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INTRODUCTION GEEK SPEAK CONTROL VIRUSES DEAL WITH SPYWARE AVOID PHISHING SCAMS MAILBOXES FOR SPAM PATCHES AND UPDATES FIREWALLS DEMYSTIFIED SHOP ONLINE SAFELY AVOID HACKERS BACK UP YOUR DATA TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT WRITER FEEDBACK

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CERT HOME USER GUIDE MS SECURITY BASIC MS SECURITY ADVANCED MORE SECURITY BASICS BUSTING HOAXES PROTECT RIGHTS ONLINE GUIDE TO RAID HOW FIREWALLS WORK ADVANCED TOPICS

SENSIBLE INFORMATION SECURITY PRACTICES FOR AVERAGE USERS

WELCOME! THIS WEB TUTORIAL IS DESIGNED TO HELP USERS BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW THEY CAN PROTECT THEIR DATA WHILE ON THE WEB AND EVEN WHEN THEY ARE NOT. This tutorial is targeted at Microsoft product home and business users who want to make themselves more security conscious online, especially when it comes to protecting their personal and business data from loss or theft. The general tone is directed at those who know - or are willing to find out on their own - how to use a browser to download software and how to make at least minor changes to their system and software. This tutorial also hopes to cut through all of the fear-mongering sales pitches and media hype to let you know what you need and what you don't need in order to be more secure. Avoiding what's known as FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt), and replacing it with knowledge is always a good thing.

Here's what you'll learn in this tutorial:

• How to keep malicious hackers off your computer
  - We'll discuss antivirus and spyware software. Plus software firewalls (aka personal firewalls) and hardware firewalls. Plus patching - even if you've been beat over the head by Microsoft about patching as of late, it's worth discussing if you want to be protected.
• How to keep from losing your data if your computer crashes
  - We'll consider the myriad ways to back up your data.
• How to protect your personal data when you're online
  - We'll discuss setting up spam email accounts (yes, accounts just for your spam), and avoiding phishing scams.

A brief word about what this tutorial is NOT. This isn't a guide to purchasing or a review of any specific software. I've gone out of my way to not include the name of a single piece of commercial software besides the Microsoft OS (GS)* products that I may have to mention by name from time to time.
*please see the 'Geek Speak' page for an explanation of the (GS) icons used throughout the tutorial.

If I were to provide the general sophistication level of the information in this tutorial on a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being for a complete newbie and 10 being for a computer expert, this tutorial is targeted at the 3 to 7 crowd. If that's you, welcome to the Protecting Your PC Data Online and Offline tutorial. If that's not you, well, you might learn something anyway - and there will be some advanced tips along the way.

To quote a fellow tutorial/lesson writer from a review he wrote about another technical tutorial: "The writing is free of the prolixity and expletive deadwood that I find hampers most guides aimed at new users." The quote does not apply to this tutorial, as the subject matter is somewhat esoteric at times, and short explanations could just as easily mislead the user rather than improve her overall view of computer security. Besides, you're not new user (newbie), anyway. A general user. A novice. But not a newbie. okay, so why don't we get started?