You can protect your computer against attacks from the Internet with Windows Vista integrated Firewall.

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1 1. Step: Firewall Activation You can protect your computer against attacks from the Internet with Windows Vista integrated Firewall. Click on Start > Control Panel > System and Security> Windows Firewall The following window should open: In case the computer is not protected, click on Change Settings and activate the Firewall Be sure that an Anti-Virus software is active on your computer and that it regularly updates itself via the Internet.

2 2. Step: Using a Virus Scanner Be sure that an Anti-Virus software is active on your computer and that it regularly updates itself via the Internet. If you do not have a virus scanner, you should rectify this immediately. You will find a wide range of free Anti-Virus scanners, which can be directly downloaded from the Internet, additionally to complete range of security packages with integrated virus protection from commercial vendors being available. Please consult a specialized dealer to find one that fits your needs, or i.e. revert to a comparative test that are regularly published in computer magazines or on Internet websites. After you have installed the Virus scanner, you should examine your computer by running a complete scan for viruses that are possibly been nestling, You can configure your Virus scanner thereafter that it examines your computer at regularly intervals (i.e. weekly basis). You will usually find configuration guidelines in the software documentation or in the help files. Whilst working on your computer, it is important that the Virus scanner automatically updates via the Internet (so called Auto-Update function) and that the On-Access Mode is active in the background.

3 3. Step: Activate Automatic Updates With activating Windows Vista Automatic Update option, you are making sure that your computer automatically searches for available security-updates and installs them if needed. Thereby automatically closing any security holes. Click on Start > Control Panel > Security > Windows Update > Change Settings The following window should open: Activate the option Install Automatic Updates (recommended) Please note: Always ensure you have the latest version of your browser (e.g. IE9 for Vista )

4 4. Step: Apply Security Backup Regularly backups of your important data onto an external medium, i.e. to a writable CDs, floppy disks or USB memory sticks. If you are unable to access your computer s data, i.e. hardware defect or through a malicious file which has deleted important files, you will be able to fall back to the copies of your backups.. For a simple data backup there are no special applications necessary. It will be enough to secure your important data in regularly intervals with help of a CD burner manually onto CDs. Special backup applications offer comfortable functions which automate this process. To be quite sure, you should test your backup after creating it, whether the desired files are actually present. This prevents in the case of an emergency that a defective backup file of being illusive, and all files will be lost. 5. Step: Setting Password Create a password for your Windows Vista user account to prevent any unauthorized access to your data. Open Windows Settings User Accounts Start > Control Panel > User Accounts and Family Safety > User Accounts > Account Management.

5 In this section you can click make to your own User Account or make changes on another user account. With one click on Create Password you will set a password for the appropriate account. In case your account appears with an additional Password Protection, your account already has a password, and then you can skip this step. The passwords used should not be straightforward and easy to guess, it should hold at least 8 characters and not only consisting of lower case letters. Besides your password for your Windows user account, you should also protect other services, programs, and websites, which hold sensible data, preferably protected them with good passwords.