THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

1. Don`t assume anything. Spare some time to learn about securing your system.

2. Acquire and use a reliable antimalware program. Select a computer security software that has a consistent track record. Checkmark and AV-Test.org are among the most respected independent testers of security solutions.

3. Do not open e-mail coming from unknown or distrusted sources. Many viruses spread via e-mail messages. A good antispam module of your security solution could do miracles.

4. Update your system and the software applications as often as possible. Some operating systems and applications can be set to update automatically. Make full use of this facility. Failure to patch your system often enough may leave it vulnerable to threats for which fixes already exist.

5. It is vital, for security purposes, that you make backups of important files on regular basis, store these copies on removable media such as CD or DVD.

6. Acquire and use a reliable firewall solution. Again, independent reviewers are your best bet for reasonable choices. Some operating systems come with a firewall which only filters incoming traffic. Use a firewall that can check both incoming and outgoing Internet traffic, controlling access while “hiding” the computer from hackers.

 7. Do not open the attachments of messages with a suspicious or unexpected subject. If you don`t have a security solution scanning attachments and you want to open them, first save them to your hard disk and scan them with an updated antivirus program.

8. Avoid installing services and applications which are not needed in day-by-day operations in a desktop role, such as file transfer and file sharing servers, remote desktop servers and the like, especially if they don`t belong to a trusty company/site. Such programs are potential hazards, and should not be installed if not absolutely necessary.

9. Do not copy any file if you don’t know or don’t trust its source. Check the source (provenance) of files you download and make sure that an antivirus program has already verified the files at their source.

10. Buy a complete security solution, the one that best suit your needs.