We’ve all heard the horror stories of identity theft, compromised PC’s that become slower or unstable, lost or stolen data. Every home computer and office workstation connected to the Internet is at risk of being infected by a spybot, spyware, adware, torjan viruses and worms.

That may seem overwhelming to some, but the good news is that 2 steps is all it takes to protect your PC and personal information, how much easier can it be?

1) Install preventative software. There are high quality spyware remover, adware removal, anti-virus and firewall programs out there for just a few dollars. Going online without them is like drunk driving, it will eventually end badly for you.

You risk your PC, personal data and even your identity if you surf the web without spyware, adware and anti-virus software running on your system, and there are people trying to access all of that right now. I can’t make it any more clear.

2) Keep your preventative programs up to date. Almost all of them issue constant updates to stay current with the threats they’re protecting you from, and have some sort of weekly–or even daily–update option available. Use this!

It’ll only take a few moments, and if you don’t keep these programs current then you might as well not even have them. The threats constantly change as those who want your information try new ways to get at it. These programs have to update frequently to keep up with those changes, otherwise it’s like putting up a fence but never closing the gate.

Here are a few simple things to avoid doing as well that will help in preventing malicious spybots, trojans and worms from infecting your system and accessing your information:

A) Never open suspicious emails from unknown senders. Have you heard that before? But did you listen? Most people don’t and just invite hackers into their homes or offices by opening these messages.

If you don’t already, start making a point of checking the sender’s address and subject line of every email you get before opening it. If something seems odd to you, it probably is and you shouldn’t open the message.

B) Never click on links or attachments/downloads in an email message unless you’re 100% sure of who sent it, and why. You may think it’s a harmless link to some online silly joke or video from your co-worker, but it could very well be something sinister that they didn’t actually send you.

C) Never use the login form of any web site page that you arrived at from an email link. This is the most common way identity theft occurs. Someone sends you an email that looks like it came from your bank, credit card company or some other financial institution and asks you to login to your account, with a link to the login page provided in the email. The problem is, it’s all fake.

Even if it looks like you’ve been taken to your bank’s web site, you’re more likely on a special landing page that was made to fool you. Then when you enter your normal login data on the page, they are waiting to capture it and within seconds your real account has been emptied.

If you think an email from your bank or credit card company is real, then visit their site by typing the actual address into your web browser yourself and find out. But do not use the link in that email!

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Heather Moore & McGeeks.com promote fun and safe computing habits online. Perform a FREE spyware and adware scan of your system right now at http://www.mcgeeks.com/adwarealert/

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