Internet Safety 7 Steps to Keeping Your Computer Safe on the Internet. Subscribe to The Ask LeoWhen it comes to free antivirus for Windows computer, your friends will mostly recommend you either Avast Free Antivirus 2017, AVG AntiVirus FREE 2017, or Avira Free. SmartPCFixer is a fully featured and easytouse system optimization suite. With it, you can clean windows registry, remove cache files, fix errors, defrag disk. Get free legal antivirus free internet security software for your PC to protect against viruses, adware, spyware, worms, trojans more, without paying a penny. Newsletter and get the 8. Ask Leo Guide to Staying Safe on the Internet FREE Edition digital download as a gift. Based in part on this article, the Ask Leo Guide to Staying Safe on the Internet FREE Edition will help you identify the most important steps you can take to keep your computer and yourself safe as you navigate todays digital landscape. Viruses and spyware and worms oh my The very concept of internet safety is almost an oxymoron these days. It seems not a day goes by that we dont hear some new kind of threat aimed at wreaking havoc across machines connected to the internet. Here are some things you can and should do to stay safe. A firewall is a piece of software or hardware that sits between your computer and the internet and only allows certain types of data to cross. For example, a firewall may allow checking email and browsing the web, but disallow things like Windows file sharing. If youre connected to the internet through a router, you already have a type of hardware firewall that prevents random networking based external threats from reaching your computers. Most recent versions of Windows include a software firewall that is on by default. Sometimes, most commonly via email attachments, malware is able to cross the firewall and end up on your computer anyway. A malware scanner will locate and remove them from your hard disk. A real time scanner will notice them as they arrive, even before they hit the disk, but at the cost of slowing down your machine a little, and occasionally even interfering with other operations. Important Because new malware is being created every day, it is critical to keep your anti malware definitions up to date. Symantec Antivirus Outlook Protection Uninstall Avg' title='Symantec Antivirus Outlook Protection Uninstall Avg' />Be sure to enable the scanning softwares automatic update feature and have it do so every day. Stay up to date. Id wager that over half of all virus infections dont have to happen. Software vulnerabilities that malware exploits usually already have fixes available by the time the virus reaches a computer. ESET-NOD32-Antivirus-Free-Download.png' alt='Symantec Antivirus Outlook Protection Uninstall Avg' title='Symantec Antivirus Outlook Protection Uninstall Avg' />The problem The user simply failed to install the latest updates that would have prevented the infection in the first place. The solution is simple enable automatic updates in both Windows and applications. Educate yourself. To be blunt, all of the protection in the world wont save you from yourself. Dont open attachments you arent positive are OK attachments are one of the most common ways that malware spreads. Dont fall for phishing scams. Be skeptical.  Phishing is a common way that online accounts are hacked into and can lead to more serious issues like identity theft. Important Microsoft Bulletins Security Patches Version 0. Date 21122011. Internet Safety is difficult, yet critical. Here are seven key steps to keep your computer safe on the internet. Database of over 45K programs that can run on a Windows 1087VistaXP system at startup, including those created by viruses, worms, spyware, and trojans. Univers Light Ultra Condensed Font. Dont click on links in email you arent positive are safe. Dont install free software without checking it out first. Many free packages are so because they come loaded with spyware, adware, and worse. When visiting a website, did you get a pop up asking if its OK to install some software that youre not sure of because youve never heard of it Dont say OK. Not sure about some security warning youve been given Dont ignore it. Research it before doing anything. And of course, choose secure passwords and dont share them with anyone. Secure your home network and your mobile connection. If youre traveling and using internet hotspots, free Wi. Fi, hotel provided internet, or internet cafes, you must take extra precautions. Make sure your web email access or, for that matter, any sensitive website access  is only via secure https connections, or that your regular mail program is configured to use only encrypted connections. Dont let people shoulder surf and steal your password by watching you type it in a public place. Make sure your home Wi. Fi has WPA2 security enabled if anyone can walk within range, and youve changed your routers administrative password. Dont forget the physical. An old computer adage is that if its not physically secure, its not secure. All of the precautions Ive listed above are pointless if other people can get at your computer. A thief can easily get at all the unencrypted data on your computer if they can physically get to it. Even log in passwords can be easily bypassed if someone has access to your computer. The most common scenario is a laptop being lost or stolen during travel, but Ive also received many reports from people whove been burned because a family member, friend, significant other, or roommate accessed their computer without their knowledge. I know that backing up doesnt feel like a security measure, but ultimately, it can be one of the most powerful ways to recover if you ever encounter a security related issue. The damage done by almost any kind of malware can be quickly reversed if you have a recent backup to restore to. Having a back up copy of your data all your data can help you recover after computer is lost or stolen not to mention when a hard disk dies. Backing up your email and contacts can be a critical way to restore your world should your online account ever be compromised. Backups truly are the silver bullet of the computing world a proper and recent backup can help save you from just about any disaster, including security issues. Overwhelming It might seem so, butThis might all seem overwhelming, but please believe me when I say its not nearly as overwhelming as an actual security problem if and when it happens to you. The good news is that the majority of the things you need to do to stay safe on the internet are things you set up once and let happen automatically thereafter, or new habits you form based on the important things that you learn about keeping things secure. While we might want it to be otherwise, the practical reality of the internet and computing today is that we each must take responsibility for our own security online. This is an update to an article originally posted June 1. Download right click, Save As Duration 7 0. MBSubscribe Apple Podcasts Android RSS.