In this series, I have covered everything about an operating system that makes it good and bad, but this time, we’ll discuss making it better.
I’m not going to discuss mere visual tweaks, as most people can use the Display Properties (Control Panel>Display) dialog fairly proficiently.
Let’s discuss ways to solidify your machine against hacking attempts, spam and phishing attempts.
The biggest threat most users face is themselves. I mean no offense, but most users simply don’t know how to protect their data and privacy online.
Virus protection and spyware protection, though wonderful, aren’t enough.
Phishing attempts (employing malicious emails) often trick people into giving up their information – usually bank account details – and are not easily punished by legal means.
Fixing this is easy – if you don’t trust a Web site, or if the e-mail is less than convincing, don’t follow any links from it.
If you get an e-mail from your bank, don’t click any links from within the actual message.
Instead, log in to your bank’s Web site by typing the URL by hand.
Also, update your Web browser. Both Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2 have built-in tools to check sites for phishing characteristics. If the site is questionable, both browsers will tell you.
Most importantly, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Bill Gates isn’t going to send you any of his money for forwarding an e-mail, and Ms. Nadeen Maghabo from London (whose husband died) isn’t going to give you money totaling the sum of 10,000,000$USD.
That just isn’t going to happen.
Spam is easily solved, too. Install a spam blocker, and make sure you maintain it. New methods to break them are tried daily.
Now that you’ve avoided spam and phishers, you’ve successfully prevented a good two-thirds of malicious hackers’ best attempts to invade your machine.
Antiviral software will help with another portion, and spyware protection will cover most of the rest.No computer or server is completely safe, and none ever will be.
All the protection does is ensure your safety for a time, but if the hacker is particularly pernicious, he or she will gain access to your computer.
On the bright side, most computers simply don’t have anything worth eight hours of work, so the hacker will move on to an easier target.
Breathing more easily? Good. Since your machine is locked down now, we can move on to making it easier to use.
Next week, we’ll continue this topic with ways to clean your machine, tune it up and make it run more smoothly.
