How to Protect Your Email and Files on Your Computer from Prying Eyes

It is necessary to protect your emails and any important data you have stored on your computer from prying eyes. We live in a world where nobody is safe anymore against hackers who try to find important information which they can use for wrong reasons.

Email is a service which is used for communicating but it is not really safe if you don't take the necessary preventions. A lot of problems can happen when it travels through the Internet. Nowadays, everyone who has access to Internet has to deal with problems of spam, spyware and viruses.

Some useful tips for every computer user are:

PASSWORDS

1) Passwords are important for protecting your files and also in case you are registered in sites where a password is required. Hackers will try to detect your password for finding important information, especially in sites where you can earn money because they will try to rob your account. When you are registered in sites where you can do online shopping they will try to make purchases with your money.

2) Protection of your password is necessary and it is important you choose one which is not easy to guess. Don't use an obvious one like your first name, the location where you live but instead consider making a combination of letters and numbers! It is better to use BATMAN7153 than just BATMAN. I recommend you to use a word or name which is not so popular by example CHINOUK7153.
However, numbers are recommended to use in your password; don't use the number of your credit card in your password. When hackers find your password they will try this number for payments online.

3) Change your password regularly and use different passwords for every site or service. Suppose you are member in a forum and you use a certain password and you are also a member of Paypal; the owner of this forum can easily try to log in your Paypal account and use the same password. When you are not alerted for this kind of problems your account can be robbed in a short time. Another possibility is that a hacker detects your password in a forum and can try to use it in every site where he knows you are member. The greatest danger is in paid sites and of course the password of your email account. Changing your password regularly will limit the risk of someone finding your password.

4) Don't store a file on your computer with passwords of important sites! You can compare it with hiding your keys of your door on a place everyone can find.

ENCRYPTING

Security is necessary and we can't warn people enough to protect emails and important data which are stored on the computer. Passwords mostly give you the necessary protection, but it is also recommended to encrypt files and emails. When you send an email with confidential information to a friend and a hacker can intercept his email, your information is shared with many people before you know and without the fault of the recipient. There are different programs available for encrypting your files and emails (also called secure email certificate) like Comodo or FreeCrypt. When you do some research you can find a lot of similar programs which can be used for protecting your data and emails.

SPYWARE AND ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE

Software to protect you against spyware and viruses is "a must" for everyone who has access to the Internet. However, even though a virus looks to be the greatest problem for a computer user; spyware can be more dangerous because important information can be transmitted to other people. Both kinds of software are necessary for avoiding problems and automatic update is necessary. I can recommend you "Avast" for antivirus software and Spybot Search and Destroy for preventing and eliminating spyware. A firewall is also necessary but if you use Windows XP or Vista there is one integrated in your operating system, and this will help for most problems; a firewall like Zone Alarm will give you more protection.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU FINISH YOUR WORK

1) Delete temporary Internet files and cookies. This action will protect you against a hacker who wants to look in this folder. The performance of your computer will also improve because you have more space on your hard disk

2) Shutdown your computer when you don't need your computer anymore for avoiding hackers during the time when you don't need access to the Internet. Hackers will likely try to hack computers which are connected to the Internet when you are not online. It is not enough to close your Internet Explorer or the browser you use; they still can hack your computer when your computer is not completely shut down.

3) Make regularly backups or copies of your data. It is very important because you can never know if something will happen with the hard disk of your computer. Nobody can predict a computer crash and if you have back up files your data is protected.

Protecting your files and emails on your computer from prying eyes is an important issue. When you pay attention to the necessary tips like passwords, installing the protective software, encrypting and deleting the temporary Internet files; you are safer from prying eyes.