Simple Tips to Securing Your Computer System

Today, more and more people are using their computers for everything, from just a surfing, communication, to investing, online shopping, online banking and more. As we do these on a more regular basis, we open ourselves up to potential hackers, crackers and attackers. While some may be looking to phish your personal identity information for resale, others simply just want to use your computers as a platform from which to attack other unknowing targets. Below are a few tips and tricks to make your computer more secure:

1. Always make backups for your important information in a safe place separate from your computer.
2. Install a firewall. Without a good firewall, trojans, viruses, malware, adware and worms can all easily access your your computer from the internet. Consoderatoin should be given to the benefits and differences between hardware and software based firewall programs.
3. Always update and patch your operating system, browsers and software frequently. If you have a Windows Operating System, set the Automatic Updates to Automatic, you can choose schedule for your Windows operating system to download patch and update automatic. How to use this feature? Click on the start button, then click on the Control Panel and click on the Security Center and click Automatic Updates and choose Automatic.
4. Instal antivirus software and set for automatic updates that you wish the most current versions and don't forget to set automatic schedule for scan in the whole computer.
5. Do not open unknown email attachments. It is simply not enough that you may recognize the address from which its originates because many viruses can spread from a familiar address.
6. Do not run programs from unknown origins. Also, do not send these type of programs to coworkers or friends because they may contain jokes, funny or amusing stories. They may contain a trojans horse waiting to infect a computer.
7. Review your email and browser settings for optimum security. Why should you do this? JavaScript and ActiveX are often used by hackers to plant malicious programs into your computer. While cookies are relatively harmless in term security concerns, they do still track your movements on the Internet to build a profile of you. At a minimum set your security setting for the "internet zone" to High,and your "trusted Internet zone" to Medium Low.
8. Instal a Cleaner Software. When you use your PC, there are a lot of traces left all over. Cleaner software will erase your webtracks, cache, cookies besides cleaning a others traces to make your PC more clean and faster. For those who know where to look your computer contains a treasure trove of information about what you get up to, seriously compromising your privacy and security.
9. Disable hidden file name extesions. By defaults, the Windows operating system is set to "hide file extensions for known file types". Disable this option so that file extensions display in Windows. Some file extensions will, by default, continue to remain hidden, but you are more likely to see any unusual file extensions that do not belong.
10. Turn off your computer and disconnect from the network when not using your PC. A hacker cannot attack your computer when you are disconnected from the network or your PC off.

There are a few easy tips and cost-effective steps to make your computer more secure. Hopefully this article can be usefull for all of us.