To prevent spyware, you must be aware of the threats looming out there, just waiting to invade your computer. You must also know what steps to take in order to effectively fight the war waged by hackers. Below, we’ve given you some tips and tricks that will help you to prevent spyware from infecting your computer.
Use a firewall; without question, this is one of the easiest ways to prevent spyware. Installing a firewall can provide a helpful defense against the hackers and ultimately help you to prevent spyware from invading your computer.
If you’re using Internet Explorer, change your security settings to at least medium. What you are and are not receiving via your web connection is ultimately your responsibility. Slack off on security and you won’t be preventing spyware, you’ll be struggling to remove it.
You probably know that opening email attachments from people that you do not know is a big no-no. In addition to the viruses that these spam emails may carry, other unscrupulous programs can also be present in email attachments. The most notorious are those websites that advertise in the unsolicited emails that land in your junk folder; they often will plant dialers and other types of pesky software on your computer if opened.
Many email programs, both free and paid services, now offer you the option of changing your settings to help prevent spyware from invading your hard drive. If you currently use the “preview” pane to skim through email, turn it off; this is really no different than actually opening the email and is one of the easiest ways for spyware to latch on.
Surf the Web safely. I know, it sounds like common sense, but you would be amazed at how many people just fly around clicking “yes” and “agree” without thinking about what they’re doing. Most often, it is to get rid of some annoying pop-up box that has appeared, but the correct way to do this is to click the red “x” button in the top right corner.
Remember that you are most likely not the only one using your computer. If you have children or teenagers using your PC, post a little list of do’s and don’ts next to the monitor; this will help you tremendously in your quest to prevent spyware.
Keep in mind that some ads that appear online will try to pass themselves off as security alerts or messages from tech support, either within your organization or from a PC manufacturer of some sort. To prevent spyware, if you’re using a computer within a corporation or organization, be sure to communicate with the tech support staff to be sure the message is legitimate. Familiarize yourself with how your tech support department communicates with the computer users in your organization. If the message appears from a PC manufacturer, and it’s not the one that made your computer, chances are its bogus. Delete it immediately.
The best way to prevent spyware is to be vigilant. Keep a constant watch on what is going on with your computer and run antispyware scans frequently. Do your research on what scan or scans will work best for you and be sure to run more than one.
For more tips on spyware click here to get a free spyware scan
