This means keeping your operating system, browsers and software updated, paying for decent but not overbearing virus and malware protection, installing browser extensions for web privacy and security, and getting into smart security habits.
The guide is meant for everyone who uses a computer.
Sometimes the person who is confident in their setup or too confident, ends up clicking the wrong link, or downloading the wrong PDF, an infecting their system with Computers, browsers, and important apps receive updates more frequently now than in the late-1990s/early-2000s, the heyday of viruses, and the updates are often automatic and hard to avoid.
The current good thing is that there are anti-virus updates and people mustn't delay these updates, because they often contain important security fixes.
Operating systems like Windows 10 automatically installs updates, unless you go to some lengths to delay them.
MacOS can install system updates automatically, and even automatically applies updates to apps you've downloaded through the official App Store. Chrome books automatically update when you restart them (so you have to shut them down sometimes, instead of just putting them to sleep by closing them).
If you haven't updated to the latest version of your OS, particularly if you're still on Windows 7 or 8 and haven't updated to Windows 10, you should do so as soon as possible.
It's frustrating to turn on your computer to do something and then wait while a large, slow update installs, and it's annoying when that update breaks a drive or messes up your software, as sometimes happens. But system updates are usually smaller, faster, and less disruptive than the big overnight-download updates that came to earlier Windows and Mac versions, and they're important for keeping your computer secure.
Firefox automatically download updates and install them the next time you launch the browser.
But if you tend to leave huge collections of tabs open for days, you should restart when you see an available update and allow the browser to restore your tabs.
Microsoft's Edge browser update along with Windows updates, and Safari receives updates through Apple's App Store. Extensions installed in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge also update automatically.
Some apps bug you incessantly about tiny updates, while others never let you know about important fixes. If you use a program often, and especially if it connects to the Web (and most of them do), enable any "check for update" options in its settings If you use a large collection of desktop apps, you should automate updating for a consumer to install any additional antivirus," said Rich Mogull, CEO and analyst at independent security research firm Securosis. "Operating systems have come an extremely long way since the days of Windows XP and rampant infections."
Windows Defender is good enough for most people using Windows as it receives regular updates from a dedicated security team, it doesn't monopolize resources, it doesn't bug you about upgrades or install unwanted programs, and the company behind it, Microsoft, would have a lot to lose if its built-in security app were to do something underhanded.
In Windows 10, Defender is set up to update itself automatically, run in the background, and bug you only if it hasn't been able to do a system wide scan in a long while because you've been busy.
It is advisable not to disable it, and not to stop the updates.
Apple's built-in protections are good enough that Mac owners don't need an all-in-one security suite like Norton or McAfee either, especially if they stick to good security habits, such as downloading apps from the App Store whenever possible.
