{"id":18958,"date":"2010-11-08T13:19:32","date_gmt":"2010-11-08T18:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=18958"},"modified":"2010-11-08T13:19:32","modified_gmt":"2010-11-08T18:19:32","slug":"ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask Leo: How do I keep my computer safe on the internet?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/20090929leonotenboomwp.jpg\" alt=\"askleo\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"attachment wp-att-7652 alignleft\" \/><\/p>\n<p>By Leo Notenboom<\/p>\n<p>Virii &amp; Spyware &amp; Worms &#8230; oh my!<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Internet Safety&#8221; seems like an oxymoron.<\/p>\n<p>It seems like not a day goes by where we don&#8217;t hear about some new kind of<br \/>\nthreat aimed at wreaking havoc across machines connected to the internet. While<br \/>\nproducts other than Microsoft&#8217;s are certainly vulnerable, anti-Microsoft<br \/>\nsentiment coupled with the massive installed base make Microsoft products an irresistible target for hackers and &#8220;script kiddies&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some things you can, and should, do to stay safe.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<p><strong>Use a Firewall<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A firewall is a piece of software or<br \/>\nhardware that sits between your computer and the internet and only allows<br \/>\ncertain types of things to cross the wall. For example, a firewall may allow<br \/>\nchecking email and browsing the web, but disallow things that are commonly not<br \/>\nas useful such as RPC or &#8220;Remote Procedure Calls&#8221;. In fact, it&#8217;s<br \/>\nvulnerabilities in RPC that allowed for one of the more recent worms to<br \/>\npropagate. (If you&#8217;re using a phone to dial-in to the internet, a firewall is<br \/>\nnot as important, though it doesn&#8217;t hurt to have one. A software firewall may<br \/>\nbe your only option, though.)<\/p>\n<p>More: <\/p>\n<li><i><a href=\"http:\/\/ask-leo.com\/whats_a_firewall_and_how_do_i_set_one_up.html\" target=\"_blank\">What&#8217;s a firewall, and how do<br \/>\nI set one up?<\/a><\/i><\/li>\n<li><i><a href=\"http:\/\/ask-leo.com\/do_i_need_a_firewall_and_if_so_what_kind.html\" target=\"_blank\">Do<br \/>\nI need a firewall, and if so, what kind?<\/a><\/i><\/li>\n<li><i><a href=\"http:\/\/ask-leo.com\/so_do_i_need_sp2s_windows_firewall_or_not.html\" target=\"_blank\">So do I need SP2&#8217;s Windows<br \/>\nFirewall or not?<\/a><\/li>\n<p><\/i><\/p>\n<p><\/br><\/p>\n<p><strong>Virus Scan<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, typically<br \/>\nvia email, virii are able to cross the wall and end up on your computer anyway.<br \/>\nA virus scanner will locate and remove them from your hard disk. A <em>real<br \/>\ntime<\/em> virus scanner will notice them as they arrive, even before they hit<br \/>\nthe disk, but at the cost of slowing down your machine a little.<br \/>\n<strong>Important:<\/strong> because new virii are arriving every day, it&#8217;s<br \/>\nimportant to keep your virus definitions up-to-date. Be sure to enable the<br \/>\nscanning software&#8217;s automatic-update feature and have it do so <em>every<br \/>\nday<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>More: <\/p>\n<li><i><a href=\"http:\/\/ask-leo.com\/viruses_how_do_i_keep_myself_safe_from_viruses.html\" target=\"_blank\">Viruses: How do I keep<br \/>\nmyself safe from Viruses?<\/a><\/i><\/li>\n<li><i><a href=\"http:\/\/ask-leo.com\/i_run_antivirus_software_why_do_i_still_sometimes_get_infected.html\" target=\"_blank\">I run<br \/>\nAnti-Virus software why do I still sometimes get infected?<\/a><\/i><\/li>\n<li><i><a href=\"http:\/\/ask-leo.com\/when_do_i_actually_need_to_run_a_virus_scan.html\" target=\"_blank\">When do I actually need to run a virus scan?<\/a>.<\/li>\n<p><\/i><\/p>\n<p><\/br><\/p>\n<p><strong>Kill Spyware<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Spyware is similar<br \/>\nto virii in that they arrive unexpected and unannounced and proceed to do<br \/>\nsomething undesired. Normally spyware is relatively benign from a safety<br \/>\nperspective, but it can violate your privacy by tracking the web sites you<br \/>\nvisit, or add &#8220;features&#8221; to your system that you didn&#8217;t ask for. The worst<br \/>\noffenders are spyware that hijack normal functions for themselves. For example,<br \/>\nsome like to redirect your web searches to other sites to try and sell you<br \/>\nsomething. Of course some spyware is so poorly written that it might as well<br \/>\n<em>be<\/em> a virus, given how unstable it can make your system. The good news<br \/>\nis that, like virus scanners, there are spyware scanners that will locate and<br \/>\nremove the offending software.<\/p>\n<p> More:<\/p>\n<li><i><a href=\"http:\/\/ask-leo.com\/spyware_how_do_i_remove_and_avoid_spyware.html\">Spyware: How do I remove and<br \/>\navoid spyware?<\/a><\/i><\/li>\n<li><i><a href=\"http:\/\/ask-leo.com\/whats_the_best_popup_blocker_antivirus_software_antispyware_software.html\" target=\"_blank\">What&#8217;s<br \/>\nthe best Pop-Up Blocker? Anti-Virus Software? Anti-Spyware Software?<\/a><\/i><\/li>\n<li><i><a href=\"http:\/\/ask-leo.com\/is_microsofts_new_antispyware_program_any_good.html\">Is Microsoft&#8217;s<br \/>\nnew Anti-Spyware program any good?<\/a>.<\/li>\n<p><\/i><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/ask-leo.com\/internet_safety_how_do_i_keep_my_computer_safe_on_the_internet.html\" target=\"_blank\">Article continued here<\/a><\/p>\n<p>FaceBook URL:   <a href=\"http:\/\/ask-leo.com\/fb\" target=\"_blank\">Leo&#8217;s Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Twitter URL:     <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/askleo\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/twitter.com\/askleo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/techtalk.pcpitstop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/20090929leonotenboomwp.jpg\" alt=\"askleo\" class=\"attachment wp-att-7167 alignleft\" \/><\/p>\n<p>By Leo Notenboom<\/p>\n<p>Virii &amp; Spyware &amp; Worms &#8230; oh my!<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Internet Safety&#8221; seems like an oxymoron.<\/p>\n<p>It seems like not a day goes by where we don&#8217;t hear about some new kind of<br \/>\nthreat aimed at wreaking havoc across machines connected to the internet. While<br \/>\nproducts other than Microsoft&#8217;s are certainly vulnerable, anti-Microsoft<br \/>\nsentiment coupled with the massive installed base make Microsoft products an irresistible target for hackers and &#8220;script kiddies&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some things you can, and should, do to stay safe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":66012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[46,48,106,1790,1791,4875,1792,1793,482,1515,1794,53],"class_list":["post-18958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leo-notenboom","tag-ask-leo","tag-computer","tag-firewall","tag-havoc-across","tag-irresistible-target","tag-leo-notenboom","tag-safety","tag-script-kiddies","tag-virus","tag-virus-definitions","tag-virus-scanner","tag-web"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ask Leo: How do I keep my computer safe on the internet?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Leo Notenboom Virii &amp; Spyware &amp; Worms ... oh my! &quot;Internet Safety&quot; seems like an oxymoron. It seems like not a day goes by where we don&#039;t hear about some new kind of threat aimed at wreaking havoc across machines connected to the internet. While products other than Microsoft&#039;s are certainly vulnerable, anti-Microsoft sentiment coupled with the massive installed base make Microsoft products an irresistible target for hackers and &quot;script kiddies&quot;. Here are some things you can, and should, do to stay safe.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ask Leo: How do I keep my computer safe on the internet?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Leo Notenboom Virii &amp; Spyware &amp; Worms ... oh my! &quot;Internet Safety&quot; seems like an oxymoron. It seems like not a day goes by where we don&#039;t hear about some new kind of threat aimed at wreaking havoc across machines connected to the internet. While products other than Microsoft&#039;s are certainly vulnerable, anti-Microsoft sentiment coupled with the massive installed base make Microsoft products an irresistible target for hackers and &quot;script kiddies&quot;. Here are some things you can, and should, do to stay safe.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PC Matic Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-11-08T18:19:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pcmatic-fallback.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leo Notenboom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leo Notenboom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Leo Notenboom\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ed90798b38aa4ab74e12591da7ab21d5\"},\"headline\":\"Ask Leo: How do I keep my computer safe on the internet?\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-11-08T18:19:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":533,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/pcmatic-fallback.png\",\"keywords\":[\"ask leo\",\"computer\",\"Firewall\",\"havoc across\",\"irresistible target\",\"leo notenboom\",\"Safety\",\"script kiddies\",\"virus\",\"virus definitions\",\"virus scanner\",\"web\"],\"articleSection\":[\"leo notenboom\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ask Leo: How do I keep my computer safe on the internet?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/pcmatic-fallback.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-11-08T18:19:32+00:00\",\"description\":\"By Leo Notenboom Virii &amp; Spyware &amp; Worms ... oh my! \\\"Internet Safety\\\" seems like an oxymoron. 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Notenboom is the owner of Puget Sound Software, LLC and the Leo in Ask Leo!. Leo has been in the personal computer and software industry since 1979, as a software engineer, a manager of software engineers, and as a consultant. In 1983 Leo joined what was then a medium sized local company called Microsoft and spent the next 18 years in a wide variety of groups working on a wide variety of software. If you're running Microsoft Windows, if you've used a Microsoft development tool or Microsoft Money, or if you've ever purchased a ticket through Expedia, there's a good chance you've been touched by some of his work. 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Here are some things you can, and should, do to stay safe.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\/","og_site_name":"PC Matic Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic","article_published_time":"2010-11-08T18:19:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pcmatic-fallback.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Leo Notenboom","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@pcmatic","twitter_site":"@pcmatic","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Leo Notenboom","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\/"},"author":{"name":"Leo Notenboom","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ed90798b38aa4ab74e12591da7ab21d5"},"headline":"Ask Leo: How do I keep my computer safe on the internet?","datePublished":"2010-11-08T18:19:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\/"},"wordCount":533,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pcmatic-fallback.png","keywords":["ask leo","computer","Firewall","havoc across","irresistible target","leo notenboom","Safety","script kiddies","virus","virus definitions","virus scanner","web"],"articleSection":["leo notenboom"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\/","name":"Ask Leo: How do I keep my computer safe on the internet?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/ask-leo-how-do-i-keep-my-computer-safe-on-the-internet\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pcmatic-fallback.png","datePublished":"2010-11-08T18:19:32+00:00","description":"By Leo Notenboom Virii &amp; Spyware &amp; Worms ... oh my! \"Internet Safety\" seems like an oxymoron. It seems like not a day goes by where we don't hear about some new kind of threat aimed at wreaking havoc across machines connected to the internet. While products other than Microsoft's are certainly vulnerable, anti-Microsoft sentiment coupled with the massive installed base make Microsoft products an irresistible target for hackers and \"script kiddies\". 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Notenboom is the owner of Puget Sound Software, LLC and the Leo in Ask Leo!. Leo has been in the personal computer and software industry since 1979, as a software engineer, a manager of software engineers, and as a consultant. In 1983 Leo joined what was then a medium sized local company called Microsoft and spent the next 18 years in a wide variety of groups working on a wide variety of software. If you're running Microsoft Windows, if you've used a Microsoft development tool or Microsoft Money, or if you've ever purchased a ticket through Expedia, there's a good chance you've been touched by some of his work. 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