There's been a lot of news lately about various computer viruses racking up countless billions of dollars in damages. So, here are the 3 best things you can do to help stop their spread:
- Use a firewall. Windows XP has a free built-in firewall that works great. Learn how to turn it on.
- Install and maintain anti-virus software. Norton, Symantec, and McAfee all have great anti-virus offerings.
- Install security patches and updates as they are released. - For Windows users, visit Windows Update regularly to install free patches. You can also configure Windows to install these patches automatically as they're released, while you sleep.
If you follow these 3 simple tips, you'll be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
For more information on securing your computer, visit http://www.microsoft.com/security
Finally, Windows users aren't the only ones who need to be security-conscios. In the last week alone, bad security holes were found in Mac OS X and in the Linux kernel. In fact, more security holes have been found in Red Hat Linux this year than in Windows. Something to think about...
Update - I've received several mails asking why I posted this news item. It was spurred by the fact that I get about 500 spam messages a day to my thereminworld.com e-mail account, about 50% of which contain viruses (according to my virus filter). So I figured, what the heck, rant about it and maybe I can help make a dent in the number of unprotected machines out there. In talking to friends and family about their computers, I find that 90% of them have no idea what a firewall is, they refuse to pay for anti-virus software, and they all think that if they go buy a Mac, they'll be completely safe. Just trying to spread some basic knowledge to help people protect themselves. If you don't care, don't read this :)
