by Sean Kinn

Created on: April 08, 2008

The easiest way to remove a Trojan horse from a home computer is to never allow access in the first place. If you talk to computer experts, one of the most common home computer vulnerabilities is a lack of user Sign-in procedures, which are also referred to as Log-in, Sign-on or Log-on procedures.

The concept of signing in to a computer system derives from the practice of punching-a-clock, for example, before beginning a day's work in a factory. The term was coined by IBM personnel during early computer development.

Computer Sign-in procedures are integral to home computer security and are a form of authentication designed to limit user access to you or others you choose to allow. If you have not already done so, you should establish two user accounts on all home computers, an Administrator account for software, and a separate Daily-use account. The Administrator account will have full privileges and be allowed to perform all home computing functions such as downloading software. The Daily-use account will have limited privileges and will not allow you to download or install software.

You should also limit the time you are online while signed in as Administrator. For example, it is not wise to stay signed in as Administrator while surfing the Internet during daily computer use. If a hacker, automated virus or other malicious attacker were to enter your computer while you are signed in as Administrator, all permissions, user names and passwords could be obtained and it could become impossible to remove the security breach from your computer without reformatting your hard drive.

In general terms, it is relatively easy for criminal types to enter your computer either via randomly scanning the Internet for vulnerable computers, or by obtaining your home computer IP address from a spam email message, and attempt to sign in and control your computer from a remote location (one of the many reasons you should not open or reply to spam email).

Obviously, you must sign in as Administrator to download software and security updates from the Internet. That's the purpose for establishing a separate Administrator user name and password. However, the trick is to stay signed in only during download/update periods to minimize the time your computer may be targeted for security breaches.

Both of your new user accounts should have separate, hard-to-guess user names and strong passwords to ensure you, and others you choose, are the only person(s) who can sign in and use your home computer(s).

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