Safety First
Truly, there is no such thing as an absolutely safe place, whether online or in real life. Just as a determined and skilled burglar can break into any residence possible, so can the most protected site be hacked, given enough time and resources. For every secure system out there, there’s a bunch of talented and determined hackers out there to break it.
That doesn’t mean you keep your doors unlocked or your computer unsecured. You still owe your home and your computer the best security you can afford. Excellent free security software is available at download.com. I’d recommend them over the biggies like Norton which can miss catching viruses (yup, on my cousin’s computer recently) and is a resource hog.
What’s great about free security software is most of them are much more dedicated than the big name software. They are streamlined, have constant updates (that’s how they outrun the hackers – don’t ever buy software that don’t have frequent updates), and offer a pro version should you like to pay. Most never force you to.
Here’s an example. Comodo is known for its firewall. Pretty neat. You can check it out on download.com. Now it has added a Trusted Internet Manifesto on its website. It’s a good start, a good philosophy on the place of free security software. I like it and it is one step closer to building trust between the consumer and the company.
Other freebies I recommend are Spybot Search and Destroy (whom I have donated to), Avast!, and AVG. Tried, tested, and loved.
Christina Sng worked as a web developer, information architect, account executive, producer, technical writer, and usability consultant in the 10 years (that's 30 years in Internet time!) she brought bread home. She has since retired to raise her children but still spends most of her waking hours on the net, no thanks to Apple. Here are some of her adventures.
