When I still with NEDA, I was the Staff’s resident techie. 

While my main TOR was as Economic Development Specialist (and

subsequently a Senior EDS), I was also responsible for managing several

information systems and ensuring my Staffmates’ hardware and software

were in tip-top shape (i.e. not screwed up).

Back then, though, I wasn’t too keen on being proactive in setting up

our systems against known (and unknown?) threats.  I thought to

myself, “heck, antiviruses would only slow my system down.”  And

spyware, adware, and other sorts of malware were just starting to gain

popularity.

And true enough, the antivirus package our IT department had licensed

from Symantec (at quite an expensive price) made our already-slow

systems even slower.  Yes, about half of the Staff was using

Pentium-4 class computers, but the rest were still getting by with

Pentium-3 boxes, most using Windows NT version 4.

But that was a couple of years ago.

Now I consider myself to be more paranoid, but definitely more

sophisticated when it comes to securing my personal system.  A handful of bad experiences (spyware attacks,

trojan horses, and the works) leading to decreased productivity

prompted me to take action.

If I had the extra dough to shell out, I’d get myself a Mac and an iBook or even a Powerbook: less chances of malware attacks, and hence less headaches.  But

life hasn’t been too good on my wallet, so I had to settle for the

cheaper options (and most of the time free–but hey, Ynzal is selling pre-owned Macs dirt-cheap).

So here’s a rundown of what I’d recommend to anyone using Windows (tips mostly from leo.am).

• If you’re using Windows XP, install service pack 2!
  


• Use Automatic Updates, or at least visit WindowsUpdate regularly.


• Install a good, light antivirus.  I recommend AVG.  It’s free, and it’s not too hard on the system (with daily automatic updates).


• Install malware protection.  Spybot S&D, Lavasoft AdAware, and Microsoft AntiSpyware are good, free tools.


• Use
  
  a router if you have a broadband connection (routers also act
  
  as hardware firewalls–hence a better alternative to software firewalls, which
  
  add to system load).


• Use Mozilla Firefox instead of IE for day-to-day browsing needs.
  


• Don’t be a victim
  
  of social engineering exploits!

• Don’t indiscriminately open email attachments, nor click on links
  
  in emails, even those from your known contacts.


• If an email claims to
  
  be from your bank or financial institution, or your email/web host and
  
  asking for your credentials, it’s best not to supply any info or click
  
  on the links provided.


• It’s better to manually–by hand–enter the
  
  bank’s known URL in your browser, and even get in touch with that
  
  company through more trustworthy means (i.e. by calling their customer
  
  service hotline).  For all you know, you might be opening a trojan
  
  horse, or that link might direct to a phishing site.

You don’t necessarily have to bog your system down with bloatware

(except for, ehem, Windows, if that’s your OS).  And you don’t

necessarily have to burn a hole in your wallet either.  Follow these simple tips, and I think you’ll get by fine.

Anything to add?  Please leave a comment.

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