Guidelines for the Safety and Security of your Computer on the Internet

[Cathy_1]

To increase the safety and security of your computer on the Internet, use these guidelines:

Follow Safe Surfing Practices

Many viruses and intruders rely on actions taken by the computer user. These guidelines will help you avoid such actions:

• Do not open any Internet attachments or download software from the Internet without scanning for viruses first.
• Be sure all e-mail and downloaded software are from reliable, trusted sources.
• Disable File and Print Sharing. File and Print sharing allows individuals to browse your computer as if they were sitting at it. Disabling File and Print Sharing on your computer will help insure your privacy. If you want to use File and Print sharing, at least use password protection.
• If possible, turn your Internet connection off when it is not needed. Turning your Internet connection off when not needed reduces the likelihood of a security violation during those times.
• Make personal information stored on your computer hard to recognize by an intruder. Do not store sensitive personal information on your computer. If you do store information, do so in files with names that are not obvious. For example, bad choices for file names of sensitive data would include
  passwords.doc or creditcards.doc. Also, consider setting file-level password protection on sensitive files by changing the properties of the file in Windows Explorer or a similar program.

Use Anti-Virus Software

Anti-virus software protects against viruses, worms, and Trojans, which can infect computers through e-mail or file transfer. The AT&T Internet Security suite includes anti-virus software, as well as a firewall and spyware utility.

Use a Firewall

Firewalls protect against intrusion by hackers and unauthorized access to your machine. AT&T offers the AT&T Internet Security Suite which includes a software firewall, anti-virus, and anti-spyware utilities. Also, AT&T FastAccess® DSL customers can upgrade to FastAccess® DSL HomeNetworking which includes a robust firewall.

Download and install the latest software patches

Patches and updates can fix security holes that malicious Internet users, viruses, and worms exploit. These updates can be specific to your browser or e-mail software, or they can be for your overall operating system. Check your software and operating system for available patches frequently. They can be issued daily, weekly, or monthly depending on the amount of new attacks on the Internet. If you do not know where to find current patches or upgrades, try looking in your operating system or software Help menu.

Note: Support for third party non-supported software installation is outside of AT&T’s scope of support.

For Windows patches, go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com.
For Macintosh patches, go to http://www.info.apple.com.

Protect your children using Parental Controls

Internet security software with parental controls helps protect children from inappropriate material on the Internet. Also, AT&T FastAccess® DSL customers can upgrade to FastAccess® DSL HomeNetworking which includes parental controls. To learn more about HomeNetworking, go to the AT&T Home Networking webpage.

[avalanch]

  another good way to help protect your computer is to use Spybot Search & Destroy at least once every 1-2 weeks. It has a nice Immunization feature that can help protect your browsers from all kinds of different threats. http://vgchat.info/immunize.png

As for a full time anti virus, I recommend Norton Internet Security 2010.