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You don't have to spend a fortune to protect your computer system. Avoid getting infected by a virus with our five ways to keep your email clean and secure

At the tail end of the noughties, people were rushing to set up their yahoo and hotmail accounts. The idea of email was exciting and people generally took greater care with their messages, often treating an email with the care and craft more associated with a letter. Nowadays, emails are invariably short, brutish and sometimes, thanks to spam and viruses, extremely nasty.

1) Settings change

Make sure that all users are running in ‘non-privileged accounts’ on your email system. Should your computers become infected, this will contain the damage to your email and prevent the virus from getting on the whole system. Go to the properties in your user account and check the settings are set to basic instead of administrator.

2) All systems go

Security software must be aligned and up-to-date. If just one machine isn’t, it could harm the rest of your system. This includes downloading and installing patches, new anti-virus software, and upgrades to your web browser.


3) Shielding viruses

Most operating systems already have a firewall built in, but it needs to be switched on and regularly updated. Don’t install software from websites you are not familiar with or open attachments in e-mails where you don’t know the sender.


4) Spam filter

The main way to reduce spam is through your e-mail provider. Most should pick up the vast majority before it ever reaches you. But if a lot of your inbox is being filled with junk, you should talk to your provider or consider switching. When occasional spam gets through the system, create your own list of junk. Over time this will reduce the amount you will receive and provide a further layer of filtering.


5) Back up

There are a variety of spyware and malware programmes. Many of these will, at worst, slow your computers down, but if something pernicious does get on your system, it could wreak havoc with your data. In the eventually of this happening, and as a matter of business continuity, it is always a good idea to make sure your systems are all fully backed up.

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