Since the beginning of time we can assume people have had to hide their goods away behind lock and key to prevent them from being stolen. For whatever reason there have always been people willing to take what is not theirs.
The same is still true today considering your personal computer. Our machines are under constant attack from the outside world. The assaults come in a variety of forms, using a myriad of methods and it can seem expensive and confusing to gain a little confidence.
Still, understanding your attackers and knowing a good defense doesn’t have to be either expensive or daunting. In fact, just taking two basic steps can relieve a lot of security pain.
The first step is related to ads on the internet. In this instance the thieves are after your demographic information. The advertisers want to know where you have been and what you have been looking at. Ads have a nasty way of leaving behind malware and spyware. Both of these nasty bugs can cause serious problems for your computer.
Adblock Plus is a free add-on available through mozilla.com. Just click Tools, Add-ons and search for ‘Adblock Plus’. Click on the big green ‘Add to Firefox’ button and the browser will do the rest. This feature will block incoming content from a massive list of ad sites, keeping you from ever seeing the banners or bouncing boxes.
Another good step to take is to deny all cookies by default. These little packets of information are where a great deal of trouble is passed along through the internet. Simple go to Tools, the click Options, and the Privacy. Make sure to Disallow all 3rd party cookies by default and Disallow all cookies by default.
The drawback is that now in order to log in anywhere you will have to make an exception for that website.
