Protecting Your Digital Property
These days your wealth is not limited to your physical and financial possessions but your digital possessions as well. Your e-mail address, password information and online surfing habits can be converted into cold hard cash by others. The value of the data on a home computer can far exceed the value of the computer itself. The Internet is our modern day version of the Old West. You need to know which trails are crawling with outlaws and injuns and which ones your stagecoach can follow safely.
Even with a good antivirus program you're still not completely imune to all forms of malware on the Internet. Certain sites and certain types of software create breeding grounds for malicious software which have been designed to circumvent the most reputable antivirus programs. You must understand the existing threats and know how to avoid them.
Existing Threats
Computer malware can do a lot more than just slow down your PC and make it unusable. It can also be used to gather information about you which you don't necessarily want in the hands of others.
File sharing sites used to download games, music and video files are generally filled with malicious worms and Trojans. Even innocent seeming toolbars can contain various types spyware which send out data about your surfing habits to remote websites. This information is then sold to companies engaged in market research.
There are even fake antivirus programs that mimic legitimate antivirus programs. They will claim your system has been infected and in order to remedy the situation you need to send them your credit card information in order to purchase their software. The software will generally render a computer useless and hinder your efforts to do anything about it. Some of these "fake AV programs" will even go as far as disabling the current antivirus protection you have on your system and making you even more vulnerable.
How To Avoid Them
While there is no surefire way (short of disconnecting your computer from the Internet for good) to avoid getting your computer infected but there are some common sense practices you can follow:
- Invest in a legitimate full-blown Internet Security Suite and keep it updated. Hint: If it's free or comes as part of a bundle with other software is probably not legit.
- Avoid P2P programs and file sharing sites. Do not download music, video or program files from anyone else's computer from across the Internet. Only download software from legitimate sites.
- Be very suspicious of any "free" software. Keep in mind that software programmers do not work for free. If someone bothers to create some software there is probably some sort of profit motive involved. If that profit motive is hidden there is usually a good reason for it. Free software programs usually involve the installation of toolbars, weather reports and animated icons containing spyware which can slow down your PC and turn it into a magnet for other types of malware.
- Do NOT click on or open an attachment in an e-mail from a person or organization you don't know. Simply delete it, delete it from your deleted and move on.
- Do not install multiple antivirus programs on your computer. While some may think this adds an extra measure of protection it actually does the exact opposite. Antivirus programs will typically engage in a battle of turf over the computer they are installed on and sometimes even disable each other and corrupt components of your operating system in the process.
By following the above guidelines and your own good common sense it should not be too difficult to avoid losing control of your personal privacy, Internet security and most precious digital possessions.
