Do I Need Protection?

Do I Need Protection?   I get this question almost everyday.  The answer depends of course on what we are talking about.  Do you need car insurance in case of an accident?  Do you need home owner’s  insurance in case of a fire?  Do you need a raincoat in case it rains?  The answer is: of course you do!  Then why would you even have to ask that question when it comes to your computer?

Let’s look at what you do everyday on your computer.  You wake up and check your email.  Update your status on facebook.  Look at all of your friends statuses.  Check your bank balance.  Pay your credit card bills.  View your retirement portfolio.  Listen to some music you downloaded from iTunes.  Upload the photos from your brothers birthday party.  Update your resume.  Do you need to protect all of that information from prying eyes and destructive forces?  Nah…

Of Course You DO!  But what do you need, you ask?  A well protected computer and user typically has four key pieces of protection:  the first being Antivirus software,  second a good Antispyware application,  third a firewall of somekind, and finally a solid data backup plan.  What’s that you say…. You have no money today….. that’s ok.  Here is a list of some of my recommended “free” applications that will do the trick!

ANTIVIRUS Software:

1. AVG Free Edition – http://free.avg.com/
2. Avast Home Edition – http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
3. Avira Personal Free – http://www.free-av.de/en/trialpay_download/1/avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.htm

ANTISPYWARE Software:

1. Spybot Search & Destroy – http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html
2. AVG Free Edition (Limited Spyware Protection included) – http://free.avg.com/
3. Ad-Aware Free Edition - http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

FIREWALL Software:

1. Windows Built-in Firewall – http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/security/winfirewall.mspx
2. ZoneAlarm^® Internet Security Suite (includes Antivirus and Antispyware but I am not crazy about it) – http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/anti-virus-spyware-free-download.htm

BACKUP Solutions:

1. Comodo Backup – http://backup.comodo.com/
2. Hinx Backup Easy – http://www.hinxsoft.com/index.php?page=bueasy
3. Mozy Online Backup (2Gb of Free online backup) – http://mozy.com/free

There you go that’s the list….. Catch the spirit catch the twist.  Ok.  No more rhymes now, I mean it.  Anybody wanna peanut!

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