http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/07/technology/personaltech
It’s pretty important to make sure you are running the latest security products on your PC. This article doesn’t get very specific, but it does sound the alarm on PC security. I work in the IT field and spend a lot of time keeping up on the latest trends, products and issues for my company. Read this article and then be sure you are doing at LEAST the following:
-Run the latest virus software with the latest virus definition patches. (just install the software and make sure it’s automatically getting updates)
-Run a firewall on your PC. Zonealarm makes a pretty good free one, and if you are running XP with service pack 2, there is one in Windows
-Run a Spyware application such as Lavasoft Adaware or Spybot. Run both. Reviews have found that no one application gets them all.
-Never, ever, ever use your laptop on a free wireless LAN, (or one for a fee even) without using some sort of encryption software such as IPSEC. It is not recommended that you do any of your banking, investing etc from a wireless access point unless it is in your own home and you are using either 128bit WEP encryption (weak), or WPA security. If you have your -own access point today, be sure you are using the wireless security.