Want to find out how to keep your desktop computer secure? On the Residential Computing Web site you'll find a useful desktop security overview (aimed at students but useful for all) that begins with a list of rules to live by and includes links to more specific information:
1. Use protection. Run and keep up-to-date anti-virus software. Anti-virus software is both the protection against and the cure for computer viruses.
2. Get vaccinated. Download and install important security patches as soon as possible. Security patches remove vulnerabilities from your computer, such as open backdoor ports or other bugs in the operating system. A hacker can exploit one or more of those vulnerabilities and take control of your computer's resources , using them to spread viruses, send out spam, illegally serve up copyrighted material, launch denial of service attacks against Internet servers, and more.
3. Email safely. Avoid suspicious emails and the viruses that they could carry. When you email somebody, you're potentially emailing with everyone they've ever emailed with. He or she could have gotten a virus and could send one to you.
4. Use good passwords. Your passwords are the keys to your computer and your private information. You should make sure you don't give out your passwords, and you shouldn't make them easy to steal or even guess. (See also Passwords are Passé in this issue.)
5. Watch out for spyware. There may be more to that software you just downloaded than you think. Sometimes called adware or malware, spyware is software that covertly gathers information about you and your computer usage (usually for advertising purposes) and then transmits that information back to someone using your Internet connection.
For more details and links to what you need to improve your computer's security, see Residential Computing's Web site at:
