Your brand new PC just arrived at home and you’re eager to start surfing the web. No sooner have you connected it to the router than somebody begins to lecture you about all the dangers you may encounter when connecting to the world wide web. Don’t worry: the Internet is a safe place, that is, as long as you know how to protect your PC.
Computer security is based on three types of software: anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewalls. The first one identifies and erases computer viruses from your PC, usually scanning files on your hard drive and also files you download or receive by email. Anti-spyware tools fight against any kind of suspicious software, often presented as toolbars, which may be collecting personal data without your consent. Finally, a firewall is an application that monitors your connection by controlling any application that access the Internet and denying any attempt to enter your PC.
Nowadays anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall tools are very easy to configure and use. Sometimes you won’t even need to change anything, as they’ll work fine with their default settings. Also, there’s a wide range of options to choose from, so just take a look at our Security category and make your choice.
If you want to go online without risks, this is basically everything you need to be aware of. Of course, there’s always the possibility of being infected by an unknown virus or falling in some wicked hacker’s clutches but believe us, this is truly unlikely to happen if you use these basic security tools and keep them up-to-date.
