If you are running Windows, the following general advice will help keep your computer from becoming infected with the various malware and viruses on the net:
Turn on Windows Automatic Updates – make sure your computer always has the latest updates from Microsoft as soon as possible.
Windows XP
Windows Vista or Windows 7
Download a virus scanner
Free versions are available from (not an exhaustive list):
Avast
AVG
All Microsoft Windows users with licensed copies of Windows are able to download and use Microsoft Security Essentials for free.
Keep your virus scanner up-to-date, both the program itself and its definition files
Set or manually run a full system virus scan at least once a week.
Keep your software up-to-date, especially Java, Adobe products (Acrobat Reader, etc) and Microsoft Office (Automatic Updates will usually keep Office up-to-date)
How to keep Java up-to-date
How to keep Adobe Reader up-to-date
Download the Latest Flash Player
Keep your web browser up-to-date
Internet Explorer (Windows Update should offer the latest version, latest updates)
Download Latest Firefox Browser
Download Latest Google Chrome Browser
Download Latest Safari Browser
Download Latest Opera Browser
Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (It’s free for manual scans!), and make a habit of scanning your computer with it at least once a week.
How to use MalwareBytes Anti-Malware
Never open an email attachment or click any links in an email when you don’t know the sender OR if it is from a financial institution. Whenever possible, directly type in your online banking website address directly into your web browser’s address bar (not the Google/Bing/Yahoo search bar!).
Never tell anyone your passwords
Never re-use any of your passwords for other accounts.
Make sure every password you use is unique to each login/service and difficult to guess. Generally speaking, at least eight characters long, not a dictionary word, includes at least one number and one capital letter and one symbol (example: hTjg6@jm) <– do not use this example, create your own unique password
Setup your email to use secure logins (SSL/TLS). If you are an eve, Inc. customer, contact me for specific directions on how to do this. Include your domain name and mail client (Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007, Thunderbird, etc), and I will provide customized instructions for you.