How To Secure Your Own Computer

By Author: Emma Gary
Total Articles: 4
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Computer security is essential to any home or business computer user. Without security, most computers will get infected and cease to work. Within this article we will look at how anyone can secure their PC from infection, hackers and anything nasty that may be lurking on the world wide web.

Firstly, everyone.. and I mean everyone, should have antivirus protection. Without it you are vulnerable to every threat out there. There really is no excuse not to have one, there are plenty to choose from, many of which are free and easy to install.

A firewall is another must have when talking about computer security. They protect you from the outside world, stopping hackers, among other things. Again, there are plenty of free ones available and Windows even comes with a built in firewall. It may not be the best, but it is definitely better than nothing!

Next, you must ensure any software, including your operating system, is updated with the newest patches. These updates can fix anything from normal system errors to vulnerable holes in security. So it really is essential to stay updated, If you struggle to remember, ...
... then luckily most software has an auto update feature which can be switched on.

Another major point to consider is which browser you are using. As this is your main point to access the internet, it is usually a first point of contact for any malware. The best browser in my opinion is Firefox, although Google Chrome may be slightly faster, the massive amount of add-ons for Firefox make it unmatched, from security to speed, there will be an add-on for it. Some of the best include WOT (Web of Trust), which gives websites a ranking based on reviews. Better Privacy which stops cookies and other tracking items from getting onto your PC or Android Tablet. There are literally thousands, so just have a look online.

One point that is usually overlooked is cleaning software, a good computer cleaner such as CCleaner to destroy any cookies, temporary files, old files and any data that may still be available from the recycle bin is also essential. There are also secure cleaning methods within most software which allows users to delete data permanently.

Lastly, I'm going to talk about common sense, everyone should use it when online. If a site looks dodgy, it probably is. If a random box appears saying click here.. please don't. Fortunately, if you are reading this article, you have probably searched to find ways to be safe online, so I'm sure you already have common sense!