Protect Your Home from the Dangers of the Internet FREE

Filtering Unwanted Content

While there are several commercial products (such as SafeEyes) on the market to filter away unwanted material, two freely available products will do the job: Firefox with AdBlock Plus & OpenDNS. Why pay for what you can get freely? No filter is impenetrable; however, you can make it very difficult for anyone in your home to access unauthorized content online.

Firefox with Adblock

Installing Firefox with Adblock could be the best thing that you every did for your web browsing experience. It literally blocks all or nearly all of the advertisements online. You'll never go back! Yet, you should go back on some sites. There are many good sites with tasteful advertising that depend on ad revenue to survive. Just click the Adblock icon on Firefox to disable Adblock on a per site basis. It's fairly straightforward. But first you'll need to get the Firefox web browser using the link above. Install it as your default web browser (you'll thank me later), then visit the download page for Adblock. If you need help setting up Adblock, visit their homepage for an excellent video demonstration

OpenDNS

What is OpenDNS? OpenDNS will enable you to filter out all sorts of content. It can even block social networks. What's better? It does all of this without slowing down your home computer.

OpenDNS is the leading provider of free security and infrastructure services that make the Internet safer through integrated Web content filtering, anti-phishing and DNS.

Get Started With OpenDNS Today! I recommend you set it up to work on your router & let the lady of the house setup the password!

Protecting Your Computer from Viruses

Keeping your computer safe while browsing is really fairly simple. Here are few tips:

Pay attention to where you are browsing

Make sure that you are actually where you intend to be. A popular method of identity theft is called phishing. The bad guys place a link inside an email that appears to go to a legitimate website, but it actually takes you to a phony scam site or possibly a pop-up window that looks exactly like the official site. Before you enter any personal information into a website, make sure that you are on the website you intended. A safe way is to always navigate to financial sites by typing the name into the address bar (paypal.com) instead of clicking a link.

Avoid Illegal Downloads

Just about any software, DVD, music, etc., is available for download. It may seem like a cheap way to "try out" some new software, but it won't be worth the money you "save" by stealing. Illegal downloads are generally loaded with things that harm your computer or attempt to steal personal information stored on your computer.

Use a Virus Scanner

You don't have to spend money for this! Norton and McAfee are expensive and unnecessary. There are many free alternatives. For several years, I have used Avast to protect my home computers. It is free for personal use (although registration is required). All you have to do is install it and ignore it.