by Matthew Garrett

Created on: April 26, 2009   Last Updated: May 15, 2009

Browsing the internet. Seems harmless, right? You're going to the right sites, you're not doing anything illegal... Just a few Google searches, and checking my e-mail. What could go wrong? Then, all of a sudden, your computer goes blank. The technician says: "You've got yourself a virus, and your system is compromised. A hard drive format is recommended." What do you say to that? "Oh, I wish I hadn't gotten it in the first place!"

Well, there are a good deal of things you can do to protect yourself from the dangerous world wide web.

1. Switch your internet browser.

Internet explorer is well known to be insecure, and often can get viruses right off websites without you even knowing! There are two major browsers you may want to look into if you still use Internet Explorer.
A. Firefox - Firefox is a great, fast, more secure browser than IE. It also has themes and extensions to add to your security arsenal.
B. Opera - Opera is a lighter browser than Firefox, but lacks the features and extensions that Firefox has.

2. Avoid suspicious websites.
When looking at websites, don't go looking for sites that you've never heard of or don't seem legitimate. If you're looking for cars and get "freecarsclickhere.net", the site may not be trustworthy! Don't fall for others tricks. Or, if you don't know whether or not it can be trusted, a simple google check will most likely give you results of people's complaints if it is illegitimate!

3. Check website links before clicking.
Just because a link says www.google.com, it doesn't necessarily have to be a link to google! Links can be easily disguised with a change in code. Look in the bottom left corner of your browser (most of the time) to check to see if the site is the correct one! Don't click links to sites that aren't what you're looking for unless you're sure of the link you are clicking.

4. Look for secure pages.
Before checking out or putting in any sensitive information, check your url bar (at the top, where the website entry is) and look for the prefix https:// not http:// . The https protocol is secured and will keep people from stealing your information.

5. Install anti-virus with regular scans.
Installing an anti-virus is an obvious choice when it comes to online security. Putting in sensitive information on a computer with viruses is a very bad idea, so you want to make sure the computer is clean. I suggest eset's NOD32. Even though your computer may have come with Norton, Norton isn't that good. And if you want free, clamwin is a good virus scanner.

Before entering the world of the web, it's a good choice to have all your bases covered. It's always best to keep protected!

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