Security basics
One of the main concerns of most of the people that are using the internet, is security. How can one protect himself and his data while doing whatever he or she pleases online? Well, we could probably talk about this a long time, but in this small article I will share some basic tips and practices to increase your safety while connected to the internet.
1. Common sense.Use it!
While this might sound pretty dumb, many people get viruses by not using their common sense. Clicking an ad on a erotica web-site that tells you: "You just won a million bucks!Click here to claim it!" will not get you the green stuff Jose! You will not get a brand new Iphone, a new pair of socks, not even a pat on the back! You will get, a nice shiny piece of malware, spyware...or even that nice virus you always wanted! While we're at this chapter, how about that sparkling website that is asking for your credit card's
pin number in exchange for a free trip to *insert name here*, or that formal mail you get asking you to share your credit card information so you can get rich? It must be true! Fact is, most of the scammers abuse your naivety and so, they manage to steal data/information/ even cash out of you while you sit back, enjoy your sudently slow computer and scratch your head like a monkey.
So, the ideas of all this would be:
-do not click stupid ads; while there are some ads out there that just help the site's owner(like Google Adsense ads, Clicksor ads and others), there are twice as more ads that are put there for the soul purpose to infect people with different malicious items.
-don't do things you are told in various e-mails or such and don't follow their links, unless you know the sender or something like this.
-preferably delete items in your spam folder that seem suspicious, so no other person that uses your computer would get
-don't download and open just about everything out there on the internet. That would be kinda foolish. Just like in e-mails, unless you trust the one that provides the file, do not download. Not even just for curiosity. You will probably die(joking).
2. Get a software security package.What do i mean? ANTI-VIRUS/ANTI-MALWARE/FIREWALL ! That is what i mean.
Before I get bashed or blamed for anything, I must say that i am more of a free-software fan. Not because I feel robbed or something when paying for a good piece of software(though...sometimes I do), but just because some software producers tend to exagerate with their prices. So, I will enumerate some combinations of free software packages that will drastically improve your safety, and maybe your computer's performance by maintaining it's operating system and data clean and nice.
I used these three free combinations on many computers, without any problems.So feel free to try them, combine them or whatever. I can say you will be pleased with the results.No more viruses, malware, spyware or anything like that!
3. Your Browser. Get a better one. And get Ad Block Plus.
Google Chrome. Mozilla Firefox. Enough said. Research shows that many people use Internet Explorer, and I am not the one to say that it's not good or something...but it ain't. Both of the browsers I suggested are very(VERY) good in keeping your browsing experience secure and they also outperform Internet Explorer in means of browsing speed. Also, I recommend using Ad-Block no matter of what browser you choose. It's a very good add-on that blocks most of the annoying ads out there and you can also block one yourself very easy. Another good add-on is NoScript, for Firefox, this add-on allows the user to run active content only from trusted sources, and it offers good protection against XSS and Clickjacking attacks.
4. Passwords. Choose wisely.
Every internet user has created at least once an account for something.Be it E-mail, signing up for a service or something else, most people use easy to crack passwords. If someone would really want to obtain information about you, he would get it very easy and fast if you have a password like "12345654321" or "MyName.MyBirthday". So, having a bulletproof password, and best to memorize it, would greatly decrease the chance of someone actually breaking your account and causing damage.
Tips for making strong passwords: do not include words related to yourself, combine characters(lowercase and uppercase) and numbers, and try to make them as long as you can.Do not share your password and try not to save a text file on your computer that has all the passwords. Also, use different passwords for each account.
5. Update, update, UPDATE!!
Frequently check for and update you operating system and every software you use. Updates may offer you better security, performance, fixed bugs and in some cases new features.
Other security tips
a. Shutdown services you do not use, or rarely use. The telnet or FTP service is a good example of what I am talking about. Also, the remote registry service can be safely shutdown in most often cases.
b. Create backups for everything important, on a different hard disk than that on witch your operating system is installed, or, preferably, on a removable media.
c. Encrypt the created backups using a strong password.
While this might sound pretty dumb, many people get viruses by not using their common sense. Clicking an ad on a erotica web-site that tells you: "You just won a million bucks!Click here to claim it!" will not get you the green stuff Jose! You will not get a brand new Iphone, a new pair of socks, not even a pat on the back! You will get, a nice shiny piece of malware, spyware...or even that nice virus you always wanted! While we're at this chapter, how about that sparkling website that is asking for your credit card's
pin number in exchange for a free trip to *insert name here*, or that formal mail you get asking you to share your credit card information so you can get rich? It must be true! Fact is, most of the scammers abuse your naivety and so, they manage to steal data/information/ even cash out of you while you sit back, enjoy your sudently slow computer and scratch your head like a monkey.
So, the ideas of all this would be:
-do not click stupid ads; while there are some ads out there that just help the site's owner(like Google Adsense ads, Clicksor ads and others), there are twice as more ads that are put there for the soul purpose to infect people with different malicious items.
-don't do things you are told in various e-mails or such and don't follow their links, unless you know the sender or something like this.
-preferably delete items in your spam folder that seem suspicious, so no other person that uses your computer would get
-don't download and open just about everything out there on the internet. That would be kinda foolish. Just like in e-mails, unless you trust the one that provides the file, do not download. Not even just for curiosity. You will probably die(joking).
2. Get a software security package.What do i mean? ANTI-VIRUS/ANTI-MALWARE/FIREWALL ! That is what i mean.
Before I get bashed or blamed for anything, I must say that i am more of a free-software fan. Not because I feel robbed or something when paying for a good piece of software(though...sometimes I do), but just because some software producers tend to exagerate with their prices. So, I will enumerate some combinations of free software packages that will drastically improve your safety, and maybe your computer's performance by maintaining it's operating system and data clean and nice.
- Microsoft Security Essentials + Malwarebytes Anti-Malware + Common sense. Microsoft has done a pretty good job in my opinion by releasing the free MSE, it's actually pretty effective. Yes, it's a shareware; but a very good one! Malwarebytes is very good and very handy to have around.
- Avira Anti-virus + Comodo Internet Security + Common sense. Avira is a great anti-virus program and it does not hog your pc's resources, comodo is a great free firewall and very effective.
- AVG Free edition + PeerBlock + Spybot Search & Destrow + Common sense. AVG bings us a pretty good anti-virus, but uses a bit more of your pc's resources.PeerBlock will monitor traffic like a pro.Spybot will do his job like no other. You are safe.
I used these three free combinations on many computers, without any problems.So feel free to try them, combine them or whatever. I can say you will be pleased with the results.No more viruses, malware, spyware or anything like that!
3. Your Browser. Get a better one. And get Ad Block Plus.
Google Chrome. Mozilla Firefox. Enough said. Research shows that many people use Internet Explorer, and I am not the one to say that it's not good or something...but it ain't. Both of the browsers I suggested are very(VERY) good in keeping your browsing experience secure and they also outperform Internet Explorer in means of browsing speed. Also, I recommend using Ad-Block no matter of what browser you choose. It's a very good add-on that blocks most of the annoying ads out there and you can also block one yourself very easy. Another good add-on is NoScript, for Firefox, this add-on allows the user to run active content only from trusted sources, and it offers good protection against XSS and Clickjacking attacks.
4. Passwords. Choose wisely.
Every internet user has created at least once an account for something.Be it E-mail, signing up for a service or something else, most people use easy to crack passwords. If someone would really want to obtain information about you, he would get it very easy and fast if you have a password like "12345654321" or "MyName.MyBirthday". So, having a bulletproof password, and best to memorize it, would greatly decrease the chance of someone actually breaking your account and causing damage.
Tips for making strong passwords: do not include words related to yourself, combine characters(lowercase and uppercase) and numbers, and try to make them as long as you can.Do not share your password and try not to save a text file on your computer that has all the passwords. Also, use different passwords for each account.
5. Update, update, UPDATE!!
Frequently check for and update you operating system and every software you use. Updates may offer you better security, performance, fixed bugs and in some cases new features.
Other security tips
a. Shutdown services you do not use, or rarely use. The telnet or FTP service is a good example of what I am talking about. Also, the remote registry service can be safely shutdown in most often cases.
b. Create backups for everything important, on a different hard disk than that on witch your operating system is installed, or, preferably, on a removable media.
c. Encrypt the created backups using a strong password.