Understanding how to safely browse the internet is one of the most important lessons any computer user can learn. Anti-virus software alone isn’t enough to protect a computer from threats online, and these are threats that can easily compromise bank information and other important credentials, as well as cause irreversible damage to any given system. The internet is a breeding ground for the latest variants of worms, Trojans and other malware that seek to compromise user security and damage system functionality.
Fortunately, there are many ways to protect a computer from malicious software infections, even before anti-virus software needs to be deployed. It starts in the browser, targeting harmful code that executes itself from a web page.
Follow these simple instructions to set up and use a secure browser:
1. It is important to use Mozilla Firefox as a primary browser as it has been proven by software testers and internet security professionals to provide users with the safest online experience. Users should make sure they’re always updated to the latest version of Firefox as the company’s updates provide critical fixes for security issues and other errors. To download the latest version of Firefox, visit Mozilla’s official website.
2. Once you’ve downloaded the latest version of the browser software, it’s time to set up some basic settings to make Firefox more secure. Go into the "Tools" menu in Firefox and click "Options". This will take you to a menu with several different options. Select the padlock labeled "Security" at the top of the screen. Make sure that "Warn me when sites try to install add-ons", "Block reported attack sites" and "Block reported web forgeries" are checked. You can come back later to add exceptions to the security menu if Firefox blocks a legitimate website.
3. Navigate to the Firefox community add-ons website and perform a search for NoScript. NoScript is an important add-on because it automatically blocks the execution of all scripts and a number of other browser items to prevent infection. Users can easily disable aspects of NoScript’s protection for trusted websites through the NoScript button on the bottom right of the browser window; specifically, users can choose exactly which scripts to run on a page.
4. In addition to NoScript, perform a search for Adblock. Adblock automatically blocks pop-up ads, banner ads and ad services on websites. Internet ads can often contain links to malicious websites or code, or can interrupt the browsing experience by requiring a user to take a survey before entering a certain website. This is just another script to enhance browser safety, although it should be disabled for trusted websites since most websites with free registration make the majority of their profit from ad impressions and ad clicks allowing them to stay open and free without charging their visitors a membership fee.
5. The final add-on for essential browser security is Flashblock. It can easily be downloaded from the Firefox website. The add-on blocks websites that haven’t been added to an exceptions list from displaying Flash (.swf) files which can contain malicious code and infect a user’s computer. If a user wants to run a Flash file, they can click on the Flash file placeholder on the web page and display the file.
It's important to note that although these add-ons provide a more secure browsing experience, they will frequently break web pages that rely on Javascript or Flash in order to be displayed properly. In this case, the user can disable them on individual websites, but should be careful to do this only for sites they trust.
Britney Baker is a freelance blogger who normally ranks prepaid phones for PrepaidCellphones.net. Her latest review covered the Tracphone.
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