Computer Offense

Virus! Malware! Spyware! Trojan Horse! Oh my! The best way to get rid of these pesky annoyances is to never get them in the first place with a strong Computer Offense. Please take the time to read below the suggestions below because a key to having a good defense is having a good offense.

1. Web Browser- Using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) was not smart until they came out with version 7 which will ask you if you want a web site to install software on your computer plus many other features. You should not use earlier versions of IE unless you really know what you are doing! You must remember, security exploits created by crackers all usually have been created for financial gain which is why popular technology is exploited. For this reason, you should still stay away from IE 7. Firefox is a web browser created by the Mozilla foundation created with Internet Explorer’s vulnerabilities in mind. We suggest using Firefox for your web browsing over IE 7 but no browser is virus proof. In order to stay virus free, you must adjust you behavior to keep your system clean, Firefox and IE 7 will only help.

2. Behavior - Behavior is key to keeping your computer safe from viruses and malware.  It is possible to be browsing on a web site, not click on anything, and get a virus. Seriously! There are networks of fly by night web sites that take advantages of various security exploits that will install themselves just by you viewing the site.  For this reason, you should not randomly browse the internet. You should also rely on a search engine to search for specific sites that you know of but can’t remember over the address bar of your browser because if you type the web address wrong, you may go to a bad site or even a site that looks like the site that may try to steal your information. With that said, you must trust the search tool you are using and you need to be aware that the only way to know you are at the correct site is by typing it into the URL address area. You must resist the temptation of clicking any pop-up windows on web sites as well as not opening any e-mail attachments.

3. Email - Use your ISP's web-mail, all ISP's like AOL and Yahoo scan you e-mail for viruses. Never open any attachments, even from a friend unless they told you they were sending it. Avoid "HTML" e-mail, having pretty colors and pictures in e-mail is fun but believe it or not, a picture in an e-mail can have a virus in it. If using html e-mail, avoid programs like Outlook, that auto-show your e-mail or just change the settings to turn it off. If you get an e-mail and it is viewed automatically a picture could have installed a virus, it's that quick and easy. While mentioning e-mail, we also feel to remind you that it is a good idea to backup your email. Never rely solely on one company for protection of your data. One thing to do is forward your email to a free address gmail, you don't ever have to check gmail, it just asks as a place to keep another copy of your email, and with Google's endless storage for email, you never have to worry about not having enough room.

4. Antivirus - Having antivirus is essential for the average user because they proactively update their definitions making known viruses impervious to your system. Most antivirus programs come with a firewall and it is not needed if you are using Windows XP or above, Windows XP Service pack 2 comes with a firewall that is perfectly good. You only need one antivirus program and one firewall, having more than one will cause the two of them to think that the other is a virus modifying your system and the computer may not work properly. There are good Antivirus programs and there are Antivirus programs that are not so good. A good Antivirus program is one that proactively monitors your system for changes while a not so good (although better than none) just waits for updated definitions from a server. A good lightweight antivirus that does not slow down you computer is "NOD32" by Eset.