Security Online

Now that you are sure you do not have viruses, spyware, adware, worms, or Trojan horses, you need to clean up your files. This is easily done in Windows by going to ‘start,’ ‘all programs,’ ‘accessories,’ ‘system tools,’ ‘system cleanup.’ Have system clean up delete temporary files, empty the recycle bin, and remove any other files that you do not wish to have on your computer. It will give you a list.

After you’ve completed the cleanup, do a search on your system for a file called ‘cookies.’ Delete everything in that file. Note that when you do this, you will need to login each time you visit a website that requires login information, instead of being automatically logged in. However, keeping these cookies on your system may put you at risk, especially if those cookies are from sites where you have used your credit card information. A hacker can look at those cookies to find out quite a bit of information.

If you do keep personal information on your computer, such as your credit card information, your resume, or other identifiable information, keep it in a secure folder. This can be done by keeping the information in a document, and placing that document inside a folder. Right click on the folder, then click on the ‘sharing’ tab. You can set the privacy of a folder there. However, this only protects you from people who are using your computer directly. In other words, they are at your house, sitting at your desk, physically using your computer. This will not protect that information from prying cyber eyes.

You should strongly consider purchasing and installing a file encryption program that has access controls to protect your files. This will limit access to files to the people who should have access – in this case, you. Encryption scrambles file contents, and only those who have the access keys can descramble the information. This is the only way to ensure that no prying eyes see your private information – whether they are sitting at your computer, or remotely sneaking around on your hard drive.