Protecting your Computer from Hackers

A number of questions have been coming in about how to protect their computer from hackers.  Anytime a computer is connected to the Internet with an “always on” connection, there is a significant risk of your computers security being compromised.  It is like leaving your car running with the doors unlocked and the keys in it. 

While the only way to protect your computer 100% is by turning it off or never connecting to the Internet, there are some software applications that will provide a measure of protection and when used appropriately can provide adequate security and peace of mind.  You must seriously consider installing a personal firewall, antivirus, anti-trojan, and privacy software.   For further guidance and recommendations about what brands of software you can use, check out the website www.firewallguide.com. 

Firewalls come in the form of hardware based and software based firewalls.  A router can provide a limited means of firewall protection by blocking specific ports or ranges of ports.  They should be configured to not reply to ping requests of other computers.  All ports should be blocked that you do not need for your specific Internet application.  Some of the commonly used ports are listed below:

Antivirus software is necessary for protection also.  Some worms can come into your computer as email attachments, which you could open, and can have the effect of disabling common software based firewalls opening your computer up to even more damage.  It is not adequate just to install the antivirus software, you also need to have a regular routine for downloading the latest virus definition files.  New viruses are being created all the time, and you need keep on top of them.