Spyware Protection - 3 Things Vital to Keeping Your Computer Spyware Free

When most people talk about Spyware Protection, that talk is centered on the use of antispyware software. And while that undoubtedly is a very important part of it, there are a couple of other important things you can do to help protect your computer from spyware.
Windows Updates
If you are a Microsoft Windows user, then you need to ensure that you are regularly updating your computer with the security patches that Microsoft releases and are doing it a timely fashion. Those security loopholes that exist in the Windows operating system are the same loopholes that hackers key in on when they are writing spyware and adware programs and thus it becomes vital that you close those loopholes as soon as Microsoft does.
The best way to accomplish this is to enable automatic Windows updates on your computer because if you rely on updating your computer manually, chances are very high that you'll likely forget and fall behind which only means that those security exploits are open longer increasing the chance you'll get infected with malware.
Firewall
The purpose of a firewall, plain and simple, is to block malicious software from making it onto to your computer and there are actually two kinds of firewalls, a software firewall and a hardware firewall.
Software firewalls are applications within your operating system that you can turn on or off via a click of the mouse, with Windows Firewall being an example of this.
A hardware firewall is a physical device that is installed between your internet connection and your computer and is typically more reliable than a software firewall is. You can either buy a dedicated hardware firewall or if you use a router, you can get one that has a firewall incorporated within it.
And even though hardware firewalls are more reliable than software firewalls, it is in your best interest to do both as it only increases the layers of protection for your computer.
Antispyware Software
I briefly mentioned it earlier, but running top notch antispyware software really is crucial to keeping your computer free of spyware and adware. While I don't recommend it, if you never ran windows updates and didn't use a firewall of any kind if you were to run a top spyware remover with real time protection you could realistically find that you will never get infected with malware.
One quick word about free antispyware software - avoid it. While most people would have you believe that it is just as effective as antispyware software that you pay for, the reality is that it is not. Free programs use a very simplistic scanning method to find spyware infections and typically only find spyware or adware that is common or well known and very often miss the most dangerous and harmful forms of spyware.
If you incorporate all three of these things - ensuring Windows Updates are turned on and set to automatically update, using a hardware and software firewall, and most importantly using top rated antispyware software, you'll go a long way towards providing the very best protection against spyware and adware.

By Paul McDonald