To put it plain and simple, if you connect to the internet or anything that is connected to the internet, you ARE at risk of being hacked or getting viruses and mal-ware… You must also realize that NOTHING you do can ever make you 100% safe. The object is to slow the attacks down and make it more difficult to get your data or infect your computer. Remember the easiest prey of the herd always get taken first.
Lets start where most people don’t even think, your operating system.. Just because you paid a boatload does not make it safer or the the best thing to use… When choosing an OS you have to take all aspects into consideration… Function, power of your hardware, specific software requirements, etc…
As for ease of use the three most popular OS’s are 1)Windows 2)Apple and 3) linux. Most people tend to stick with windows simply because it’s what you get when you buy your store bought PC. Windows however because it is so readily available is also probably the most targeted software. Second would be apple as it is the second most popular software and because of this it is the second most attacked…
As far as design of the Software itself for security, Linux would be the most secure of the 3 followed by apple and windows would be last. That being said choose your software carefully and don’t cringe at the idea of having to learn a new OS to better protect yourself.
First thing you should do when you get a computer is INSTALL YOUR FIREWALL and I can not stress this enough… connecting to the internet with out a firewall and/or proxy (for more on proxy click this) is about as good as well, leaving your house to go to work with EVERY window and door open… And in all honesty windows stock firewall is a waste of time upgrade it to something better ASAP. Please remember just because you’ve installed the firewall does not mean your safe TEST YOUR FIREWALL. There a a multitude of port, UDP and TCP testing tools you can install and if thats to much work for you at least go to a site that can test some of your ports(click here for port test) Once you’ve run the test if you have ANY holes in your firewall like unnecessary open ports which there should not be any then you must manually close them. Then install your anti-virus and anti-mal-ware software. Again just because it is the most expensive does not make it the best, research before you buy or download the software.
Now let’s touch on home wireless internet. Most people these day change little more of the settings on the router than the broadcast name and a password for WEP, WPA/WPA2. To put it bluntly if this is all you do any halfwit can get software and crack your password simply by attempting to log on multiple times until he has the complete code. Once they’re in it’s all over. Just like everything else connecting to the internet no matter how much you change you’re never 100% safe. The object is still to slow down the attacks, the longer it takes to hack the less likely you are to be hacked.
In addition to doing the above you should change other settings. Lets start with something simple like MAC address filtering. Your MAC address is a unique identifier assigned to network interfaces. Every interface has its own unique address and your router can be set to block any device that does not have its MAC address listed. Secondly change your subnet (info on subnet) do not leave the stock 192.168.X.X this is standard for all routers to make initial setup easy making your router easy prey. Third set your router to block pings (info on what a ping is) Once your done with this your in much better shape but I would highly recommend you turn off the broadcast feature on the router. What this does is your wireless router will not show up when you or anyone else search for connections although it is most certainly there you just have to connect manually.
Honestly there is just so much more you can do to protect computer and your data, don’t be afraid of learning how to protect yourself!





