In a previous article dealing with online security prompted many readers with home PCs to ask for advice on how to stay safe and still get the most out of the "information highway".

The first and fundamental step is to install software on the computer that will protect you from any nasty surprises. This software should include a program capable of detecting potentially dangerous activity on the computer as well as warning when a dangerous file tries to enter the system.

It should also be capable of detecting any suspicious file or activity, even if the software has no prior record of this activity. An old enemy is easy to spot, but what about new threats? Reliable software should be able to detect dangerous behavior without needing a previous description of the culprit.

This software should also be able to operate at low levels i.e. when data enters the system, the program should be the first to know it and alert the user when necessary. For example, in the event of an e-mail-borne virus that activates simply when viewed in the Preview Pane (without having to open the message or any attached files), the user should be alerted even before the e-mail program notifies that a new message has been received.


Another essential feature of a reliable program is that it should be independent from the rest of the software on the computer. This means that the protection should be the same regardless of whether browsing the Internet with Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator or Opera, or whether mail is processed through Eudora, Outlook Express or Pegasus.

So what kind of software are we looking at here? We’re talking about antivirus programs. Although you might think that, as the name suggests, these programs only protect against viruses, they are also a fundamental part of protection against all attacks. By preventing even the smallest amount of software from entering your computer, no one will be able to take control of your system to carry out malicious acts, like hackers.

An antivirus doesn’t just simply deal with viruses. As the software is fundamentally designed to root out viruses, it is quite simple to add information to the database to detect Trojans, backdoors, etc. So when an attacker tries to insert a program on a computer, it will be filtered by the antivirus, which will sound the alarm.