- How-To Booklet
- 1. How to protect your computer from malware and hackers
- 2. How to protect your information from physical threats
- 3. How to create and maintain secure passwords
- 4. How to protect the sensitive files on your computer
- 5. How to recover from information loss
- 6. How to destroy sensitive information
- 7. How to keep your Internet communication private
- 8. How to remain anonymous and bypass censorship on the Internet
- Glossary
- Hands-On Guides
- Avast - anti-virus
- Spybot - anti-spyware
- Comodo - firewall
- KeePass - secure password storage
- TrueCrypt - secure file storage
- Cobian - backup
- Undelete Plus - file recovery
- Eraser - secure file removal
- CCleaner - temporary file removal
- Riseup - secure email service
- Pidgin + OTR - secure instant messaging
- VaultletSuite - secure mail client
- Thunderbird + Enigmail - secure mail client
- Firefox - Web browser
- Tor - anonymity and circumvention
- portable security
FAQ and Review
Submitted by genner on Fri, 11/07/2008 - 22:19.
5.1 Review questions
Elena and Nikolai find this program easy enough to use, but they are still not quite sure that they know enough about all the things that it does.
Q: What if I am using a computer in an Internet café that doesn't have a virus cleaner installed. How can I be sure that my documents will not be infected?
A: An excellent question! And it's good to see that you are realising how dangerous viruses are. Using public computers is very risky business. You never know what type of malicious software may lurk on them. Here is a simple piece of advice: Do not use public computers for sensitive work unless you have absolutely no alternative.
Here is a more useful piece of advice, however. There is a portable version of the Avast virus cleaner that you can put on a USB memory stick in order to scan other computers. It is a basic version of Avast, but it scans for the same viruses as the main program, as long as it is up-to-date. You can download the latest version of the program from the Avast website.
Q: I have several computers and a slow Internet connection. How can I download the virus definition updates and share them with all of my computers?
A: You can download the latest program updates from http://www.avast.com/eng/update_avast_4_vps.html.
Q: What happens to the files in the Virus Chest if I uninstall Avast?
A: All files in the Virus Chest will be deleted if you uninstall the program
Q: Do I need to have the Avast On-Access Scanner permanently running?
A: It is best that you have the On-Access Scanner working all the time, especially if you are connected to the Internet, reading new email or inserting removable media into your computer.
Q: I have a very slow connection to the Internet. Is there a way I can limit the number of times that Avast checks for updates?
A: You can set the frequency of updates from the main Avast interface by performing the following steps:
Step 1. Click: 
and choose Settings.
Step 2. Select Update (Basic) from the list on the left.
Step 3. Click Details on the bottom right. Change the number under Auto-Update Interval from 240 minutes to something more appropriate.
5.1 Review questions
- How can you scan a specific folder for viruses in Avast?
- For how many months can you use Avast before registering it?
- What is the difference between deleting a virus and moving it to the Virus Chest?
- Is it possible to move a document that is not infected by a virus to the Virus Chest?
- What is the purpose of a boot-time scan?