Cyber Security - 4 Things to Do to Improve Computer Cyber Security and Prevent Cyber Crime Attacks

Image via Wikipedia

In this article, you will learn to avoid all the silly mistakes most computer owners make and expose their computers and personal information open to cyber attacks. You'll also discover why is it important to change your passwords frequently and have up-to-date firewall and antivirus program.
Emails- the best and most simple rule to protect your computer from email cyber attacks is: if you don't know the sender, be very careful and never open any file attached to it. Sometimes even your friends may send you phishing emails against unwittingly because their computer has been attacked and the email is forwarded to you without their approval.
Very simple but effective protection is "When in Doubt- Delete". Your friend will understand.
Common signs include phishing hyperlinks and messages that urge you to open the attached file.
Passwords- passwords are just like door key and they are used to protect our virtual belongings stored on our computer. They should be very difficult to duplicate or steal by cyber criminals, just like door key that we always store in secure location.
Very important and effective rule to keep our passwords safe is: Never share your password with anyone, use different passwords for different for different places and constantly change your passwords.
Here are some proven effective rules to make passwords:
1. Passwords should not make much logical sense and have minimum of 8 characters- this will make it hard to guess.
2. Use types of characters allowed- lower case, upper case, numbers, symbols, special, etc.
3. Change your passwords frequently, the more frequent the better.
4. Under no circumstance give out your password to anybody.
In addition to the above cyber attack prevention tasks, for full computer protection it is very important to have good Firewall and maintain up-to-date antivirus program.
Firewalls- they protect your computer form the outside cyber world by filtering potentially dangerous data to enter your computer. They stop unauthorised data, usually form internet or emails, while data from trusted sources is allowed in.
Up-to-date antivirus software- good antivirus software is "must have" for all computers. Antivirus software is like immunization to humans, it prevents malicious software of entering and potentially damaging your computer.
These programs have been created and designed to protect your computer against known viruses. Therefore, it is critical to keep your antivirus program up-to-date to protect your computer form newly created cyber attacks.

If you would like a FREE SCAN of your PC, visit this Best Antivirus Program review site, it has review of the best performing software including free downloads.
To learn more on how to speed up your computer download the free e-book "Step-by-Step- Turtle to Rabbit Performing Computer" Click Here! You will learn exactly how I improved my computer performance and saved $$$$.
Wish you all the best.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Violeta_Ristevska

Computer Program Security

Not everyone wants or needs to run a full blown internet security suite. As a bare minimum, however, you should be running an antivirus software
Every computer with access to the internet is vulnerable to attack by cyber-criminals. These intruders are interested in what you have stored on your computer like credit card numbers, bank account details, passwords and so on. By stealing this information they can either use this information themselves or sell it to other criminals.
This is only one part of the picture. The other being that some of these attackers are just interested in using your PC as a means to attack other computers. This way if an attack gets traced, your computer will be the culprit. A lot of spammers work this way.
With the majority of home users using always on, fast cable or DSL connections attacks have been on the increase. It is much easier for a cyber-criminal to target a home user than a corporate network. Corporate networks are usually highly secured while the average home user is not.
Computer program security should be a priority to all of us surfing the internet. A lot of people neglect to pay attention to their computer's security while online. This not only puts themselves but also other people in danger. And the results may come to haunt you.
Maybe you clicked on an email attachment or a link in a webpage containing malicious code. Once you are infected, the spyware program might start to download extra malware to take over your computer. If you are lucky you will see the signs of an infection. The malware will often advertise itself by incessant pop-ups, changing your desktop wallpaper or urging you to download an antivirus program to disinfect your PC.
These are the most common type of infections which are easily detected. You could try to cleanup your PC by scanning it with the appropriate antivirus or antispyware software. If you want to be a 100% sure you got rid of these malicious programs you better format your harddisk and reinstall the operating system.
The most dangerous spyware however is the kind that doesn't announce its presence and quietly sits in the background preying on any information it can capture. It is therefore advisable to scan your PC regularly, but this is a routine most home users do not apply.
You would ideally have a program in place that protects your data, even when you are infected.

Fortunately, these kind of programs do exist. Have a look at http://pcuserinfo.com/reviews/sentrybay-personal-data-protection/ to take your computer program security into you own hands.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_D.