My Online Safety Protocol

Staying safe on the web is like staying safe on the moon. There's no atmosphere and therefore no air, so you need a special suit just to breathe.� Even if you are as careful as possible, accidents can happen, and nothing will protect you enough if you get hit by a meteor.� Okay, bad analogy, but you should realize that there is only one way to be safe on the internet:� be a hermit.
I have developed a list of four simple but often ignored rules to live by for online safety:

1. Control what loads!
2. Use competent software.
3. Don't trust strangers!
4. Never use ill-gotten software.

Control what loads!

If using Windows, use your hosts file (C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts) to block known attack sites from loading on your computer.� Use handy browser-based safety tools like AdBlock and NoScript while browsing unfamiliar sites.� Word of caution, though:� these tools default to enabled, so they should be disabled for sites you trust, like your blog and e-mail service, but never disable them completely.� NoScript can allow you to whitelist specific domains and still block everything off-site.� My suggestion is to blacklist any and all advertising domains to prevent advertisements from running scripts.

Use competent software.

Most of the time, the reason a user will get a virus is that user is using poorly designed or outdated software.� You would be surprised how many security patches are in each Steam client update.� Thankfully, it auto-updates.� What about software that does not have that luxury?� I recommend checking for updates to all the software that runs on your computer once per month and always follow through with those updates.

Don't trust strangers!

Use a firewall to keep unwelcome guests from entering your network.� Keep unused ports closed.� I honestly have very little experience with port control since I almost never have access to the router.� I simply connect to a network most of the time, so I require a personal firewall.� I recommend Windows Firewall, because it is in Windows 7 and Windows 8 by default.� However, there are other, more advanced options to be found if you just do a Google search.

Never use ill-gotten software.

Let me rephrase that to be more clear:� Never use data from untrusted or unknown sources.� Do not even access that data.� Do not download it.� Do not look at it on the web.�� Do not take a CD of pirated software from a friend.� If your friend pirates anything, even videos or pictures, he's not trustworthy when it comes to the safety of your electronics.� Do not go to peer-to-peer file-sharing sites like Pirate Bay or Demonoid.� Stay away from those kinds of activities.� Can't afford Photoshop?� I hear ya, bro.� Use Gimp instead.� Of course, you could just do a quick google search.� Oh, look at that, Paint.Net!

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