Safe PC usage guide

[Tormeron]

Hey friends,

Due to popular demand, I bring you the safe PC usage guide.
Everything you needed to know in order to actually be able to browse the net safely.
This guide shall be divided into three categories:
I. Light user - Occasional google search, mostly mail usage
II. Moderate user - Browsing the web more extensively, staying in known sites
III. Extreme user / Developer / Technician - browsing the web, charting unknown websites, entering random links
IV. Definitions

I. light users

1. after you install windows or have windows installed for you, install a free antivirus (Avast / Bitdefender)
2. Install the free version of Malwarebytes Anti Malware and Malwarebytes Anti Exploit
3. When you surf the web and search for a term always look at the web address of the destination on google, If that website name sounds suspicious you might wish to avoid those websites.
4. Most chances are that those websites which rank first on google are relatively safe (they still might have a virus or such)
5. When accessing a bank website, access the website directly and NOT through a link on an email or such.
6. If you do receive an email regarding your bank account on your email, NEVER phone the number or access the links on the email. Telephone your bank using the number you know is theirs and web address you directly insert into the web browser.
7. Unless you know and trust a website (such as ebay.com or amazon.com / co.uk) NEVER write down your credit card information
8. Use Paypal for your online purchases if possible

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II.Moderate users guide

1. after you install windows or have windows installed for you, install a free antivirus (Avast / Bitdefender)
2. Install the free version of Malwarebytes Anti Malware and Malwarebytes Anti Exploit
3. When you surf the web and search for a term always look at the web address of the destination on google, If that website name sounds suspicious you might wish to avoid those websites.
4. Most chances are that those websites which rank first on google are relatively safe (they still might have a virus or such)
5. When accessing a bank website, access the website directly and NOT through a link on an email or such.
6. If you do receive an email regarding your bank account on your email, NEVER phone the number or access the links on the email. Telephone your bank using the number you know is theirs and web address you directly insert into the web browser.
7. Unless you know and trust a website (such as ebay.com or amazon.com / co.uk) NEVER write down your credit card information
8. Use Paypal for your online purchases if possible
9. Run the malwarebytes anti malware every time before you enter a website which requires your personal information and / or payment information (including Paypal)
10. If you enter a websites that asks you to fill your account information unrelated to the website such as your google information on amazon or google information on your news website, it's probably a scam, most probably someone hacked that page or there is some malvertising going on on the advertising network.
11. If in doubt, leave! If a deal's too good to be true, it is! If you get an email from a friend that has nothing to do with what you ever talked to him/her about and has a link or tells you to do something that doesn't sound like your friend would ask you to do, call him/her and make sure it was truly him/her.

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III.extreme user / Developer

1. after you install windows or have windows installed for you, install a good paid or an excellent free antivirus (Kaspersky / Bitdefender)
2. Install the free version of Malwarebytes Anti Malware and Malwarebytes Anti Exploit
3. When you surf the web and search for a term always look at the web address of the destination on google, If that website name sounds suspicious you might wish to avoid those websites.
4. Most chances are that those websites which rank first on google are relatively safe (they still might have a virus or such)
5. When accessing a bank website, access the website directly and NOT through a link on an email or such.
6. If you do receive an email regarding your bank account on your email, NEVER phone the number or access the links on the email. Telephone your bank using the number you know is theirs and web address you directly insert into the web browser.
7. If you trust a website, don't, due to your more extreme web surfing habits you have more likelihood to be infected by malware / viruses, before you access your personal accounts on the net run a malwarebytes check (if you have the paid version you won't have to run this check every time)
8. Use Paypal for your online purchases if possible
9. Run the antivirus sandboxed environment browser when accessing banks and / or payment sites so your information can't be logged somewhere.
10. If you enter a websites that asks you to fill your account information unrelated to the website such as your google information on amazon or google information on your news website, it's probably a scam, most probably someone hacked that page or there is some malvertising going on on the advertising network.
11. If in doubt, leave! If a deal's too good to be true, it is! If you get an email from a friend that has nothing to do with what you ever talked to him/her about and has a link or tells you to do something that doesn't sound like your friend would ask you to do, call him/her and make sure it was truly him/her.

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IV. Definitions:

Malvertising - Is an advertisement which leads to a scam / Malware / exploit
Malware - any program which may steal information, log your every action or harm your computer such as encrypting all your data and demanding ransom and / or just delete all your personal files
Exploit - a software tool designed to take advantage of a flaw in a computer system, typically for malicious purposes such as installing malware.

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Double post merged on 05 May 2015 11:14

Post has been completed, Might add more information as time passes by