Creating a secure computing environment can take some work but it needs to be done. It needs to happen so that you can make sure that you will not be affected by all of the bad guys on the internet. When you are looking for ways to make sure that your computer is safe, the first thing that you will hear is to make sure that your computer has antivirus software installed in it. They will then tell you what kind of antivirus you should have installed and then they will send you on your way. In this day and age that logic is not good enough for a person who is looking to make sure that they are safe. Having antivirus installed on your system is a good first step but it is not the only step that you need. We will take the time to tell you several other steps that you need to take to make sure that your computer is safe when it surfs the internet.

The firewall

The next thing that you should do right after you install the antivirus is to make sure that you have the firewall on your computer set up correctly. Firewall is the thing that is going to stop the intruders from having a look at your local network. If you cannot stop them then all of the secrets that you have on the computer will be exposed. So you need to make sure that your firewall is both set up on the operating system and on the router. This will mean that you have two firewalls protecting your system. One may be enough but two is even better.

The right software

After you have the antivirus and the firewall set up, now you need to take a look at the software that you use on the internet. This includes the browser, phone services such as Skype, instant messengers and any other thing that need the internet to work. You should make sure that there are no security warnings on the software. When it comes to the browser, make sure that it is one of the latest versions of the brand that you are using, especially if you are using internet explorer. If you are using Internet Explorer then there should be no version on your computer earlier than 8. The rest of them are not secure enough to be used as everyday internet devices. If you have to, you might want to think about switching browsers to one of the alternatives out there, Firefox or Chrome.

After all of this is done, you want to make sure that you add some common sense to the pot as well. A lot of the security risk that you will see on your computer will involve mistakes that you make. If you are careful and you have the right software installed then you should be safe on the internet.

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