Essential Tips to Keep Your PC Safe

Set up a firewall

Firewalls control the flow of data into and out of your PC and are essential for keeping out hackers. Most importantly, they prevent any malware (bad programs with viruses and the like) you might accidentally pick up from sending out your personal data over the Internet.

Both Windows and Mac OS X come with a basic firewall pre-installed. You can access Windows Firewall in Vista and Windows 7 by going to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Windows Firewall, or in Windows XP by going Control Panel -> Security Center -> Windows Firewall. In Mac OS X, the firewall options are located in System Prefs -> Security -> Firewall. At the very least, make sure you have these basic firewalls turned on.

For Windows users, there are also free options like ZoneAlarm and Comodo, which are standalone packages that offer stronger protection against intrusion and more advanced options for controlling what programs are allowed to send or receive data than the aforementioned built-in Windows firewalls. Paid Internet security suites (like Norton and Kapersky) also pack firewalls that are tightly integrated into the anti-virus and other security tools, meaning there is one less piece of software to worry about updating and learning to use.