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Summary

Internet provides you with access to information, social networking, entertainment, financial services, and what not – all at the click of a button. At the same time, it leaves you open to numerous security threats such as identity theft, etc. Follow the simple guidelines given in this article to make it hard for identity thieves or malicious computer programs like viruses, trojans, spyware, etc. to break into your computer.

Install Security Software

Malware such as viruses, trojans, spyware, etc. not only affect your computer's performance but also steal data from your computer such as your credit and financial information. Security software prevent against these malicious programs by constantly monitoring your computer, thus keeping you safe from online threats.

You can buy either the individual components provided as stand-alone applications such as an anti-virus, a firewall, an anti-spyware, etc. or, you can buy the complete security software suite.

The important point on security softwares is to always allow them to update automatically. Automatic updating enables a security software to prevent your computer even from the latest security threats.

Protect yourself from phishing scams

As Wikipedia defines "Phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication."

Typically, phishers send an email, that falsely claims to be from a legitimate organization, requesting some information. The email provides a link for the recipient to supply the confidential information requested. When clicked, the link opens up a web page which looks exactly like the legitimate organization's web page in appearance.

Majority of the computer users can hardly spot a difference between the fake and the real web page. Although web browsers such as Firefox, Opera, etc. come with built-in anti-phishing measures, yet for greater protection, choose to buy a security software that provides anti-spam and anti-phishing features out of the box.

Install updates regularly

Windows Update is an integral component of Windows operating system that delivers security, reliability and feature updates to your computer. Not only does Windows Update provide updates for the operating system files but also for other Microsoft applications, and even hardware drivers.

Making sure Windows downloads and installs updates automatically keeps your computer more protected and keeps it running at its peak performance.

If you don't have Automatic Updates turned on already, read Turn Automatic Updating on or off.

Passwords: Choose wisely and protect them

Recent researches in the area of computer security indicate that more than 60 per cent of computer users tend to choose passwords that are short and easy to remember. From the recent data breach of RockYou.com, it was found that nearly 50 per cent of passwords contained names, slang words and dictionary words.

Microsoft has a good article on how to create strong passwords. Use that article as a guideline when creating passwords or use one of the many secure password generator tools available online.

Creating strong passwords is one thing but maintaining it is the hard part. Again, Microsoft has some tips on how to protect your passwords from prying eyes. Because strong passwords are not easy to remember, we recommend using a password management utility to record all your passwords such as KeePass Password Safe.

Work under a limited user account

It is normally seen that most of the users log into Windows using the Administrator user account. As a general rule, Administrator user account should not be used unless it is really necessary to do so (especially for home users).

Instead, create a new account of Standard User type and use this account to sign in to Windows. An account of Standard User type helps protect the computer by preventing users from making changes that affect all users of the computer. To learn how to create such an account, click here.