Within the past ten years, the majority of major problems we have encountered could have been avoided or the damage minimized by following a few simple steps:

***Note: These steps are for home users; for best practices at an office, please consult a professional.

ANTIVIRUS PROTECTION

Your computer must have an antivirus program. Many users believe this comes by default on a computer and this may not be so, you must make sure your computer has this.

  1. Do not confuse this with a security suite program. You need a simple antivirus only program to protect your computer. We recommend Norton Antivirus, but there are many others that work well (i.e. AVG Antivirus, MacAfee Antivirus, etc).
  2. Do not use a full security suite like Norton 360, Norton Internet Security, MacAfee Security Center, etc. These programs severely slow down your computer and can cause damage. Only install a simple antivirus program. A key in buying antivirus is you get what you pay for, if it is free it may not be that good. Make sure the antivirus definitions (the database of known viruses) are updated daily.
  3. Run a Full System Scan weekly on your computer (this can easily be added as a scheduled task).
  4. Be very careful on any program you click on that pops up on your computer saying it is antivirus or that you have been infected. Many viruses today are "spoofs" wherein, they tell you that you have a virus or need to update your antivirus program. If you click the links within these spoofs, a virus executes and it may ask for a credit card and your card will immediately be used for identity theft. Pay close attention, if something like this comes up, immediately open your real antivirus program and run a full virus scan, to see legitimate results.

SPYWARE PREVENTION

Spyware or malware is very infectious to computers and aids criminals in identity theft. We recommend having Windows Defender running on all computers. This is a must, as many antivirus and other spyware programs cannot access parts of a hard drive that Windows Defender can access. Beyond Windows Defender we recommend one of the following two programs;

  1. Spybot (do not install Tea Timer or SDHelper) or
  2. Malwarebytes. All three of these programs are free. Each should be updated weekly with a weekly scan.

DATA BACKUP

Backup is possibly the most important protective measure for your computer. The easiest and most effective way to accomplish this is with one of the many online backup solutions. We recommend Carbonite or Mozy. Carbonite is cheaper, but Mozy allows for historical data access. An external hard drive is the most economical solution, but often risky. If your home or office were broken into, the thief would take the hard drive along with the computer. Therefore, online is the most effective means. With any backup solution, it is prudent to have access to multiple copies of historical data. Often users find that they need a file from many days ago, or even weeks ago. If you have a backup running every night, your backup will be overwritten daily. Therefore, you will not have this option. One thing to keep in mind with online backup solutions is that if you have to restore a complete hard drive, this could be a very lengthy process.

SOCIAL NETWORKING SECURITY

Social networking sites, i.e. FaceBook, MySpace, etc., are fun and exciting; yet have a major pitfall. For a thief to steal your identity, the main pieces of information needed are name, address, and birth date. All of this information is often readily available on your social networking profile. Be very careful with who you "friend" on these sites.

FIREWALL SECURITY

A firewall is a must. This is very easy to accomplish. All Microsoft Operating systems, since Windows XP, have this built into them. Enable this feature in the control panel. Many of the aftermarket firewalls are actually harmful to your computer and slow them down very much.