When it has installed it will place a little
icon
in your system tray.
Click on the
to reveal the AVG dialogue:
Click the 'Test Center' button on the left hand side to launch the test
dialogue:
Now click the 'Scan Computer' button on the Test Center to start AVG
scanning your system for viruses. Wait for the scan to complete before
installing more applications.
Free ZoneAlarm Firewall
Free ZoneAlarm Firewall
Works like a security guard standing on the door between your computer and
the Internet. It stands there blocking any unwanted intrusions into your
system, turning away any and all attackers. A good firewall is an essential
utility on any computer connected to the Internet.
Note that ZoneAlarm replaces the Windows XP Firewall which should be turned
off. In my opinion, ZoneAlarm is a superior Firewall.
Go here to download the free
version of ZoneAlarm. In step #1 Click the
"I use my PC for (check one): O Personal purposes" then click the submit
button at the bottom of the page.
The free version of ZoneAlarm is the one on the right of the table and has
two stars. Click the "Download Now" button. On the next page click
the "Download FREE ZoneAlarm" button then the "Download Now" link at the
top of the next page.
Save the download file on your computer somewhere then click to run it
and install. ZoneAlarm will ask you several questions during
setup and will ask you to reboot your computer during the procedure.
You can accept most if not all of the default settings.
When the setup is complete you should have a little ZoneAlarm icon like
this in your system tray.
Click the to access the
ZoneAlarm control panel:
Your ZoneAlarm firewall is now protecting your computer but you should
read the tutorial that you will find in
'Start/Programs/Zone Labs/Zone Labs Security Tutorial'
Free Ad-Aware SE Spyware scanner
Free AdAware SE Spyware Killer
will scan your system and block any spyware and other malicious applications
that it finds. You should use Ad-Aware on a daily basis to keep your
computer clean.
Go to the Lavasoft website
here and click the "Downloads" button half way down the menu on the left.
Scroll down the page to find the "Mirror Sites" and click one of the
images to download Ad-Aware. Download the installation file from the next
page and save it on your hard drive.
Click the file to install Ad-Aware SE. An icon like this
will appear on your desktop.
Click on the AD-Aware icon to show the control panel:
Click the 'Start' button to begin the scan.
When the scan is complete click 'Next' to see a summary of the scan
Check the items that you wish to block, that will likely be all of them,
then click 'Next' and confirm the action.
The screenshots above were captured on my PC during a real scan of my system.
As you can see, it detected and cleaned 27 new critical objects. By
removing them my computer should be more secure and might even run a
little faster.
Free SnoopFree Privacy Shield
Free SnoopFree Privacy Shield (XP only) is a different kind of spyware
killer and I absolutely love it. Spyware scanners like Ad-Aware should be
an essential part of your security toolkit but scanners of this type all
suffer from one basic flaw. They are only as good as their database of
patterns that they use to identify infected or bad software and no matter
how quickly the vendors manage to release updates to cope with the latest
threats, they will always be behind the game.
Free SnoopFree Privacy Shield doesn't rely on any signature database
nor does it need to be updated regularly. Instead it continualy watches
for applications attempting to capture your keyboard and screen activity.
Many spyware applications work by hooking into your keyboard and screen
and record everything you type. When you are connected to the Internet
the spyware will send this information to a server where your passwords
can be harvested. SnoopFree Privacy Shield will warn you about any
application that tries to hook into your keyboard or read your screen.
You can then choose whether to allow or block the access.
If you are unsure whether an application should have access to your
keyboard or screen then don't allow it, it's as simple as that. If
you get it wrong then you can always change your mind later.
There are of course, some applications that have a legitimate reason
for accessing your screen or keyboard, screen capture utilities for
instance. It is usually very clear when an application has a reason to
do this and you can then instruct SnoopFree to allow it.
To install Free SnoopFree Privacy Shield click
here
to download the latest version. You may need a utility to uncompress
the zip file once you have saved it on your hard drive. I use WinZip
for this purpose and I believe that you can use the evaluation version
for 21 days to get the job done. You can download WinZip
here
Once you have unzipped the setup file onto your hard drive click on it
to start the installer. When the install is complete there will be a
small icon like this in
your system tray. Click on the icon to show the control panel:
Clicking on the 'Access Control' tab will allow you to modify the
access rights of all programs that SnoopFree Privacy Shield knows
about:
Used together the programs detailed above provide a formidable arsenal
and great value for money considering that you haven't had to pay
for any of them :-) It is the configuration that I've been using for
some time and I hope that you have the same great success with it as
I have.
Don't forget to update each of these utilities regularly to make sure
that you always have maximum protection.
Store All Your Important Items in One Safe Place
No more lost scraps of paper, scribbles
in notebooks, different computer programs to learn... One easy
way to do it all! Protect and organize all your important
information using military type security standards.
icon
in your system tray.
in your system tray.
will appear on your desktop.
in
your system tray. Click on the icon to show the control panel:
