Protect Your PC on the Road

After that, there are several steps you should take to prepare your laptop for life on the road:

• Disable file and printer sharing on your PC. You might use this to share files at home, but unless you specifically need to do this with someone on the road, shut this off. It's fairly easy to execute, and your operating system's help screen can guide you.
• Cover or disable the Infrared Port on your laptop. It's handy when syncing your Palm, but it's possible to use the IR port to browse someone else's files from across a conference-room table without them knowing it.
• If your computer uses a guest account, be sure to disable it too. A lot of ugly bugs can come in through this account. You can find this under "administrative tools"-"computer management" or "users and groups." You can tell it's disabled when the small user icon has a red X on it.
• Keep your operating system up to date with the critical patches released by the vendor. Most systems have the ability to automatically update from the Web.
• Be sure your laptop is loaded with the latest security software. The three most important ones are virus scanners, software firewalls and spyware scanners. And keep the files current by frequently running the update procedure. A lot of this software is very inexpensive, and in some cases, like Ad-Aware personal SE free, so you don't have any excuse not to use it.
• If you're using a Bluetooth-enabled device, disable discovery mode. Bluetooth PDAs are vulnerable to bluejacking, which exploits discover mode to drop viruses that access your contact addresses and phone numbers.

If it's absolutely necessary to conduct transactions over a public wireless hotspot that includes your account or password information, remember that unless it's encrypted, any data that leaves your computer can be read by anyone else.

Be sure to look for the locked padlock icon on your browser (often in the lower right-hand corner) that shows that you're using an SSL (secure-sockets layer)-encrypted session. You can also check that the Web site is using a secure server by looking at the URL; a secure server has "https://" in its address, rather than the usual "http://."

Employ great care if you're using a PC that's not your own, such as a shared computer in a hotel business center or on a conference floor -- you don't know what kind of security software has been installed on the computer, so don't assume your session will be private.

Some hackers install keylogging software on shared computers to record and distribute personal-account information, so never use a public computer for something like personal banking.

A good idea is to always clear your browser cache and cookies before logging off. If Internet Explorer is your browser, do this by selecting "tools"-"Internet options" and clicking "delete cookies," "delete files" and "clear history." Or check your browser's "help" menu for the commands.

It's nearly impossible to make a computer invulnerable to well-financed, dedicated hackers, but why make it easy for them? A few simple steps will help insure you're helping to protect yourself.

Your final task to ensure a safe computer? Find a vacation spot that doesn't have Internet access.

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