7 Free, Simple & Effective Tips to Protect Your Computer

 

We hear so many scary news of systems being hacked as well as the dreaded ransomware which can block you from assessing your files unless you pay hackers bitcoins. 

How then can you protect your computer from malware especially when you have limited IT knowledge and wouldn't want to spend big money too?

Fear not as here're 7 free, simple & effective tips which will greatly reduce your risks (from easiest to most difficult to implement):

1. Be very wary of clicking anything
   
• Do not click on any online ads as it's real easy to embed ransomware in them
  
• Do not click on links in unsolicited emails even though they come from a seemingly legitimate source (sender's email can be easily manipulated to look real) or someone you know (their accounts might have been compromised).
• When in doubt, do nothing and consult a friend with IT knowledge first; remember, there is never ever any urgency in clicking links.
2. Avoid visiting dubious websites because they can easily install malware in your system without even you knowing; stick to the popular ones only or paste its address here first to check if it's a safe website.
3. Update your Operating System regularly (eg. Windows Update is usually automatic by default)
4. Update your Browser regularly (eg. Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Chrome, etc.)
5. Install a free yet effective Anti-virus software: 
1. I highly recommend the free version of Avast as I have been using it for many years and it protects against ransomware too!
2. It may periodically ask you to buy its paid version or other software to better protect or optimise your system but just ignore it!
6. Back up your data regularly in thumbdrives or portable hard disks because there is no foolproof way to defend against malware!
   
7. Use an account without administrative rights because you will then avoid a vast majority of malware which needs such rights to install itself or manipulate files:
   
• If you're using a computer running Windows, I assume you are now using its default account with administrative rights so the first step is to create another account with administrative rights and call it Installer - you can find the steps here.
• Then log out and log in as Installer and change your original account to a Standard user account - you can find the steps here.
• Only when you need to install new software, then log in as Installer else do all your daily tasks with the Standard user account.