When we need to protect our computers from outside intruders, there are a few options that are available to us. We need these options, because everyday our computer is probed by strangers that want to be able to access our personal information. They will take our information and sell it to the highest bidder. So to help prevent people from being able to penetrate our computer, we can use software known as a firewall. A firewall will block the ports of your computer and keep the bad guys from getting in. But, there are several different firewall solutions that we can use to get the job done. And our job is made a little easier by using Windows 7, one of the most secured operating systems out there.
The first type of firewall solution that you can set up to block intruders from your computer, is a hardware solution. You can use a software firewall or a hardware firewall. Most experts tend to agree that a hardware version is the better way to protect your computer. Preferably, you should have mix of the two, both a hardware and a software firewall set up. When you are dealing with a corporate network, then you could spend thousands of dollars on a firewall that will help protect you. But for the average home user trying to protect their network, the hardware solution would come in the form of your router. If you go into the router administration settings, you will see that there is an option that you can turn a firewall on or off. Most routers come with this option already turned on. The firewall on your home router can be the best option that you have when protecting your computer. Make sure that you keep it on.
Even if you have the hardware firewall option nailed down, you still want to back that up with a software firewall as well. This way your computer has double the protection. There are a few options that you can use for a software firewall. One of these solutions is the firewall that comes already built into Windows 7. In the past, the firewall that came with the Windows operating system was not a strong solution and you still needed a third party option to help back you up. But in Windows 7, the firewall is as robust as any third party solution that is on the market. You can surf the web safely knowing that you have a full featured firewall backing you up.
The last solution in regards to firewalls on Windows 7, is to use a third party solution. There are many companies that make a full featured suite of firewall products that will help protect your computer. You may even be able to purchase a firewall package that will also come with other security products as well. Products such as an anti virus solution. Over the years, some of the top software solutions out there, have really refined their products so that they can take on any attacker trying to get into your system. They have seen the worse that the web has to offer and they were able to create solutions for it. You will not be putting your computer in any type of harm if you went with a well known third party firewall vendor.
As you can see, there are many options that are available to you when it comes to a firewall. Take your time, and pick what solutions seems right to you.
The one thing that has been proven to get someone’s attention is a catchy headline. Especially, if the headline is about a celebrity or some scandal that has happened to a politician. It is like driving past a car accident, you do not want to, but you cannot help but look at the accident scene. Everyone gets mad at the person ahead of them who does it, but by the time they get to the accident they are looking as well. Black hat hackers use this curiosity against you to get what they want. They use a sensational headline that is popular that day and make it so that you just have to click on it. Once you have click on the story, then you computer will pay the price.
A good example of this is what happened when Michael Jackson died. There was no bigger news story than Michael Jackson dying for the next couple of weeks. The stories were especially prevalent on the social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. Michael Jackson stories were everywhere and so were brand new ways to infect user’s computers. People were eating up the Michael Jackson news so black hat hackers took the opportunity and spread infections to a lot of unsuspecting people. So much so, that several popular web sites had to issue warnings telling people to watch out for this kind of attack. The safe thing to do was to only get sensationalist news such as this from web sites that you were familiar with. At the very least, get the news from web sites that were visited by people that you knew already. Randomly clicking on links in Twitter was bound to lead you to some bad places on the internet.
The Michael Jackson story was not the only time this has happened. There have been a few others stories over the past couple of months that this has happened to as well. Every time you hear about a big story breaking, you can be sure that there is a black hat hacker waiting to take advantage of the commotion. Lately they have even been making up stories so that people will click on the infected links. Even though the stories get debunked soon after it hits the internet, that still gives an attacker enough time to infect a lot of computers. A short burst like that can probably give them a better click ratio than they would get by using their normal tricks.
When you see news breaking or a story that seems unbelievable, always check a site that you know first before you go to any strange web sites. You have to remember that there are people that are trying to get into your computer. It is your job to head them off at the pass. You can do this by going to reliable web sites and not clicking on every link that seems interesting.
Most people who use the internet on a regular basis have several different ways that their data can be leaked to the public. Between the heavy usage of social networks, logging into your email and checking bank accounts from another person machine, we expose ourselves everyday to the risk of someone stealing our data. This is why we have to be very concerned when it comes to protecting our secrets online. We should not let anyone or any company tell us that they have our security interest in their hearts and just trust them with the data that we hand over. We need to do little things ourselves to make sure that the data is never compromised. And when it comes to the different services that we use every day on the web, we can achieve that goal. All we need is a little guidance on how we can get this done. If you follow these simple rules, you will be able to cut down your chance at having your data stolen by half.
The first thing that you need to do to make sure that your data is always safe is to make sure that your passwords are in a secure place. When we sign up for a lot of web sites, we can easily start to lose track of our login credentials. Or so that we don’t have to keep track, we can fall into the trap of using the same login and password on every site that we visit. Both of these conditions can lead to you easily getting your data stolen. If you want to make sure that your privacy stays safe, use different login credentials with each web site that you visit. Also use an encrypted software solution like Keepass to store your passwords.
Another step that will keep your online privacy safe is to be careful what you say on the social media sites that you are a member of. Most people love the fact that they can share their lives online but there is a chance that you will share too much. You do not want to give identity thieves too much information that they can use against you. Think about what you say before you type it and remember that it is in the public domain once you do. Remembering that will keep you from spreading too much information online.
Step three is to be careful of the web sites that you visit. 99% of the web sites that are available on the web are totally safe to go to. But it is that one percent that you have to be worried about. If a site does not give you a good feeling when you visit it then you just leave from there. Always follow your gut instinct when you are online. It will help more times than it will hurt.
To continue on with the last point, not only should you be careful with what web sites that you visit, you should also be concerned about links that you run across. The wrong link can lead you to install software that will invade your privacy by stealing your data. Even if it is someone that you know sending you the link, you should always be careful about clicking on them. Also, to go along with this and our last point, is if you do click the link, make sure that you scan with an antivirus anything that it might download to your computer.
Keeping your privacy safe while online is a big deal. Make sure that you follow these precautions when you are online to make sure that your privacy is kept intact.