Use proactive threat protection
Traditional antivirus products rely heavily on virus signatures to detect viruses. Advanced technologies, like ThreatSense® Heuristics, provide more proactive detection by analyzing application behavior in real-time. By executing code in an emulated environment, modern protection software can prevent damage and contain the threat before it's too late. Waiting for signatures from an antivirus vendor creates a window of vulnerability. Evaluate your vendor's technology and performance on industry tests and choose one that offers advanced heuristics.


Safe Practices
If you receive an attachment in email, verify (call or email) that the person who sent it intended to send it. Some viruses make the email look like it came from your friend, when it actually was sent from somebody else's computer. If the email did not come from someone you know then delete it.

 

You will never get millions of dollars, or even hundreds of dollars for helping someone by providing your bank account to store their money. You will always lose money trying to make money this way because it is always a scam that requires you to pay more money than you will have already received. These scams only work against you.

Your bank, eBay, paypal, your stock broker, etc. will not send an unsolicited email telling you that you need to provide your account number, PIN, or password in email or at their web site. Even if the email or web page says there is a problem with your account it is a hoax. If you find something like this that is not a hoax, the vendor does not understand security well enough to safely do business with.

Microsoft is not going to send you a patch in email. If you get one from Microsoft call their free virus support line at 1-866-PCSAFETY or 1-866-727-2338 to report a fraud or an employee who is not following the rules. After that, delete the email.

No company should send you programs in email unless you have talked to them specifically about what they are sending and you are on a support call or web support session while you receive the email with the program.

If a charity asks for your support, make sure it is very well known, such as Red Cross, United Way, etc. Check with www.give.org (BBB Wise Giving Alliance). In Google or your favorite search engine type in the following words "Iowa attorney general avoid charity scam". Use the name of your state instead of Iowa and you will find results with good information from your state's attorney general's office!

 

 

Stay Patched

Make sure you have the most current patches that address security holes in your computer's operating system and applications. As software vendors discover vulnerabilities in their applications, they make fixes available in the form of patches or service packs.

If you use Microsoft® Windows™, subscribe to the Microsoft Windows Update Service. From the Start programs menu, open the Control Panel and select System Properties. Click on the "Automatic Updates" tab and make sure that automatic updates is enabled. Consider installing the Windows XP Service Pack 2, which will keep Internet Explorer patched. Note, that even the Mozilla's FireFox web browser has security patches available (you'll notice the green up arrow in the upper right corner of the toolbar). Check with your other software vendors for patches and updates.