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PSA: A General Security Reminder
#1
Lok'Tar!

This is just a general reminder for everyone regarding security programs. It is important for folks to have an updated security program on your computer so as to limit potential network threats. An up-to-date anti-virus/anti-malware program is ideal, and a firewall may also be a good idea to have. For Windows users that may wish to consider a free solution, I would personally recommend Avast! or AVG. Both come with not only anti-virus protection, but also anti-malware as well.

Regarding firewall programs, I'd suggest to take a look at this link. I've used both ZoneAlarm and Comodo (and recently reinstalled Comodo, as I haven't had a firewall program for quite a while). Windows users have the Windows Firewall enabled already, and for the most part the coverage is sufficient for incoming connections. A separate program may be ideal for those who wish to monitor or control outgoing connections as well.

Do you use Chrome or Firefox? One addon I would highly recommend is MaskMe, which can automatically generate random emails and passwords for you to use when registering new accounts at various sites online. The emails it generates can be used at any particular site (you can create an email per site if you wish), so it not only keeps your actual email address private but also is easy to track if that email ends up being sold to marketers or the like. If a particular generated email starts getting spammed, you can remove that address. As I mentioned before, it's also quite helpful in generating strong passwords and can assist you with pasting in the generated email/password on a particular site so you don't have to remember what email/password you used somewhere.

As a related note, if you don't want to do something like above, I highly recommend you do not use the same password for any two different accounts somewhere! And definitely do not ever use the password you have for your email address for any other account, either! I can't believe how often I hear of accounts being 'hacked' or broken into, and whether it's a result of the password being used at more than one site or a result of malware or the like, try to use stronger passwords! This is imperative considering how relatively commonplace it is becoming that even big companies are getting hacked and usernames/emails/credit card info/passwords/etc. are being accessed.

Do you have other suggestions for folks (or other recommended programs, such as Malwarebytes, HijackThis (and its use), Ad-aware, etc.)? Feel free to post a reply!
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#2
[Image: the-more-you-know-o.gif]
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#3
[Image: pointy-haired-boss-dilbert.jpg]

Always time to be more secure.
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#4
I definitely second the recommendation of MalwareBytes, especially if you catch yourself with a yucky virus. It works for me most of the time.

If you find yourself with a virus that even MalwareBytes can't handle, there are people on forums such as Geeks to Go and techsupportforum that can help you. The latter has helped me out of more than one bind. Both are free.
[Image: anim_500.gif]
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#5
I would suggest Adblock myself.

But no ads is bad.
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#6
Just a bump - security is quite important!

Also, in regards to AdBlocking, please consider allowing them here on the site - revenue from ads is pretty much the only income I get (with the rare donation), and it helps towards site hosting and server running costs.
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