Best Practices to protect your computer system

The following are best practices that you should take to protect your computer system:

• Verify that security patches, anti-virus, and anti-spyware software are kept up to date
• Ensure that you have a firewall that is properly configured
• Never open a suspicious email
• Be especially wary of opening files that end in .exe
• Safeguard your password
• Encrypt the hard drive of your laptop to protect contents in case it is lost or stolen
• If you are using a wireless connection:
  • Change the default network name (SSID) and password
  • Avoid connecting to a public Wi-Fi location

Take the E-mail Safety Test

• So you know the sender?
• Have you safely received emails from this sender before?
• Were you expecting an email with an attachment from this sender?
• Does it make logical sense that the sender would send the e-mail, especially if it offers an attachment or a link?
• Could it contain a virus? The only way to know this is to have an anti-virus program installed.