January, 2004 CCS News: Guide to Protecting Your Home Computer Now Available

January, 2004

Guide to Protecting Your Home Computer Now Available

Home computers can be even more vulnerable to cyber attacks than Lab systems. To help computer users keep their home systems secure, the Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center has created a roadmap.

Recommended steps include:

Installing and running anti-virus software and keeping it up to
date
Keeping your system up to date with patches
Using good judgment when downloading and reading email attachments
Installing and running a personal firewall
Making backups of critical files and folders
Ensuring that all passwords are strong
Using good judgment when downloading and installing programs
Installing and running a hardware firewall
Using file encryption and stringent permissions to limit access to
critical files and folders

For more information, go to http://www.cert.org/homeusers/HomeComputerSecurity/