Protecting Your Computer from Intruders

Computer security is one of the most important issues in the computer
world.With the number of viruses and other malicious software that
prey on exploits in the Windows operating system increasing, you
need to take preventative measures to make sure that your computer does
not become infected.

The days of only having to worry about e-mail attachments and documents
on a floppy disk are over. Nowadays, viruses or worms actively seek out
computers to infect without the computer user even doing anything.


Once a virus or worm has gained entry to a system, the invaded computer can
turn into a virus distribution center. Often, the computer sends copies of the
virus to all of the people in its address book. Even worse, the infected computer
may begin to scan a block of IP addresses (that is, computer addresses)
to try to find more machines that it can infect. If your computer is not protecting
its connection to the Web, it is at increased risk of becoming infected.

So how do you protect your Internet connection? That topic is what this
whole chapter is about. You will learn how to test your computer and see
how vulnerable it actually is. Then, you’ll find out how you can use firewalls
to build a “brick wall” around your computer. You’ll also learn how to turn
off some unnecessary services to lower the risk of infection even further.
Additionally, you’ll discover how you can secure wireless network
connections, as they are growing so much in popularity.

Once you have your computer locked down from the outside, some connections
to your computer may still be open, which you do not want to close
down. Remote connections need to have certain ports open on your computer
so that you can connect remotely to your computer. Additionally, if
you want to share files with other computers on your local network, then
you will want to leave the Client for Microsoft Networks unblocked.
However, when you have openings in your computer’s security, you leave
yourself vulnerable, allowing users to get in.To help combat that vulnerability,
you’ll learn about ways to use the various user accounts settings to assign
complex passwords and permissions to users.