Ten Tips for Safer Browsing

1. Use Windows Update.
   Make sure you have windows update set and enabled to download important updates. Even if you set it to download and notify instead of downloading and installing them automatically. Making sure your windows installation has all the latest updates is probably the best way to help make sure your windows install isn't vulnerable to attack and malicious code that can be found on web sites and in emails. I personally set mine to download and notify me when updates are ready so that I can save open work or files first then install the updates, as most times you will be required to restart your computer.
   
   
2. Use a better browser.
   Which browser is better? In my opinion and after using both Firefox and Internet Explorer I've found that Firefox will notify me that certain sites are not where I want to be. Firefox also has built in tools to help protect you from malicious code and will warn you if the site you are on is suspected of being an attack site. With IE 7 Microsoft has gotten better and taken cues from Mozilla coding for Firefox and has added a lot more security and more options to help protect you while surfing the web but wont do you any good if you dont make use of them. But Id still recommend Firefox.
   
   
3. Use a spy ware destroyer.
   Spybot Search and Destroy, Malwarebytes, Adaware and other app's are designed to scan your computer like an anti virus program will to find spy ware, adware and malware residing on your system and remove it if found. Of the ones out there now I prefer Spybot Search and Destroy as it will also immunize you against attack sites and sites known to contain drive by downloads or other crapware. Spybot Search and Destroy and others will also identify and remove trojans which can open backdoors and download an actual virus or other harmful payload to your system or make your system part of a botnet that is used to create DDoS attacks
   
   
4. Make sure your anti virus is up to date and secured.
   You have heard it before but did you listen? Install a good anti virus and make sure it has permission to update it self on a regular basis. An anti virus program is only as good as its definition tables or database. It cant stop or identify viruses if it doesn't know about them... Also just having an anti virus program and trusting to its active scans of each page or email or download isn't enough, nowadays you have to scan your system thoroughly every week.
   
   
5. Stay away from shady sites.
   Ok so we have all done it, gone to a shady site whether it was porn or warez or something else that we shouldn't have and ended up with something on our computers we didn't expect. hackers and malicious sites have gotten to the point whereby just visiting a site even reputable ones can give us a nasty package that infects our computer and inhibits us from using our system in an effective manner and will cost us to have it removed. Some of these sites have software that download an application that "warns" you have been infected and if you would just click here they will happily remove the crap you have been infected with by them. Even programs such as finallyfast.com has been shown to infect you with crap to force you into buying their software to remove the crap they installed and even after you buy their software they still leave behind spy ware and malware.
   
   
6. Don't click links in emails from people you don't know
   You have seen them emails with links you just have to click or emails that look like they are from your bank or other trusted institution telling you if you don't click the link and update your information you could lose your accounts or privileges. Don't do it! Banks and other places like PayPal always tell you to visit their site directly in a browser, will always call you by name and will never ask you to update information by clicking a link in an email. If the email sounds like its scary or intimidating then its probably bogus and should be deleted. You can also check the link you are supposed to click by hovering over it and looking at the status bar at the bottom of your email client and checking to see if the link is the same as the one being asked to click in the body. If it isn't, again it is probably bogus...
   
   
7. Don't download from p2p sites
   P2P or file sharing or bittorenting has its legitimate uses but most sites that give you access to music, software, movies is just going to get you into trouble... Almost all the files that can be downloaded are infected... Its a fact. Also the very people you are stealing that movie from or that software app or music who are wanting to protect their copyrights are downloading those same files as well from you... And can determine the file, the date, your IP, your machine name and will report you to your ISP. Downloading off P2P sites just isn't worth it. Go buy that application, song or movie and keep your computer clean.
   
   
8. Check for https:// when shopping online
   With shopping online for goods or services so prevalent it becomes even more important to make sure the site you want to buy from is legitimate. A good site that offers goods or services for purchase online will always have a SSL certificate which encrypts the data being sent from your computer to their server protecting your credit card number, name, address, email, and phone number even the list of things your are buying. To check to see if the site you are shopping on has a SSL certificate is really easy, simply look for the https:// in the browser's address bar or look for the lock icon in your browsers status bar. Browsers are also nowadays using color coding of the address bar to let you know if you and your information is being secured. Giving a site your personal or financial information without being secured is an open door to identity theft, credit spending that you didn't authorize and costs us billions in lost revenue and a lot of head aches.
   
   
9. Use an email client that is secured
   Does your email client warn you if the email you just received is trying to load remote images? Warn you if the email might be a scam? Does it warn you if the email might be spam? Does it offer an easy way to say no... that email is okay? Does it encrypt all your email settings protecting them from being hijacked, modified or changed? I only know of one email program or email client that does and that's Mozilla Thunderbird. Its a free download and offers a lot of other tools and features that Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express doesn't.
   
   
10. Don't accept file transfers in chat clients
    As humans we love to chat and the internet has made it really easy for us to chat with just about anyone anywhere interested in just about anything in the world. Along with that easy to use chat software they almost always include a way for you and your chat buddy to send and receive files. I personally don't allow file transfers in any of my chat programs. Either I disable it or just wont accept file transfers from anyone even from people I know and trust. If I want or need the file I ask them to email the file as a zipped attachment so I can scan it easier with my virus scanning software. Accepting a file transfer from someone especially if you really don't know them or haven't known them for very long is a great way to get infected with something nasty. The person sending the file might not even know the file they are tyrying to send you is actually an infected file. So its just better to say no thank you...