How To Protect Your Family Computer From Net Nasties

The Conficker Virus, one of the world’s most virulent PC viruses that is said to have infected up to 3 million PC’s, is set to be let loose tomorrow on April Fool’s day. However, this horrible little creature is no laughing matter. With this in mind we thought we’d give you the head’s up on how to protect your family when you are using your PC.

First of all, be aware that malicious malware and spyware can come in many different forms, the most common being via email Email viruses are usually addressed to you personally and come with an attachment. People unwittingly open the email and then the attachment. Once the attachment is open it is too late, your computer is infected.

Poor firewall security is another way for your computer to be open to attack. A firewall is there to protect you against unauthorised entry to or from a private network. Problems arise when your firewall has not been configured correctly.

Phishing is another one to watch out for. People who phish aren’t intent on infecting your computer, they are more interested in getting personal information that they can use to their advantage. They send out emails posing as reputable organisations (such as banks, building societies etc), and ask for personal information such as passwords, credit cards details. They will even go so far as to set up a fake website that is very similar to the corporate entity they are mimicking.

Solutions:

Protecting yourself against malware, spyware and making sure your firewall is protected can be fixed easily with the likes of Norton 360 Version 3 security software. This particular package is easy to set up and use and can be installed quickly. As well as malware and spyware, it helps defend against botnets, identify theft and automatically backs up your files.

With phishing, just be very careful when you receive emails that are asking for personal information. Banking and other financial institutions will not ask for passwords over email, which should immediately set of alarm bells. They also never ask for credit card details, after all, with banks especially, they should already have that information on file.

If you have any questions relating to keeping your family’s PC safe, please leave a comment below.