Home Business PC Security for Dummies


The Internet is a powerful tool for home-based businesses.

If used effectively, it can be your best friend; but

if you don’t secure your computer, it can be your

worst enemy. I’m sure you’ve had your fill

of warnings about the latest killer computer virus.

So I’m not going to harp on about the latest threat,

or the potential for damage. What I WILL do is provide

some protection tips and links for the layperson.



(And now for the obligatory disclaimer: I’m no

tech-head – I’m an advertising copywriter

and website copywriter. So this article is certainly

not definitive or exhaustive. It’s simply an overview

of some useful and easy to use solutions which should

meet most of your requirements. I have no affiliation

with the vendors or their distributors, and would encourage

people to shop around before buying.)



When you run a home-based business – with one

or two computers – the main things you need to

protect against are malicious hackers, worms, viruses,

hijackers, trojans, spyware, and adware. For most people,

the following tools are all you need.



Firewall – e.g. Outpost Firewall Pro



Basically, a firewall stops unwanted stuff getting

in. Agnitum Outpost Firewall Pro is powerful and easy

to use. You can get it from http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/

for USD$39.95. It claims to provide the following protection.





  • Detects and blocks all intrusions by hackers


  • Blocks data theft attempts


  • Operates your computer into stealth mode, making

    it invisible to intruders


  • Analyzes your inbox and Quarantines Internet worms

    and viruses


  • Monitors network activity of your PC


  • Protects your children from illegal, inappropriate

    web sites


  • Provides full access to a thorough history of your

    connections


  • Prevents data leak from your PC


  • Averts invasions of your privacy through the Internet


  • Conceals your surfing habits when browsing the Web




As a general note, your firewall will be the hardest

security software to use because it'll ask you a lot

of questions, such as:





  • Such and such program is trying to connect with

    such and such server on the internet.


  • Such and such server is trying to connect to your

    computer (these are the ones you have to be very careful

    of, as they may be people trying to hack your computer).


  • A particular application has changed in some way.

    Do you want to make changed components shared with

    all other applications which interact with it?


  • A program is attempting to change a registry value.

    Is that ok?




You'll also get a lot of these sorts of questions when

you first install the firewall. Once you've set up a

few rules, they'll go away because the rules will handle

most things.



You can also set the firewall to block active content

(javascript, activex, etc.) on websites you visit and

emails you receive. If you normally visit only trusted

websites and you don't get much spam, you don't really

need this feature. But if anyone is visiting dubious

sites, or if you get a lot of spam, or you're just very

careful, it's a useful feature. TIP: If you do

a lot of web surfing, configure Outpost so that whenever

you visit a new site, it asks you if you want to allow

or block active content (select Options | Plug-Ins Setup,

then click Settings, then choose the Exclusions tab

and check the box at the bottom of the screen “Add

Web sites to the exclusions list on the first visit”).



Virus Protection – e.g. BitDefender 8 (Standard)



Basically, virus protection identifies and quarantines

known viruses on your computer. You can get BitDefender

8 (Standard) at http://www.bitdefender.com/bd/site/products.php?pid2#

for USD$44.95. It claims to provide the following protection.





  • Scans and disinfect infected files on access, minimizing

    data loss


  • Allows you to recover infected documents


  • Filters against viruses that spread via instant

    messaging and file sharing software


  • Monitors your file system, registry and Internet

    activity


  • Blocks infected e-mail messages




TIP: Set your virus protection up to do a full

system scan every night. (If you choose BitDefender,

do this by clicking Antivirus from the left of the main

window, then clicking on the Scheduler tab.)



Various Free Utilities



Basically, the following tools grab the things the

virus and firewall software miss.





TIP: Update and run each of these utilities

at least once a week. You’ll be surprised what

you’ll net – especially if you haven’t

purchased a full firewall system and anti-virus system.



Conclusion



In my humble opinion, it’s well worth your while

to invest in a firewall application and an anti-virus

application. There are a few freeware programs out there

that claim to do the same job, but in my experience,

they don’t quite measure up. And when it comes

down to it, they’re so inexpensive – especially

in comparison to the cost of downtime and/or computer

repairs!



Outpost and BitDefender offer online purchases, and

send you a license key in an email, which you then use

to download the product. You can pay a little extra

for them to send you a CD.



The applications listed above certainly aren’t

the only ones available. I’m not even claiming

they’re the best. But when used together diligently,

you should find you have a lot less trouble with your

computer, you’ll have the peace-of-mind of enhanced

privacy, and you’ll minimize the risk of lost income

due to downtime.



Good luck!


About the Author

Glenn Murray is an advertising copywriter and heads copywriting studio Divine Write. He can be contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at glenn@divinewrite.com. Visit http://www.divinewrite.com for further details or more FREE articles.

business finance firewall computer virus protection