How To Protect Your PC from being Hacked
Basic Security
- Turn off your computer when not using it, especially if you have an ‘always on’ internet connection.
- Get a firewall if you have a DSL or cable modem. Remember to keep the firewall always.
- Use a good Anti-virus program. Remember to use only one such software, as different programs use the same system resources & may conflict. Besides anti-virus program it is advisable to use a good anti-spyware and anti-malware program. Keep both your anti-virus and anti-spyware program up-to-date by regularly downloading latest updates.
- Turn off file and print sharing.
- Hackers count on the public being uninformed and use their ignorance to gain access to your system. Therefore, visit sites by your OS manufacturer to stay updated on security.
Specific Measures
- Don’t visit chat rooms unless they are closed & you know the room administrator.
- Never open an e-mail attachment that ends in .DLL or .EXE, even if the e-mail is from your best friend. The only time you can open such an attachment is if you know exactly what’s in it.
- To outwit script-based viruses, ask an expert how you can open scripts in Notepad or wordpad. Then get someone who knows about Visual Basic (VB) to look at it before running it.
- Keep data private through encryption.
- If you’re not surfing & you see your modem lights flashing, a hacker could be testing for vulnerabilities.
Using a Strong Password
- A good password is one which is easily remembered but not easily guessable. It should be a secret, never written down, never saved in a file.
- When a website asks if it should be saved, say no. It is much safer not to save the username and password in the browser by disabling the auto-fill option.
- A password should have at least eight or more characters with an intelligent combination of letters, numbers and special characters. The letters should be a combination of uppercase and lowercase.
- Never use a password which is a word found in a dictionary. It should not have four or more letters found consecutively in the dictionary.
