It is most unfortunate fact that a strong defensive shield of security applications is no longer an option when connecting to the Internet. It is essential !!!

We believe that a minimum acceptable level of security can be achieved by following our Four Pillars of Internet Security, which are:

1. An effective firewall.
2. An antivirus application.
3. Strong Anti-spyware tools.
4. Regular updates of all security related software.

If you accomplish all this, you will have created the Minimum Safe PC.

But this is the minimum. It is just the bare essentials. There certainly is a lot more that can and should be be done to further increase your security. But that depends a lot on your specific uses of the Internet, and your specific needs. For instance, you may wish to add anti-spam software, some data encryption, and some other specific security related tools. Most everybody should also have an effective backup plan that includes backups that are kept off-site.
So here, in more detail, is the Minimum Safe PC:

1) An effective firewall:

It has gotten so bad that it is very risky to connect any computer to the Internet without a firewall, even for a few minutes.

For dial-up, a software firewall will probably be sufficient.

For broadband, we recommend the use of both a software and a hardware firewall.

If you have XP with service pack 2, the built in firewall is acceptable. If you do nothing else, use this !
Some Internet security suites include a firewall. If you use one of these suites, definitely activate the firewall. But again, we also recommend using a router type hardware firewall in conjunction with any or the software firewalls.

For the hardware firewall we recommend (at the minimum) a “NAT” (Network Address Translation) router, which acts as a basic hardware firewall. There are quite a number of these on the market. But we should note that we consider a basic NAT router to be inadequate by itself. Some serious attacks can go right around them, which is why you must also have a software firewall. Nonetheless, a basic NAT router is able to block most of the attacks, and this takes the load off the software firewall. It is much better if you router also includes basic packet inspection, or better yet, stateful packet inspection (SPI), in addition to NAT.

Please note that many DSL modems and possibly also some cable modems include a router. Check your documentation. (Clue: if you can connect multiple computers directly to your modem, it probably has a built in NAT router.)

With a little careful shopping a basic wired NAT router can be found for less than $35.

If you use wireless. It is extremely important to activate security functions, including WPA.  Also please make sure that remote administration is turned off, and the default administrative password is changed to something secure.  And insure that every computer on your wireless network also has an effective firewall.

2) An antivirus application:

3) Anti-spyware tools:

4) Update all security related software:

On a regular basis, update all security related software. It is highly recommended that you set all your security related software to automatically update. This is especially important for antivirus software. But this is also very important for antispyware software. And it is very important for operating system software. Make it part of your regular routine to check for updates frequently.

And by frequently, we mean every day or two for anti-virus software. And every week or two for other security related software. Better yet, just configure all your security related software to do automatic updates, when that option is available..

A great tool for keeping your system patched and up-to-date has been provided by Secunia.  Called Secunia PSI, it is available in both online and installed verions.  Get it at http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/

If your system meets this minimum level of protection, you can be reasonably well assured that you can safely connect your computer to the Internet.  Just remember that security is an ongoing process.

For specific security software recommendations please go to http://internet-insecurity.com/blog/recommended-software/

Updated 3/27/2010