HEAL & INOCULATE
38 MAXIMUMPC NOVEMBER 2007
Click the Shields button on the left-
hand side, click the Keylogger entry, then
put a check mark in the box to enable it.
Be warned: The anti-keylogger feature
does tend to trigger a number of false
positives—it’s even fi ngered the Maximum
PC disc as a keylogger in the past (don’t
worry, we don’t record your keystrokes).
You’ve now erected a wall of defense to
thwart spyware before it has a chance to
breach your system.3: INSTALL A VIRUS SCANNER
With thousands of viruses in the wild, the
question isn’t whether to run an antivirus
program, but which one to choose. There
are dozens of options to choose from, with
three standouts worthy of consideration:
AVG (free, http://free.grisoft.com ), Avast!
(free, http://www.avast.com ), and AntiVir (free,
http://www.free-av.com ). While you could pay for
an AV program with more features, the
protection remains virtually the same when
combined with our computing safeguards.
While it can be benefi cial to have more
than one anti-spyware program on your
PC, you should limit yourself to just one
AV package. Because of the deep access
needed by these programs, multiple AV
apps can interfere with each other and
cause major slowdowns and weird prob-
lems. But you are free to test different
ones before committing to a long-term
relationship. In the end, we prefer AVG for
its ease of use and email scanning, but if
you’re hell-bent on paying for protection,
Kaspersky ( $60, http://www.kaspersky.com ) com-
bines excellent protection with one of the
most feature-rich packages around.4: HIDE BEHIND A FIREWALL
Attackers constantly ping the web for
unprotected systems, and without a fi re-
wall installed, your PC will become com-
promised within minutes of connecting to
the Internet.
If you’re installing a version of XP that
predates Service Pack 2, then stay discon-
nected from the Internet until you can get
a fi rewall up and running, especially if your
router lacks a built-in fi rewall. Download
the fi rewall to a USB thumb drive before
you install Windows! For those running SP
or Vista, Microsoft’s basic fi rewall will be
enabled by default, but it doesn’t monitor
outbound traffi c. For outbound monitoring,
we recommend Zone Alarm (free, http://
tinyurl.com/296pwe ). The free version moni-tors both inbound and outbound traffi c, so
if an infection does happen to slip through,
you’ll be notifi ed when it tries to dial home
with your personal data and given the
option to deny the connection.CHANGE YOUR HABITS
Implement these safe computing tips into
your daily regimen and you’ll never fall prey
to hackers again!1: AVOID UNEXPECTED
ATTACHMENTS!
When it comes to unexpected email attach-
ments, we follow one simple rule; don’t
open them. It doesn’t matter how tempting
or innocent the fi le name may be, or who
it’s from, the contents inside could contain
nasty code. Why would someone you know
send you malware? Chances are, it wasn’t
intentional, but rather the sender is a victim
also and the virus is attempting to spread.
Many virus writers rely on uninformed users
to spread their diseases, but without your
help, they’re stopped dead in their tracks.2: DON’T BE BAITED
It’s not just attachments you have to worry
about with email, but hyperlinks too. Youmay receive a seemingly legitimate-looking
email from your banking institution, PayPal,
or eBay stating that there’s a problem with
your account and prompting you to sign in to
resolve the issue. Clicking the link appears to
bring you to the appropriate site, but you’re
about to be duped. In an attempt to steal your
username and password, hackers set up fake
websites that look identical to the originals,
which they use to harvest your personal info,
from login information to your social security
number. The practice is called phishing, andAVG is fast, easy to use, effective, and free. How many antivirus programs can
claim that?It doesn’t matter how legitimate an email
appears to be, you should never trust
the links inside it; type URLs directly
into your browser.