Computer Security

What you need to be concerned about and how to protect yourself

Overview

Your computer is a valuable and powerful tool which also generally contains sensitive personal and financial information. Just as with any other valuable item that you own, you want to;

• control its use
• protect it from damage
• keep it in tip top condition
• keep your personal or financial information private

Identity theft is of particular concern.

To accomplish these goals you need to

1. prevent unauthorized use
2. protect your system from programs that can damage the data or performance of your computer
3. insure that undesirable programs and modifications are prevented
4. block software or users that drain your computers resources by using your computer or network for their own purposes
5. deny access to your personal information
6. implement identity theft protections

The Computer Security Section

In this section of the website, we will detail how to protect yourself against hackers, viruses, spyware and spam. This will cover items 1 to 4 and most of number 5. We will explain how encryption and file protection provides a very high level of security for your personal data. We will identify the security encryption software that you need to do the job. We will also cover the identity theft story.

The links below will get you directly to the articles;

Computer internet security. Protecting yourself from threats
Concerned about hackers, spyware and viruses? Learn what you need to know about computer internet security.

Security and Encryption. All about protecting your data from prying eyes
The point of security is to protect your sensitive data from those that should not have it. Encryption is a powerful tool to achieve this goal.

The identity theft story (coming soon)

Return from Computer Security to Ask the Computer Doc home

2/18/2009