Computer/Email Security and Ways to Improve It!

COMPUTER E-MAIL SECURITY

Recently there have been several postings on the HB News Yahoo group regarding problems with e-mail hacking. While it is not completely unavoidable, there are some things you can do to significantly reduce your vulnerability to this type of intrusion.

First, make certain you have a good e-mail program. All internet providers offer e-mail accounts, however, not all of them allow you to easily adjust the level of protection from spam or junk mail. Just accepting the program your ISP offers to you may not be the best option.

A good program’s security feature should be user friendly and allow the average user the ability to control the level of security that he or she wants with some simple selections as well as offering more advanced choices for the more savvy users. Selecting the level of security should be as easy as choosing either high or low. The higher you set the filter the more emails will show up in your junk mail folder. The downside to this setting is that you will have to check the folder often as some of the emails you want to see will get thrown in there. The upside is it should catch most, if not all, of the junk that you don’t want to see. Over time you “teach” these programs what is junk and what is not simply by right clicking on the e-mail and indicating how to handle it in the future. This way less and less of the e-mails you want will end up in the junk folder.

I happen to use Microsoft Outlook because it is user friendly and has a number of very good security options. There are many programs out there with good security. Some are free and some are not. It is up to you to do your own research to determine which one will work best for you. Cnet is a very good place to start. The link to their website is http://reviews.cnet.com/. Select the “software” tab and type in your search information.

Secondly, creating a strong password is one of the most important things you can do to protect yourself and it doesn’t cost anything. Many people tend to choose things that are easy to remember like their pet’s name or their children’s birthdays or other important dates in their lives. These are the first things that hackers try. I know they’re easier to remember and less difficult to create but you will be much safer if you take the time to create a password that is as strong as possible. A good site to help you create a strong password is http://www.microsoft.com/protect/fraud/passwords/create.aspx.

Always remember to follow safe and secure computer practices. DO NOT OPEN OR DOWNLOAD ANYTHING THAT IS NOT FROM A TRUSTED SIGHT OR FROM SOMEONE YOU KNOW.

In the next article I’ll cover Anti-Virus software.

Richard Audette
Certified Professional IT Technician
Painless PC Repairs
e-mail painlesspc@comcast.net 
cell phone 707-205-9636