PC Security: What to look out for?

When using a computer it is important to be aware of the security risk surrounding your PC and any network it maybe connected to. All too often people over look warning messages that appear on their screens only to discover later that there is a virus or other such problem.

To try and help we’d advise everyone to follow these points:-

  1. Keep your firewall turned on. and antivirus up to date
  2. Keep all your software and your operating system up-to-date.

Keeping Firewall turned on and anitvirus up to date

It is important to not ignore any warning, for example the red shield icon in the bottom right hand corner of the screen – you will also notice the AVG icon with a warning triangle.

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This may also be accompanied by a warning such as:

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Clicking on either the Red shield or balloon will result in a dialogue such as this:

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In most cases it is advisable to follow the recommendations but if you have any queries or concerns then please contact us

Keeping your software up to date

To help protect your security, you should keep all your software and your operating system up to date. In fact, high priority updates are critical to the security and reliability of your computer. They offer the latest protection against malicious online activities. Microsoft provides new security updates, as necessary, on the second Tuesday of the month.

Depending on your operating system the process varies:

Windows 7 and Windows Vista have a built in system that should keep it up to date, to check it:

  1. Goto [Start] then select [Control Panel]
  2. Select [Windows Update]
  3. Select [Check for Updates] in the top left hand corner and install any updates it finds available

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Windows XP can be set to check automatically but it is still a good idea to manually check.

  1. Open “Internet Explorer” (this will not with work with Chrome/Firefox/Opera)
  2. In the address bar type “http://www.update.microsoft.com” and hit ENTER
  3. When prompted select [Express] and follow the on screen prompts to install any updates it finds.

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