Versión en Inglés:
#####Chapter 0 - Introduction:#####
Before starting, I must clarify that this text is oriented for the most basic level, trying to avoid all the possible technicisms for making the comprehension easier. Any user of a middle or advanced level won't find this very useful, to be sincere.
The cases of "My account of 'x' was stolen!", or ,"I have a virus in my machine!", are usually caused by not putting in practice some small "tricks" or "tips" of basic security.
This has encouraged me on making a brief tutorial about "security", oriented towards those people that almost completely lack knowledge about computers, showing the most common vulnerabilities exploited for those "attacks" against your machines or online accounts.
At this tutorial, I will try to show that kind of users that the trick of a secure machine relies more in the manteinance of a "good start", than patching the holes while the boat starts to sink.
Without more pause, Let's get to the important stuff.
#####Chapter 1 - The OS (Operative System):#####
The choice of an OS, is a very important factor at the time of deciding how to focus and admninstrate the security of your machine, but it doesn't only rely on that... in some cases, it might be the own OS what can be "betraying" you without even noticing.
At this occassion, the focus will be in Windows, the most common OS among the standard users, as this is the one that usually comes pre-installed in most trademark machines that can be found at shops.
Before commencing, I will leave a question in the air:
--What's the importance of the OS being legit or pirated?--
In first instance, this could result irrelevant, the OS is that software, (or better said, group of software), that acts as interface between the user and the machine, simplifying the interaction.
But, as that simplification is "hiding" all that complex proccess and detail of how's the machine working...
How can we be sure that our security problem isn't being caused by a vulnerability of the OS?
The reply is simple, there are various factors that any user should look at to ensure that their OS is safe, and that can be checked by replying to some simple questions:
--Is your OS pirated, or legit?--
As the OS is something that is usually looked as less suspicious, some people tends to forget that it still is software, so, if it is pirated, yes, it could come with those viruses, normally conveniently previously set by the person that distributed that pirated copy or modified OS.
It is true that the original copies of Windows are very expensive. but if you can manage to get an original installation disk, and then find an activation key, you'll be more safe than downloading a pirated copy.
In the case that we want a reliable system for free, we always have other options!
Take note that if you're going to use your machine for playing, Windows usually is easier and more attractive, as the majority of games around the marked use that well-known DirectX libraries, and other stuff. You can solve that issues with some patience and knowledge nevertheless.
If that's not your case, and you're going to use your machine exclusively for studying, working, drawing, 3D design, or any other miscelaneous sort of task, then I must reccomend you to look for more information about the different distros of the famous Linux OS, there's plenty of options to choose among, each one adapted towards different user types and their needs. I eager you to try!
The most important thing in any case, is contrasting your sources, it is crucial to assure that our installer is coming from a reliable source (usually the official one). It will be completely useless to choose an alternative to Windows if we're going to download an infected OS anyway.
Once that question is covered, we'll touch the next point:
--Is your OS updated?--
Back to Windows, some of you might notice that there are some frequent system updates, and that we usually don't know what they even do or what they're useful for, and might appear to be not important.
Their importance roots in the fact, that among them, some updates are security updates, that fix very diverse programming or desgins problems of the OS, removing those now-known vulnerabilities from your system.
It is certain that the way this updates appear can be really annoying, as a window appears constantly asking you to restart your system to apply changes.
The solution, is reconfiguring the way this updates appear and apply in your machine, but NEVER disabling them. Check out the configuration, there are more comfortable options avaiable:
->Downloading the updates for you, but letting you choose when to install them.
That's my favourite, the updates will download themselves without you noticing, but will wait to be installed until you shutdown your system, this way, no more "please restart" messages will ever appear again.
->Notifying you of the updates, but neither downloading or applying the automatically.
This other way, you will save bandwith and proccess time in critical cases. This option notifies you when there are new updates, so you manually install them whenever you want to.
Remember: An updated OS is a healthy OS.
#####Chapter 2 - Getting our system ready.#####
Now that we already covered the minimals for our secutiry, trying to make our "basement" more or less stable, it's time to prepare our system, preferibly before using it for anything else, it would be a shame to get ourselves in risk before being prepared. Don't you think so?
--What do we need?--
The first thing that we'll need, will be installing the applications that we will use for monitoring and mantaining the health of our machine. We'll remember what's minimally needed in our "toolbox":
-- ONE AV (Anti-Virus).
-- ONE FW (FireWall).
-- Cleanup and Optimizer tools.
-- Analysis Utilities.
This would be the most essential. You might have noticed that I detail that there only should be ONE AV and ONE FW...
I don't detail this on a whim, it has sense to be like that:
It isn't the first time I find a machine with several AV or FW installed at the same time, as some users think that making a collection of them will raise their protection level.
Unfortunately, this is not true. The fact of installing more than one AV or FW at the same time, will cause them to conflict, slowing down your machine, and in numerous ocassions, impeding both to accomplish their goal correctly.
--Which one to choose? Where to get it from?--
So, what we should do, is analyzing the possible AV and FW that we would like to install in our machine, and choose the ones that better fit out criteria.
If, in your case, you're not an advanced user, I understand your current position perfectly, you'll be wondering, "And what criteria should I follow, if I don't have a clue about security?" This question is completely natural and reasonable. If you're at this situation, I reccomend you to get information, may it be around the net, through magazines, or asking a person that knows, about what software is more convenient for you.
Same as the OS, it is very important to check where are we getting this software from. It must be a reliable source. If you don't want to pay for an AV or FW, free options are always there. Remember, it always will be better to have a bit less powerful, but free AV, than an pirated one that could be come infected already. Don't you think so?
In the other hand, if you're going to download it from the net, it is crucial that you ensure that you're downloading it from the official site, and that it's reliable. Remember, you can only be sure about your security with reliable sources.
--Ok, so my AV and FW are installed. Now what?--
Good, now is when I remind you, that new virus and vulnerabilities appear each day. For that reason, AVs and FWs have frequent updates. They're not an exception, you should also update this software aswell regularly!
Remember to automate or manually scan your computer with the AV periodically. (After updating!), this will ensure that your machine is clean (periodically). Once a week could suffice. Normally, AVs delete the menances automatically, so it won't be hard for you to keep your machine clean in a regular scenario.
--What cleaning tools should I use?--
Well, about this section, there number of options multiplies exponentially here, and it specially depends on your needs. Personally, I reccomend to have at least one cleaning tool avaiable. To clean registry problems, free some disk space, and optimize the machine efficiency. It still is important that you're sure this programs are reliable, as well as their sources. You also should remember to use them regularly to keep your PC activity optimal.
As this text tries to be as most general as it's possible, I won't reccomend any special tool in particular, but I'd like to remind you that you can find tons of information around the net about different tools of this kind.
--What about the analysis?--
In this case, I reccomend you to always have the latest version of HiJackThis installed, this application is very handy to see what's failing in your machine. So when you're going to ask any question about your security around the net, ensure you drop a HiJackThis log, you'll be an step ahead, giving valuable information that could be used to help you.
#####Chapter 3 - Net Accounts:#####
Well, after all this preparation, I am sure that you're impatient for starting to browse the web, creating or accessing your email, social net, forums and other sorts of accounts. I am right?
So, as we want this accounts to be safe aswell, we'll also cover this topic.
It is very important to visualize our accounts adequately:
Imagine your mail account, as if it were your own mailbox, or your forum account, as your car. If you think properly about it, both cases have "keys".
In the case of computering, this "keys" are the well known "passwords" that you have to type for gaining access to your accounts. And also think, there's people on the streets that would try to steal your mail or car... this also can happen around the net. You could find people trying to rob your accounts! Methods may vary, but their goal remains a constant.
Let's see the different aspects to care of about account security:
First of all, and most important, is your password. That magic word, is the "key" that gives access to your accounts. As you can guess, if a key is too simple, the keylock will open very easily.
Well, with the password, it's the same case. To ensure that nobody can easily guess you password, you must ensure to have "robust passwords".
--What's a robust password?--
They are those passwords that aren't easy to guess out, specially due to their length and complexity level.
To compose a robust password, you should follow the next isntructions:
NEVER EVER:
- Use only numbers and words. It'll be the first thing that will be tried to guess your password.
- Use words related to you, as your girlfriends, pet, or mother's name. DO NOT use them, EVER. It won't matter if you add numbers at the left or right of it, it won't work, they'll test that anyway.
- Use 13375p34k, 7yp1n6 l1k3 7h15 w0n'7 w0rk!
YOU SHOULD:
- Ensure that your password is at least 8 characters long, the longest the better.
- Mix upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols, to make your password complex.
REMEMBER:
Even if your password is complex, be sure that you can remember it! If you need to note it down in a piece of paper or forget it, all the effort will be in vain, it would be like if you'd lose your car keys around the street.
--Ok, robust password... is it enough?--
Not, by far. Remember that if your machine is compromised, your password could be get from it. So, in the same way you wouldn't write it down in a paper, you MUST NOT save it in any machine.
So remember to uncheck all those "remember my password" checkboxes, and "login automatically". Those are a dream made reality for the intruders.
Now, keep in mind that if they cannot manage to get your password that way, they'll try to fool you for making you giving it away without noticing.
I'll explain. Tons of mail, messages and websites, have "fakes" that make you type the password for sending it to the attackers. Normally, this "fakes" are reached by clicking those "click here!" links. If just after pressing one of these, you're asked for your password. Don't type it!
Always be sure that you're typing your password in the correct place. A good trick, is checking that your explorer bar is showing the correct web address, never type down your password if you see weird words or addressed appearing on that bar.
Evidently, never give away your password to anybody. (Remember this comparison, Would you ever give your houses' keys to some random person?)
Remember, trust is a weakness. Somebody might exploit it for fooling you somehow.
Last thing, try to change your password with a certain frequency, and use different passwords for different sites. The reason for this, is that sometimes, when you type in your password at a site, the admins can see what pass is it, and in that case, they could be bad people and use it in your other accounts.
#####Chapter 4 - Downloading#####
So, well... Our security is already set-up, and our accounts assured. And we feel like downloading stuff!
Here, the risk is almost unavoidable, if you download pirated content, you're constantly risking to get some virus, infiltrating your computer using the file as a vehicle.
Mi advice here is that anytime you download anything, analyze it first with your AV before opening it. And if a virus alert appears when you open it, don't let its proccess continue running!
Even if you know the application, a virus could had infected it anyway, don't trust blindly.
--What to do in the case of a fake-positive?--
A fake-possitive is when your AV detects a file as infected when it's not. What you can normally do in this cases, is contacting the developers of the AV and inform them about the fake-positive, sending them the suspicious file for analysis. That will help them to determine if the file is really dangerous or not, without the need of doing it yourself.
--What if they won't listen?--
You always can use online analysis tools, they work by analyzing your file using several kinds of AVs, contrasting the results so you can judge accordingly.
Now you'll thinks, "But, didn't you say that several AVs a the same time are a bad thing?".
Not in this case. Because you still only have one AV in your system, and the system analyzing the file is prepared for avoiding the conflict menctioned earlier. The difference resides in the AV nature, in your machine you install a Monitoring AV, that monitors and analyzes your machine, while the server only uses analysis AVs.
#####Chapter 5 - What's missing?#####
Well, we already have the virus controlled, to avoid they come in our system, AV, FW or other software "by default". They also won't be coming from the net. Are we safe already?
The answer still is no, your computer is not likely to get viruses fron the net, but there still are extractable media, such as HDDs (hard drives), Floppys (flexible disks), CDs, DVDs, Pendrives...
The most reccomended for this, is disabling "autorun".
--What's autorun?--
It is a proccess that starts up anytime your insert a new media, for example, when you insert a CD or DVD in the disk drive, it'll open the content and show it automatically, and if you plug in a pendrive, something else could also happen aswell...
The case is, that if any of this media is infected, it is possible that at the moment you plug it in your machine, it could try to auto-install the virus. So you'll be safer if you disable it, so you can access the contect AFTER checking if it's safe.
--How do I disable it?--
That depends of the OS, try to look around the net on how to do it, you can find tons of info around.
--Good, so it's disabled, and I plugged something in... What to do now?--
Do you remember what you did with the new downloaded files? It's the same at this case. Make your AV analyze that media before running or opening it. If the AV says it's safe, you can open it a bit more safely now.
--Any other kind of maintenance?--
Yes! I reccomend ou to make periodical backup of all your important files, and, if you can, format your disks and reinstall your OS each several months. That will ensure that you're always working with a relatively fresh machine, keeping your importante data safe, just in case.
#####Chapter 6 - Conclusion:#####
Well... with this, I've already commented all what I could remember about basic computer security, what I reccomend you now, is that if you want to be even safer, you should read more advanced and specific documentation that you can find around the net. Remember, knowledge doesn't occupy space!
#####Chapter 0 - Introduction:#####
Before starting, I must clarify that this text is oriented for the most basic level, trying to avoid all the possible technicisms for making the comprehension easier. Any user of a middle or advanced level won't find this very useful, to be sincere.
The cases of "My account of 'x' was stolen!", or ,"I have a virus in my machine!", are usually caused by not putting in practice some small "tricks" or "tips" of basic security.
This has encouraged me on making a brief tutorial about "security", oriented towards those people that almost completely lack knowledge about computers, showing the most common vulnerabilities exploited for those "attacks" against your machines or online accounts.
At this tutorial, I will try to show that kind of users that the trick of a secure machine relies more in the manteinance of a "good start", than patching the holes while the boat starts to sink.
Without more pause, Let's get to the important stuff.
#####Chapter 1 - The OS (Operative System):#####
The choice of an OS, is a very important factor at the time of deciding how to focus and admninstrate the security of your machine, but it doesn't only rely on that... in some cases, it might be the own OS what can be "betraying" you without even noticing.
At this occassion, the focus will be in Windows, the most common OS among the standard users, as this is the one that usually comes pre-installed in most trademark machines that can be found at shops.
Before commencing, I will leave a question in the air:
--What's the importance of the OS being legit or pirated?--
In first instance, this could result irrelevant, the OS is that software, (or better said, group of software), that acts as interface between the user and the machine, simplifying the interaction.
But, as that simplification is "hiding" all that complex proccess and detail of how's the machine working...
How can we be sure that our security problem isn't being caused by a vulnerability of the OS?
The reply is simple, there are various factors that any user should look at to ensure that their OS is safe, and that can be checked by replying to some simple questions:
--Is your OS pirated, or legit?--
As the OS is something that is usually looked as less suspicious, some people tends to forget that it still is software, so, if it is pirated, yes, it could come with those viruses, normally conveniently previously set by the person that distributed that pirated copy or modified OS.
It is true that the original copies of Windows are very expensive. but if you can manage to get an original installation disk, and then find an activation key, you'll be more safe than downloading a pirated copy.
In the case that we want a reliable system for free, we always have other options!
Take note that if you're going to use your machine for playing, Windows usually is easier and more attractive, as the majority of games around the marked use that well-known DirectX libraries, and other stuff. You can solve that issues with some patience and knowledge nevertheless.
If that's not your case, and you're going to use your machine exclusively for studying, working, drawing, 3D design, or any other miscelaneous sort of task, then I must reccomend you to look for more information about the different distros of the famous Linux OS, there's plenty of options to choose among, each one adapted towards different user types and their needs. I eager you to try!
The most important thing in any case, is contrasting your sources, it is crucial to assure that our installer is coming from a reliable source (usually the official one). It will be completely useless to choose an alternative to Windows if we're going to download an infected OS anyway.
Once that question is covered, we'll touch the next point:
--Is your OS updated?--
Back to Windows, some of you might notice that there are some frequent system updates, and that we usually don't know what they even do or what they're useful for, and might appear to be not important.
Their importance roots in the fact, that among them, some updates are security updates, that fix very diverse programming or desgins problems of the OS, removing those now-known vulnerabilities from your system.
It is certain that the way this updates appear can be really annoying, as a window appears constantly asking you to restart your system to apply changes.
The solution, is reconfiguring the way this updates appear and apply in your machine, but NEVER disabling them. Check out the configuration, there are more comfortable options avaiable:
->Downloading the updates for you, but letting you choose when to install them.
That's my favourite, the updates will download themselves without you noticing, but will wait to be installed until you shutdown your system, this way, no more "please restart" messages will ever appear again.
->Notifying you of the updates, but neither downloading or applying the automatically.
This other way, you will save bandwith and proccess time in critical cases. This option notifies you when there are new updates, so you manually install them whenever you want to.
Remember: An updated OS is a healthy OS.
#####Chapter 2 - Getting our system ready.#####
Now that we already covered the minimals for our secutiry, trying to make our "basement" more or less stable, it's time to prepare our system, preferibly before using it for anything else, it would be a shame to get ourselves in risk before being prepared. Don't you think so?
--What do we need?--
The first thing that we'll need, will be installing the applications that we will use for monitoring and mantaining the health of our machine. We'll remember what's minimally needed in our "toolbox":
-- ONE AV (Anti-Virus).
-- ONE FW (FireWall).
-- Cleanup and Optimizer tools.
-- Analysis Utilities.
This would be the most essential. You might have noticed that I detail that there only should be ONE AV and ONE FW...
I don't detail this on a whim, it has sense to be like that:
It isn't the first time I find a machine with several AV or FW installed at the same time, as some users think that making a collection of them will raise their protection level.
Unfortunately, this is not true. The fact of installing more than one AV or FW at the same time, will cause them to conflict, slowing down your machine, and in numerous ocassions, impeding both to accomplish their goal correctly.
--Which one to choose? Where to get it from?--
So, what we should do, is analyzing the possible AV and FW that we would like to install in our machine, and choose the ones that better fit out criteria.
If, in your case, you're not an advanced user, I understand your current position perfectly, you'll be wondering, "And what criteria should I follow, if I don't have a clue about security?" This question is completely natural and reasonable. If you're at this situation, I reccomend you to get information, may it be around the net, through magazines, or asking a person that knows, about what software is more convenient for you.
Same as the OS, it is very important to check where are we getting this software from. It must be a reliable source. If you don't want to pay for an AV or FW, free options are always there. Remember, it always will be better to have a bit less powerful, but free AV, than an pirated one that could be come infected already. Don't you think so?
In the other hand, if you're going to download it from the net, it is crucial that you ensure that you're downloading it from the official site, and that it's reliable. Remember, you can only be sure about your security with reliable sources.
--Ok, so my AV and FW are installed. Now what?--
Good, now is when I remind you, that new virus and vulnerabilities appear each day. For that reason, AVs and FWs have frequent updates. They're not an exception, you should also update this software aswell regularly!
Remember to automate or manually scan your computer with the AV periodically. (After updating!), this will ensure that your machine is clean (periodically). Once a week could suffice. Normally, AVs delete the menances automatically, so it won't be hard for you to keep your machine clean in a regular scenario.
--What cleaning tools should I use?--
Well, about this section, there number of options multiplies exponentially here, and it specially depends on your needs. Personally, I reccomend to have at least one cleaning tool avaiable. To clean registry problems, free some disk space, and optimize the machine efficiency. It still is important that you're sure this programs are reliable, as well as their sources. You also should remember to use them regularly to keep your PC activity optimal.
As this text tries to be as most general as it's possible, I won't reccomend any special tool in particular, but I'd like to remind you that you can find tons of information around the net about different tools of this kind.
--What about the analysis?--
In this case, I reccomend you to always have the latest version of HiJackThis installed, this application is very handy to see what's failing in your machine. So when you're going to ask any question about your security around the net, ensure you drop a HiJackThis log, you'll be an step ahead, giving valuable information that could be used to help you.
#####Chapter 3 - Net Accounts:#####
Well, after all this preparation, I am sure that you're impatient for starting to browse the web, creating or accessing your email, social net, forums and other sorts of accounts. I am right?
So, as we want this accounts to be safe aswell, we'll also cover this topic.
It is very important to visualize our accounts adequately:
Imagine your mail account, as if it were your own mailbox, or your forum account, as your car. If you think properly about it, both cases have "keys".
In the case of computering, this "keys" are the well known "passwords" that you have to type for gaining access to your accounts. And also think, there's people on the streets that would try to steal your mail or car... this also can happen around the net. You could find people trying to rob your accounts! Methods may vary, but their goal remains a constant.
Let's see the different aspects to care of about account security:
First of all, and most important, is your password. That magic word, is the "key" that gives access to your accounts. As you can guess, if a key is too simple, the keylock will open very easily.
Well, with the password, it's the same case. To ensure that nobody can easily guess you password, you must ensure to have "robust passwords".
--What's a robust password?--
They are those passwords that aren't easy to guess out, specially due to their length and complexity level.
To compose a robust password, you should follow the next isntructions:
NEVER EVER:
- Use only numbers and words. It'll be the first thing that will be tried to guess your password.
- Use words related to you, as your girlfriends, pet, or mother's name. DO NOT use them, EVER. It won't matter if you add numbers at the left or right of it, it won't work, they'll test that anyway.
- Use 13375p34k, 7yp1n6 l1k3 7h15 w0n'7 w0rk!
YOU SHOULD:
- Ensure that your password is at least 8 characters long, the longest the better.
- Mix upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols, to make your password complex.
REMEMBER:
Even if your password is complex, be sure that you can remember it! If you need to note it down in a piece of paper or forget it, all the effort will be in vain, it would be like if you'd lose your car keys around the street.
--Ok, robust password... is it enough?--
Not, by far. Remember that if your machine is compromised, your password could be get from it. So, in the same way you wouldn't write it down in a paper, you MUST NOT save it in any machine.
So remember to uncheck all those "remember my password" checkboxes, and "login automatically". Those are a dream made reality for the intruders.
Now, keep in mind that if they cannot manage to get your password that way, they'll try to fool you for making you giving it away without noticing.
I'll explain. Tons of mail, messages and websites, have "fakes" that make you type the password for sending it to the attackers. Normally, this "fakes" are reached by clicking those "click here!" links. If just after pressing one of these, you're asked for your password. Don't type it!
Always be sure that you're typing your password in the correct place. A good trick, is checking that your explorer bar is showing the correct web address, never type down your password if you see weird words or addressed appearing on that bar.
Evidently, never give away your password to anybody. (Remember this comparison, Would you ever give your houses' keys to some random person?)
Remember, trust is a weakness. Somebody might exploit it for fooling you somehow.
Last thing, try to change your password with a certain frequency, and use different passwords for different sites. The reason for this, is that sometimes, when you type in your password at a site, the admins can see what pass is it, and in that case, they could be bad people and use it in your other accounts.
#####Chapter 4 - Downloading#####
So, well... Our security is already set-up, and our accounts assured. And we feel like downloading stuff!
Here, the risk is almost unavoidable, if you download pirated content, you're constantly risking to get some virus, infiltrating your computer using the file as a vehicle.
Mi advice here is that anytime you download anything, analyze it first with your AV before opening it. And if a virus alert appears when you open it, don't let its proccess continue running!
Even if you know the application, a virus could had infected it anyway, don't trust blindly.
--What to do in the case of a fake-positive?--
A fake-possitive is when your AV detects a file as infected when it's not. What you can normally do in this cases, is contacting the developers of the AV and inform them about the fake-positive, sending them the suspicious file for analysis. That will help them to determine if the file is really dangerous or not, without the need of doing it yourself.
--What if they won't listen?--
You always can use online analysis tools, they work by analyzing your file using several kinds of AVs, contrasting the results so you can judge accordingly.
Now you'll thinks, "But, didn't you say that several AVs a the same time are a bad thing?".
Not in this case. Because you still only have one AV in your system, and the system analyzing the file is prepared for avoiding the conflict menctioned earlier. The difference resides in the AV nature, in your machine you install a Monitoring AV, that monitors and analyzes your machine, while the server only uses analysis AVs.
#####Chapter 5 - What's missing?#####
Well, we already have the virus controlled, to avoid they come in our system, AV, FW or other software "by default". They also won't be coming from the net. Are we safe already?
The answer still is no, your computer is not likely to get viruses fron the net, but there still are extractable media, such as HDDs (hard drives), Floppys (flexible disks), CDs, DVDs, Pendrives...
The most reccomended for this, is disabling "autorun".
--What's autorun?--
It is a proccess that starts up anytime your insert a new media, for example, when you insert a CD or DVD in the disk drive, it'll open the content and show it automatically, and if you plug in a pendrive, something else could also happen aswell...
The case is, that if any of this media is infected, it is possible that at the moment you plug it in your machine, it could try to auto-install the virus. So you'll be safer if you disable it, so you can access the contect AFTER checking if it's safe.
--How do I disable it?--
That depends of the OS, try to look around the net on how to do it, you can find tons of info around.
--Good, so it's disabled, and I plugged something in... What to do now?--
Do you remember what you did with the new downloaded files? It's the same at this case. Make your AV analyze that media before running or opening it. If the AV says it's safe, you can open it a bit more safely now.
--Any other kind of maintenance?--
Yes! I reccomend ou to make periodical backup of all your important files, and, if you can, format your disks and reinstall your OS each several months. That will ensure that you're always working with a relatively fresh machine, keeping your importante data safe, just in case.
#####Chapter 6 - Conclusion:#####
Well... with this, I've already commented all what I could remember about basic computer security, what I reccomend you now, is that if you want to be even safer, you should read more advanced and specific documentation that you can find around the net. Remember, knowledge doesn't occupy space!
