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| Keep PCs Safe From Malware with These 5 Simple Tips Read more: Keep PCs Safe From Malware with These 5 Simple Tips |
So how can you protect yourself in this dangerous modern world? It doesn’t necessarily require a lot of sophisticated tools or an elaborate security protocol. In fact, you can mitigate a vast amount of risk just by following these five guidelines:
Upgrade to a 64-bit version of Windows – either Windows 7 or Windows 8. You can insulate yourself from the majority of malware with this single change, because (at least for now) most malicious software only works on 32-bit versions of Windows.
Change to a modern browser. A lot of malware attacks come in via your browser. Many experts recommend switching to Chrome, but even recent versions of Internet Explorer (versions 9 and 10) offer dramatically more protection than old browsers.
Enforce a strong password policy. Your passwords must be good; there’s no room for compromise here. Certainly, a strong password alone can’t thwart all cyber-attacks, but good password management can prevent a lot of damage.
Update and patch your software. Many attacks take advantage of old software. Keep Windows, Microsoft Office, Adobe Reader, and other common software up to date. In 2010, for example, the Aurora Botnet attacked a slew of companies, including Google, Adobe, Juniper, and Yahoo. Microsoft was unscathed, mainly (according to Kaspersky) because the company takes the elementary precaution of keeping all of its corporate-managed PCs fully patched.
Keep everyone educated. Whether you run a small business or just try to keep your home network safe, it’s important that everyone on the network is educated about smart security practices, such as being able to detect phishing email, avoiding unsafe websites, and not using duplicate passwords on more than one website.