How to Protect Yourself from Computer Viruses, ID Theft & More

Everyday we are bombarded with horror stories about ID Theft, Internet fraud, trojans, worms and viruses oh my. These threats are real and we need to take them seriously. With a little common sense and by taking a few proactive steps you can bank, order goods and service and generally live safely online and in everyday life.

Virus Protection & Firewalls

The choices for virus protection software are numerous and are priced from free to $30.00 - $50 per year. I have always used McAfee because they provide a built in firewall and other types of protection that is bundled with the software. McAfee is also frequently offered free by companies most of us use daily. Comcast offers McAfee free to their subscribers if you are lucky enough to live in there service area. Bank of America and Scottrade offer one year free with steep discounts after the 1^st year.

Adware and Malware

To provide a measure of redundancy and a second layer of protection I run 2 software programs that specialize in finding and removing adware and malware. Adware and malware can be added to your computer anytime you install new software and over time will accumulate and can slow a computer to a crawl. I began to be proactive with my computer protection in 2002 and the first scan of my computer removed over 50,000 files that were considered harmful for various reasons. These Adware and Malware programs are free and were found using C-Net reviews.

Account Aggregation Services

I use Account Aggregation Services to manage all my different financial accounts such as checking, savings, IRA, car loan, credit cards, stocks, paypal and many others. The site I use is called Portfolio and is provided free by Bank of America for there banking customers. In short the site brings all your different accounts to one home page for easy, convenient and secure viewing. Some accounts such as checking and credit cards provide real time history and will alert users to unauthorized use. No more waiting to receive statements. By using only this site I actually caught someone using my credit card without my permission. It really works!

ID Theft Protection

This type of protection is good for a number of reasons. If any activity occurs on your credit file, within days, you are notified by email. New accounts, credit cards, closed accounts, address changes or any other transaction occurs you will be notified. If you did not initiate the change or transaction you can take immediate action instead of waiting weeks or months to eventually discovery the damage.

Common Sense

Turn on automatic updates for your computer operating system and any software protection you use so that you get updates as soon as they are available. Do not open email and click on links from people you do not know. Do not respond to emails asking for personal information. If you receive an email from a company do not click on the links. Go to the company's website using your own browser and type in the address. Do not mail bills using your mailbox and the red flag. If you receive a call from a company politely hang up and call back with a number that you have or one that you have found.

If It Sounds To Good To Be True

Then it is to good to be true.