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Attacks on your PC can occur in many different ways, more so if it is always connected to the net. However, by being cautious and taking the necessary measures to protect yourself, you can reduce security risks to almost zero.

Apart from the known necessary protection like a firewall and anti-virus program, here are some quick tips to apply:

1. Have you OS show file extensions

Due to the fact that Windows hides files extensions, you may open a seemingly inoffensive e-mail attachment, thinking it is a text file, when it actually is an executable file with a virus. If a file is sent, for example, called "instructions.txt.exe" and your OS does not show file extensions, you will see it as "instructions.txt" and think it is a harmless text file.

To show file extensions in Windows, open Windows Explorer, click on Tools - Folder Options - View, and uncheck "Hide file extensions for known file types".

2. Turn off e-mail preview pane

In some e-mail software, like MS Outlook, there is a preview pane that shows the content of an e-mail before you open it. It is a handy option for quick-reads, but the problem is that is actually opens the e-mail to show you its content. Due to the fact that viruses can be included into the code of an e-mail message, not only in attachments, just by opening an e-mail your PC can be infected. So, for enhanced security, it is best to turn off the preview pane altogether and avoid unwanted e-mail to be opened by the application.

3. Check your network configuration

As the internet is a worldwide network of interconnected computers, when surfing, your PC is connected to this network. On the other hand, if you have a home LAN, your PC will be connected to two different networks, your LAN and the internet, and both networks normally use the TCP/IP protocol for transferring and receiving data. For this reason, it is important to check that your network configuration does not allow access to your LAN through the internet. For example, you may have a shared printer, drive, or file, but it may be configured to be available for everybody on the network, if not configured correctly, this may mean that anybody with some network knowledge can access it from the internet.

Ways of avoiding this security risk is to make sure that your LAN configuration does not allow access from your internet connection, establish a password on your shared items on the LAN, or simply use a protocol different from TCP/IP for your LAN, like ISP/SPX or NetBEUI.