What will you lose today?

Identity? money? data? buisness? or all of them, take these simple steps to secure your computer, data, identity & bank account

On-line security requires the correct approach, not 'dont go to any dodgy web sites' a PC is easily compromised visiting a hacked website. Theres good online advice if you know where to look, but sites like get safe on line are, to be honest a bit of a joke. Internet security is a very fast moving target where the correct discipline is vital. Recently a PC connected to the Internet was completely owned in 30 seconds demonstrating the vulnerability of Windows. The windows UAC in Vista & 7 is not the answer as it can be turned off in frustration. New & advanced techniques with increasingly sophisticated methods of attack, even featuring software to remove competing viruses exist and deploy silently without the users knowledge.

Regrettably, our ineffective government failed to protect the identity of 25 million people then failed to listen to a group of peers with good ideas for dealing with e-crime. Labours heads firmly in the sand, also failed to realise the consequences of their ill conceived folly, particually where ID cards are concerned. It is appalling, every week a government laptop, with sensitive unencrypted data will be lost and the labour government remains silent with its apology to everyone for their careless lack of attention to even the most basic security concepts. Its easy to secure confidential data with TrueCrypt or Cypherix.

To start, run this test from ESET world leaders in antivirus & security, then take action to improve your on-line security. All PCs are vulnerable, dont take anything for granted, downloaded software from a bit torrent site or bought pirated from a car boot sale? - it probably contains malware.

The steps below will help harden your defences:

1. Secure your web browser - avoid Internet Explorer - its the hackers best friend!

Every computer security problem Ive repaired is usually attributed to Internet Explorer, its lack of security is legendary, so dump it, there are much better web browsers. A completely secure web browser is very difficult to achieve, but security can be improved dramatically if you follow the steps below.

Browser toolbars - are often poorly programmed with holes & exploits, some come with there own malware - so dont install them & remove them if you have.

2. Use the best anti virus & anti spyware software you can buy:

Only a complete fool would not deploy a first class antivirus software to protect their PC along with a good malware/spyware scanner. The free offerings just dont cut it anymore, we have tested, deploy & strongly recommend:

Keep your AV & spyware applications up to date - at least daily and renew your subscriptions when required.

Beware of scareware - Rogue websites make you think you have a virus infection - its just an image but looks real, then run a fake AV scan & find other (false) viruses, then they try and trick you into buying useless software that does nothing but the screen dumps all look very real. Theres a chance your credit card details may be stolen as well. Make sure you only run your vendors AV software or if you do an on-line scan its from a trusted source such as the ESET one.

3. Secure your E-mail

First control spam we find Mailwasher Pro works very well & once registered you have it for life!

Use a more secure e-mail client - Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express are both are fairly vulnerable to attack. Use an open source email client such as Mozilla Thunderbird or The Bat.

Beware 'social engineering' - No, you dont win the Nigerian lottery or has long lost relatives who wish to transfer the sum of several million dollars to you! - BEWARE Email or messages similar to these:

• Youve won an iPod/Laptop/anything else. Ask yourself, so how did I win it if I diddnt ener the competition?
• A package is waiting from UPS/Fedex/Some other carrier. Ask yourself, how do UPS know my e-mail address?
• Your account statement is enclosed. Ask yourself, does my bank normally do this?
• Your airline flight tickets are enclosed. Ask yourself, have I really booked a flight online (or other service)?
• Your computer has a virus - Ask yourself, is that dialogue my AV? beware of 'scareware' , check them out at SpyWare Warrior
• Your account has expired - Ask yourself, really? A common fraud known as phishing - delete the mail, then empty trash.
• An invitation to join facebook - or any other social network site may also carry an attchment with a virus
• Today, we charged your credit card $695 USD. Ask yourself, Did I spend this? - contact your card service if in doubt

  They all have one thing in common, they want you to respond to something within the message - so dont ever respond. Delete the e-mail. It will usually have a .zip or .exe attachment containing a script virus. Please delete these emails without a thought. Do not trust anything unless it is from someone you know or you may be expecting. Further more, do not respond to any email that appears to come from a bank - it will be a fraudulent - phishing email. Also, should your bank ever telephone you, it could be anyone. Hang up & call them back.

Go to Windows Explorer, tools, Folder Options, View tab - in the list remove the tick from 'Hide extensions for known file types' & click OK. Emailed attachments will be shown with the correct extension as this is often used to deceive.

4. Secure your Internet connection

Important areas to consider:

Additional areas to consider:

Consider security in layers, you need one software firewall, one antivirus program & one spyware scanner, pick the best, which makes ESET smart security a good choice if the rest is too daunting.

Consider strong encryption such as Cypherix or TrueCrypt for securing sensitive information - if your computer is lost or stolen the data is useless - HMG please take note.

Microsoft Windows Messenger - Messenger another terminally insecure program from Microsoft with more holes than a cullinder. Ive seen more computers attacked via messenger exploits/downloads than anything else. Kids love it, but the problem is that children trust, click, believe & accept everything & anything, particularly in the form of a free offer. A hacker dosnt have to even be clever to exploit it, so GET RID OF MESSENGER & use a better open source Instant Messenger client.

Peer file sharing - Limewire / Kazaa blow gaping holes in your security, do not use these or similar insecure peer file sharing software, what you download may also be illegal copy write material, so get rid of them.

Windows automatic updates - Im really undecided on this one. Ive seen automatic updates do more damage than a virus! for example: servers that wont boot, computers that cannot connect to the Internet & so on. Of course Microsoft & other support sites will advise their use. Ultimately it depends how much you trust it to work every time, against the vulnerability of your system.

Use a hosts file - this hosts file in locate in your C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc directory helps prevent visiting rogue web sites.

If you do get attacked by a virus - clear up the mess properly. Once the virus is removed download the Windows malicious software removat tool, run it then do a HiJack this scan, there are plenty of forums that will help you out.

Sophos users - contact Sophos for help download the anti root kit & SAV32CLI command line scanner - disinfection advice

Finally if you require a good solution that works, Get an Apple Mac use the Fire Fox web browser with NoScript & strip out tracking cookies with Mac Scan.