Copper State Technology - IT Consulting Services

Keeping your computer safe

Viruses, malware and other Internet threats continue to increase in quantity and capability every day. Every time you open an unknown email, click on a web link or even open an unknown PDF, you increase the chances of having malware injected into your operating system. What can you do? Here are some of the actions that we use daily here at Copper State Technology.

Web Browser

• Use Firefox rather than Internet Explorer.
• If you do use Internet Explorer, use version 8. Older versions might not be as secure.
• Keep your browser and browser add-ons updated. Better to use the automatic updates
• Stick to sites you know and trust. Be wary about sites that promise too much. Those site could have malware.
• Never use a server's web browser to surf the Internet.
• Be vigilant about any website that wants to install something on your computer.

Operating system (Windows).

• Consider using a Mac or Linux.
• Keep your operating system and software up-to-date with security updates and patches.
• Consider turning on automatic updates.
• Remember to update your firewalls, servers, and/or routers as well.
• Use a personal firewall for every PC or Mac. Both Windows and the Mac OS have a firewall installed.
• Remain vigilant about programs that allow remote access to your computers.
• You do need to update your software. Adobe Reader and Microsoft Office issue patches for their software.
• Ask your software vendors how they keep their software updated.

Anti-virus and Anti-malware.

• Please remember that no anti-virus/malware program can prevent all security threats.
• Please remember that the more you interact with the Internet the greater the odds of running across malware or other security risks.
• Internet threats include viruses, trojan horses, worms, adware, and spyware.
• Install a commercial anti-virus and anti-malware software program on every machine.
• Remember to keep your anti-virus software updated daily.
• Most anti-virus programs are subscription based. You will need to renew at some point.
• Consider having a 2nd anti-program installed and ready to use.
• Use a firewall between your network and the Internet.
• Certain Internet firewalls have software that can be used to screen for viruses and other malware.

Computer Behaviour.

• Require a password to access your computer. Use a strong password with a combination of letters, numbers and special characters.
• Use different user ids and passwords for each of your online accounts.
• Change all your passwords on a regular basis.
• Do not log onto your computer as an Administrator. Set up a limited-use account and log on with that user ID and password.
• Be prudent with email from unknown parties and be very careful going to unknown websites.
• Monitor the activity of your business accounts for unauthorized activity.
• Learn as much as possible about Internet Security. Please do not stop with just this list.

Email.

• Unless you are skilled with Internet Security, consider having a commercially hosted email service.
• Your email host needs to employ anti-virus, anti-malware and spam scanning for every email.
• Enable your computer's anti-virus and anti-malware program to scan all email.
• Be prudent with email from unknown parties and be very careful about clicking on links from unknown senders.
• Never open an executable file (like a .exe file). Google and Yahoo will not allow those files over their email systems for a reason.
• Do not open a spam email.

These Internet security topics are in no particular order and this is not an exhaustive list. No one thing or even a collection of ideas can keep a computer perfectly secure. The Internet becomes a more dangerous place every day. Even small businesses with only a handful of PCs are not immune to Internet threats.

To keep your company's financial data safer, you might consider using just one computer to access all your online accounts. You might setup a single PC or Mac to access your cash accounts, credit lines and/or vendors. This machine would not be used check email nor visit any other Internet sites. This machine would only be used to access your sensitive financial data. By visiting only a handful of financial entities rather than the entire WWW, you can reduce the likelihood of being infected by Internet malware.