Home network security overview
Published: August 15, 2006
The Internet is great fun and a very useful tool, but you need to be careful to protect your computer from Internet threats. Just like you would lock the doors to your home, you should take a few minutes to keep your computer safe. Fortunately, Microsoft Windows XP makes it simple to protect your computer.
By doing these five basic things, you can help protect all the computers in your home:
1. | Keep your software up to date. Microsoft and other software companies regularly release updates to help protect your computer from new Internet threats. This article shows you how to make sure your computer stays current with the latest security fixes. |
2. | Protect your network from viruses and malicious software. Some malicious software, such as viruses, worms, and spyware, can attempt to install itself on your computer without your knowledge and make it difficult for you to remove it. To protect yourself from this software and to remove any malicious software that might have already infected your computer, you need antivirus and antispyware software. This article describes what these programs do and where you can get them for free (or a small fee). |
3. | Protect your wireless home network. Wireless networks can extend beyond the walls of your home, which means that people nearby will be able to see, and potentially access, your connection. Unfortunately, some of these people might abuse your Internet connection. This article describes how to enable encryption on your wireless network to help protect your computers and your Internet connection. |
4. | Use Windows Firewall to help protect your computer. Windows Firewall is a feature of Windows XP that protects your computer from people who might try to harm it from across the Internet. Windows Firewall is enabled by default if you have the latest Windows XP updates. This article describes how Windows Firewall works, shows you how to verify that it's running, and how to turn it on if you need to. |
5. | Allow some users to access your files, while blocking access to other users. Home networks allow you to share files between computers, so you don't need to copy files onto floppy disks. If you want other people in your home to be able to open files, you should follow the steps in this article to set up file permissions so that only the people you designate can open the files. |
