This first step is perhaps the most obvious but it is amazing how often it isn't followed. While most people do have an antivirus program installed on their system, the questions about quality and/or how up-to-date it is often nullify that fact. With new "bugs" being introduced daily, an antivirus program which is not being updated very regularly will quickly become ineffective. In addition, since no single antivirus program catches all of the "bugs" out there, it is often a good idea to also have a good antispyware program installed. This is the equivalent of having a "second opinion" available.

  Determining the quality of these products is often difficult for the average user. There are simply too many web sites, self-proclaimed experts on various forums, and endless over-hyped products being advertised everywhere. This is further complicated by the fact that the various products change over time. The "best" antivirus program out there today will almost undoubtedly not be the "best" next year (or even 6 months from now). The best advice we can give you is to look at the results of the best comparative review for these products that we know of:

The next step is to make sure your computer software is up to date with all of the latest security patches. The bad guys are constantly investigating new ways to break into computers and/or networks. As they find these new openings and begin to use them, the software community normally responds by putting out patches to close off these new holes. These patches/updates are normally freely available for download and should be installed as soon as possible. As a minimum, the following software products should either be set to automatically update themselves (check the available help files for how to do so) or should manually be checked at least monthly for any new updates:

The last step is to reduce or eliminate the bad guys ability to directly probe your computer over the internet. This is relatively easily achieved by using a hardware based NAT router or firewall appliance. While software based firewalls (such as Zone Alarm or those found in various "Security Suite" software packages) can sometimes be helpful, they are far less effective.

  When your computer is connected to the internet via cable, DSL, satellite, wireless or even dialup, it is usually directly accessible to any other computer connected to the internet. Hardware routers and firewalls are hardware devices that stand in between your computer and the internet and thwart the vast majority of direct attacks. Depending on your specific needs, these devices can range in price from ~$50 for single computers or small home networks, to thousands of dollars for high end firewalls for large networks.

  This is the computer equivalent to buckling up your seat belt. While you can get away with not doing it for thousands of times without any apparent harm, all it takes is that one time when something bad happens. Take a few moments and think of all of the pictures, emails, addressbook info, bookmarks, letters, music, videos, or other files currently on your computer. If it wouldn't bother you to lose all of them, then you needn't worry about backing them up. On the other hand, if their loss would bother you, then I suggest you strongly consider backing them up.

  While there are many ways to back up your data files, we currently recommend you consider purchasing an external USB hard drive. Hard drives in the 500GB+ range currently run under $100 and have more than enough room to handle the vast majority of backup needs for years to come.

  Be wary of where you go while you are on the internet. Some of the most favored places for the "bad guys" to hang out on the internet are the shadier places on the net. Places where many people are reluctant to admit they go. Some of the most infested types of sites are file sharing networks, porn sites, cracks/warez sites, etc.

  Lately there have been an explosion of scamware programs making the rounds of the internet. These programs are designed to throw up scary sounding warnings that say your computer is infected and then try to get you to download/install their "security" program in order to clean them up. In reality, the program you are downloading and installing from them is infecting your computer with something even worse.

  So how do you know if the warning that appears on your screen is one of these scams or actually from your antivirus program? If you've never seen what your antivirus program looks like when it finds something, this is a very reasonable question. To give you a way to see what it should look like, here is a link to a well known (and completely safe) test file that simulates a virus:

  Try downloading and/or running the EICAR files and see what your antivirus program really looks like when it finds something suspicious. Once you know what it is supposed to look like, you will be far less likely to fall for one of the fake scamware programs mentioned above.

  On a final note, pay attention to what your antivirus is telling you! If you are seeing messages about problems with updates, your registration running out, or newer versions available, investigate them!