Malware Prevention Tips

aidan_walsh

Below I have included a number of recommendations for how to protect your computer against malware infections.

* Keep Windows updated by regularly checking their website at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/.
This will ensure your computer has always the latest security updates available installed on your computer.

* To reduce re-infection for malware in the future, I strongly recommend installing these free programs:

SpywareBlaster protects against bad ActiveX
IE-SPYAD puts over 5000 sites in your restricted zone so you'll be protected when you visit innocent-looking sites that aren't actually innocent at all
Have a look at this tutorial for IE-Spyad here

* SpywareGuard offers realtime protection from spyware installation attempts. Make sure you are only running one real-time protection program or there will be a conflict.

Make Internet Explorer more secure

• Click Start > Run
• Type Inetcpl.cpl & click OK
• Click on the Security tab
• Click Reset all zones to default level
• Make sure the Internet Zone is selected & Click Custom level
• In the ActiveX section, set the first two options ("Download signed and unsigned ActiveX controls) to "Prompt", and ("Initialize and Script ActiveX controls not marked as safe") to "Disable".
• Next Click OK, then Apply button and then OK to exit the Internet Properties page.

* MVPS Hosts file replaces your current HOSTS file with one containing well known ad sites and other bad sites. Basically, this prevents your computer from connecting to those sites by redirecting them to 127.0.0.1 which is your local computer, meaning it will be difficult to infect yourself in the future.

* Please consider using an alternate browser. Mozilla's Firefox browser is fantastic; it is much more
secure than Internet Explorer, immune to almost all known browser hijackers, and also has the best built-in pop up
blocker (as an added benefit!) that I have ever seen. If you are interested, Firefox may be downloaded from
Here

* Take a good look at the following suggestions for malware prevention by reading Tony Klein’s article 'How Did I Get Infected In The First Place'
Here

* Some good free firewalls are ZoneAlarm, Comodo, or Outpost
Make sure you only use one firewall though. A tutorial on understanding and using firewalls may be found [url=]here[/url].

* Some good free anti-virus programs are :
AVG makes an excellent free antivirus client, as do AntiVir or Avast!.
Make sure you only use one though.

* I recommend the following anti-spyware programs to protect yourself against spyware. You can use all of these together without problems :
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
SUPERAntiSpyware
Dr. Web CureIt!


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