PC security has become a great issue these days. I have seen numerous cases of server and PC hacking in last three months and all this happened to people I know. One of my friends Hotmail account got hacked recently and the hacker stole about $1500 using his Hotmail ID. If you spend lot of time on web and you think that you cannot be hacked that let me tell you my friend, a hacker will not knock on your door before arriving. You will not notice a thing until you are caused any damage by a hacker or virus.
There are some important steps and measures that you can take to prevent your PC from hack and virus attacks and save yourself from damages.
1. Use an "anti-virus software" and keep it updated - It's very important that you use a good anti-virus for your PC, because an anti-virus will protect you against known viruses. It is equally important that you keep your anti-virus up-to-date. So, spending a few bucks to renew the anti-virus updates should be worth.
2. Keep your Firewall turned on - Firewall program will screen out all the threats in form on hacker, viruses and other malicious programs . Without a Firewall you PC is like an open field, anyone can walk in and out of your system. You will always be in constant danger whenever you connect to internet and a hacker can access your PC easily and tamper important files on your system and also install any virus and steal important information in form on your passwords, credit card number etc.
3. Use an anti-Spyware software - A Spyware is a software program that will make certain changes in your system without your consent. Those changes can be like showing same advertisement on every website you visit, it will make changes in your PC configuration which will make you PC slow which can be very annoying and also it can make your PC crash. To avoid such happenings, it's recommended that you use a good anti-Spyware program and also keep your software regularly updated.
4. Use genuine OS and keep it updated - Do not use pirated OS package to run your PC as it wont provide you with any of the updates which will inform your system against latest threats online. Moreover it's a crime to use a pirated software. Use Windows 7 and keep your OS regularly updated.
5. Handling email attachments - Be careful of any suspicious and unexpected emails and attachment. Hackers more often will use your inbox to get into your PC to hack information or plant a virus. Best way to handle these emails is by deleting these suspicious emails right away.
6. Strengthen your web browser - Microsoft's Internet Explorer is most commonly use browser, hence it is subjected to a large number of security threats than any other web browser. To cut down these threats online, start using another browser Firefox, Google Chrome or Opera straight away.
7. Keep your passwords safe - Do not use common passwords like 123456, jesus, password, love etc. instead use tough combination's which includes alphabets, numeric and symbols. Hacker use various techniques to crack simple passwords, one of the most common method is Directory attack, hacker tries different combination's and phrases using some software to decrypt your password. Use at least an eight digit password, don't share you password with anyone, change your passwords after some time.
8. Secure downloading from internet - Don't download anything just because it's free. If it's a free software then you must read reviews about it, user reviews will give you an idea if the software is worth downloading or not. Avoid downloading data from untrusted websites. Also don't use torrents to download files because torrent is one of the major sources of viruses.
9. Use a dynamic IP address - A computer's IP address is said to be dynamic when it changes time after time. Usually whenever you will restart your computer the IP of your PC is subjected to change. It's better to have a dynamic IP address because it's not easy for a hacker to track a computer because it's IP keeps changing after every session.
10. Protect yourself from wireless connections - Hackers sometimes setup a free and unprotected wifi connections in locations near apartments, offices, complexes, airports, hotels etc. These are often traps setup by hackers to get inside your PC and extract information out of it. If you use public wireless connection then try not to access your online bank accounts or payal account etc.
11. Never store all information in one place - Hacker are always looking for these kinds of notebook where they can find all your confidential and personal information such as your passwords, credit card details, bank account details, etc. Do not create any such online diary to store all your confidential information at one place, by creating it, you will only be helping a hacker.
12. Use of virtual keyboard - Whenever you login to your bank account, use virtual keyboard to enter your ID and password to reduce the risk of keystroke logging. It's not easy for a malware to monitor the display and mouse movements to gather the data entered via virtual keyboard.
0 comments:
Post a Comment