Monday, June 9, 2014

Improve Your Computer's Security

Improve Your Computer's Security

By Frankline Bell


For many of us, our computer is one of our most important possessions. We use it for work. We store family photos on the computer. We have important financial information and other crucial facts stored on this piece of equipment. While no system is ever 100% secure (think Target), there are definitely ways to substantially lower your computer security risk.

One thing you definitely need to install is good anti-virus software, even if you have a Mac or use Linux. Sometimes it can be annoying when the program asks you to approve this program or that software, but it's a lot less troublesome than a virus. Just be sure that you update the software when it prompts you to do so. These updates are crucial because they provide you with protection against new types of malware. Overall, it probably takes just three minutes each day to keep your computer fairly secure using an anti-virus program.

Anti-virus software detects trouble on your computer, and firewalls prevent an unauthorized system from accessing your computer network or your personal computer. Your router and modem need to have a firewall, and so does your computer. Even if your internet provider claims they have a firewall installed, it might be good to look at upgrading this to a better, more secure firewall.

Updates are important in general, and while it can be a big pain to shut down everything and complete an update, they need to be done. Updates for your operating system or browsers often are provided to fix bugs in the system, but they also are just as likely to be used to fix security issues. The more up-to-date your computer is, the safer the system is in general.

These are three good strategies for better security, but how you surf the net also affects your level of security. For instance, if an email from a contact comes in with an odd subject line or just says for you to click on a "fun" or "interesting" link, trash the email and don't click on the link. It's probably malware, and when you click on it not only will it end up on your computer, it will send out emails with the same dangerous link to all of your contacts. Don't download software off the internet unless you have done some research and are sure it is from a trustworthy source. Be password savvy, which means you need a different password for any company or financial institution that has your information. Keep your passwords complex with characters, capitals and numbers and don't store them on your computer.

Of course, you might already be suffering from the effects of malware or dealing with other difficult computer problems. If the computer is not running properly or you are sure you have a virus or other malware, contact the team at GeeksAKnockin'. They can handle a myriad of serious computer problems, such as spyware and virus removal, hardware repair and information recovery just to name a few. They also can help you prevent security issues in the future. A technician can come to your office or home to fix the issue or many times you can opt to have the problem handled remotely, via GeeksAKnockin's virtual house call technology.




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