KEEP YOUR COMPUTER SAFE AND SECURE ON THE INTERNET

        No matter where you really live, when you connect your computer to the Internet, you're in the big city. So you outfit your PC with the virtual locks that PC Magazine has been recommending for years: antivirus protection, a software firewall, a router with a hardware firewall, and a shiny new antispyware utility. Your PC is now impenetrable, right? Well, maybe not.

       Just having locks on your door isn't enough. You've actually got to lock them, too, and let only the right people in. If your security apps aren't configured correctly, your computer isn't locked down, and anyone could get in.

Here are some simple and easy ways to keep your computer safe and secure on the Internet:

1. Educate yourself and be smart about where you visit and what you click on 
2. Use an AntiVirus Software
3. Update your AntiVirus Software
4. Install an Anti-Spyware Program
5. Commercial Spyware Removal/Protection Programs
6. Occasionally Run Online Virus Scans
7. Visit Microsoft's Windows Update Site Frequently
8. Visit the Apple Security Updates Site Frequently
9. Use a Firewall 
10. Install SpywareBlaster
11. Update your security programs regularly
12. Switch to another browser, like Firefox, or make your Internet Explorer more secure

Switching from Internet Explorer to Firefox
If you decide you would rather continue to use Internet Explorer, then follow these steps to make it more secure: 

1. From within Internet Explorer click on the tools menu and then click onOptions.
2. Click once on the Security tab
3. Click once on the Internet icon so it becomes highlighted.
4. Click once on the Custom Level button.
1. Change the Download signed ActiveX controls to Prompt
2. Change the Download unsigned ActiveX controls to Disable
3. Change the Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe to Disable
4. Change the Installation of desktop items to Prompt
5. Change the Launching programs and files in an IFRAME to Prompt
6. Change the Navigate sub-frames across different domains to Prompt
7. When all these settings have been made, click on the OK button.
8. If it prompts you as to whether or not you want to save the settings, press the Yes button.
5. Next press the Apply button and then the OK to exit the Internet Properties page.

By following all these steps you are sure to keep your computer at minimal risk to future infections or hack attempts. This is unfortunately not a fool proof method of securing your computer as new risks are released almost every day, but your susceptibility to these attacks will be diminished greatly.