Securing your home PC from black hat "hackers"
There are three basic items that will stop almost all black hat "hacker" attacks on your home computer; Firewall, Up to Date Anti-virus and System Updates.
Firewall - Your computer should never be connected directly to the internet without some sort of firewall protecting it. Most broadband router/hubs act as a firewall as do most external DSL modems. How do I know if my internet router/hub/modem is a firewall too?
Get Firewall software
Up to date Anti-virus - Firewalls don't protect you from everything. E-mail and web browsing are the two most common activities that firewalls
System updates - Most attacks exploit an already known vulnerability that already has a fix released by your OS vendor.
How do I know if my internet router/hub/modem is a firewall too?Recommended links
| Firewall | |
| Save $10 Download ZoneAlarm Security Suite |
ZoneAlarm Security Suite |
| Free Firewall (for personal use) | ZoneAlarm (non-Pro) |
| Anti-Virus | |
| Download Norton AntiVirus today! | Norton AntiVirus |
| Save 20% when you purchase Norton Internet Security 2006! | Norton Internet Security |
| Free Antivirus software (for personal use) | AVG Anti-virus Free for personal use |
| Web Browser | |
| Free and secure popup-blocking Web Browser | Mozilla FireFox |
| E-mail client | |
| Free and safe E-mail client with self-learning spam filter | Mozilla Thunderbird |
| System Updates | |
| Windows Updates | Download Windows updates |
| RedHat Linux Updates | RedHat Security Updates and Alerts |
| Debian Linux Updates | Debian Security Updates and Alerts |
| SuSE Linux Updates | SuSE Security Updates and Alerts |
| Mandrake Linux Updates | Mandrake Security Updates and Alerts |
| Other | |
| Popup blocking browser and e-mail client (like Netscape) | Mozilla or Firefox |