by Mike Stanley

Created on: July 01, 2009   Last Updated: July 02, 2009

Not everyone holds degrees and certificates in the computer sciences. However, there are benefits to expanding your knowledge of computers for the sake of security. A lot of people assume that their computer came from the store fairly secure, but in reality, default setups from the factory are rarely anywhere near secure.

First, as the computer has been sitting in a box until you came along and freed it from captivity, the OS has been missing updates. Most viruses and malware spread through these unpatched holes in the OS security. Machines that are fully patches suffer much fewer infections then unpatched ones. So the first thing you should do, whether the machine is new or not, is to make sure it is fully up to date on patches. For Windows XP, you have to go to the Windows update site, which can be accessed but clicking the link in the start menu, or in IE7/8 under the tools menu. For Vista update is handled through the OS itself, but it is still accessed the same way on the start menu. Once you make sure you have all the updates you need, your sell on your way to being secure.

Second, even though no one else might access your computer directly, if you don't have a password on your computer, then it is much easier for people to get access to your computer. If you have no password, then anyone that connects to your network can see everything on your computer (especially for those on an unsecured wireless connection). Windows Vista makes this harder, but nothing replaces a good password for protection. And that brings us to good vs. bad passwords. So many people use their name, birth date, and other personally identifying and easy to guess information as passwords. These are very weak, and do little to deter potential identity thieves. An example of a strong password is something like this: Uw0ntGu3ssTh1s. By adding capitol letters and numbers you can create a password that still means something to you, but isn't easy for password cracking software to defeat or hackers to guess. Adding characters such as $ for S and @ for A can also make your password stronger. In Windows Server domains, these types of passwords are often required as the server will not allow weaker passwords unless specifically told to allow them by the IT staff.

Third, everyone should have anti-virus and anti-spyware software installed on their computer. There are quite a few good solutions available for free, so there is no reason to skip over this area. One of the best and most well

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