Use protection software "anti-virus software" and keep it up to date.
Make sure that you have anti-virus software on your computer. Anti-virus programs need regular updates to recognize new viruses. Updates should be done once a week. Check the web site of your ant-virus software company to get regular updates for your software.

Do not open email from unknown sources.
If you don't know the person who is sending you an email, be very careful about opening the email and any file attached to it. If you receive what you view to be a suspicious email, delete the entire message, including any attachment. Beware of messages that contain unusual hyperlinks.

Use hard-to-guess passwords.
Don't share your password, and don't use the same password in more than one place. Passwords should have a minimum of 8 characters, be as meaningless as possible, and use uppercase letters, lowercase letters and numbers. Change your password regularly.

Protect your computer from Internet intruders-use a "firewall."
There are two types of firewalls: software firewalls that run on your personal computer and hardware firewalls that protect a number of computers at the same time. You can find firewall software at most computer stores.

Do not share access to your computers with strangers. Learn about file sharing risks.
Your computer operating system may allow other computers on a network, including the Internet, to access the hard-drive of your computer in order to "share files", a very common part of MP3 downloading. Unless you need this ability, make sure that you turn off file sharing. Check your operating system and your other program help files to learn how to disable file sharing.

Disconnect from the Internet when not in use.
By disconnecting from the Internet when you are not using it, you will lesson the chance that someone will be able to access your computer. If you have not kept your anti-virus software up-to-date, or do not have a firewall, someone could infect your computer or use it to harm someone else on the Internet.

Back up your computer data.
Back up some amounts of data to a floppy disk and larger amounts on CDs. If you have network storage space, back up your data there. Weekly backup of all-important data is the norm. And, make sure you have your original software start-up disks in the event that your computer system files get damaged.

Regularly download security protection updates "patches".
When bugs in programs are discovered a company will release a patch to fix it. These patches are posted on their web sites. Check your software's vendors' web sites on a regular basis for new security patches or use the new automated patching features that some companies offer. There are software programs that can perform this task for you automatically if you do not want to do it yourself.

Check your security on a regular basis.
Evaluate your computer security at least twice a year. Look at the settings on applications that you have on your computer. Your browser software typically has a security setting in its preferences area. Check what settings you have and make sure that you have the security level appropriate to you.

Make sure you know what to do if your computer is infected.