Knezev Security Advice

Protecting yourself is very challenging in the hostile environment of the internet. Imagine a global environment where an unscrupulous person from the other side of the planet can probe your computer for weaknesses, and exploit them to gain access to your most sensitive secrets.

They can even use your computer to store data like stolen credit-card numbers or child pornography, or to attack another innocent home user or business from your system.

Here's my list of 10 steps you should take in order to protect your information and your computing resources from the bad boys and girls of cyberspace.

1. Back up everything! You are not invulnerable. Catastrophic data loss can happen to you -- one worm or Trojan is all it takes.
2. Choose passwords that are reasonably hard to guess -- don't just append a few numbers to a dictionary word and make sure to always change default passwords.
3. Use an antivirus product like Panda Cloud Antivirus or Avast, and set it to update daily.
4. Update your Operating System religiously and be vigilant in applying all security patches released by the software manufacturer.
5. Avoid hacker-bait software applications like Internet Explorer, use secure browsers such as Chrome.
6. Use encryption software like PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) when sending sensitive e-mail. You can also use it to protect your entire hard drive.
7. Install a malware detection product like Malwarebytes in addition to your antivirus software.
8. Use a personal firewall. Configure it to prevent other computers, networks and sites from connecting to you computer, and specify which software applications are allowed to connect to the internet automatically.
9. Disable any system services you're not using, especially software applications that could give others remote access to your computer, like Remote Desktop, and NetBIOS.
10. Secure your wireless networks. Enable WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) with a password of at least 20 characters. Configure your laptop to connect in Infrastructure mode only, and never use your Wi-Fi connection for online purchasing or banking.

Hackers are becoming more sophisticated in conjuring up new ways to hijack your system by exploiting technical vulnerabilities or human nature. Don't become the next victim of unscrupulous cyberspace intruders.