Before your online home business will be very profitable...think about your security.

This is a must-be-done, because your online home business is important! When a friend of mine tried to elevate his online business to a high level he did not care enough about beeing safe from hackers and other internet sharks.

The money-making resources were really breath-taking and he was so elated that he "forgot" his security. He made a mistake. A big mistake.

It is perfectly OK to enjoy the fruits of one`s own work, but when money comes you must care about this factor. In fact, you must care about it before.

So, before you run a good online home business take care of the following:

Do not click links in unsolicited email messages. Do not fill out forms in e-mail messages:

E-mail may not be from who it claims to be from (i.e. spoofed). Many common Internet frauds start with spoofed e-mail.

And running an online home business means that you potentially will recieve a lot of those muck. The email attachment in fraudulent e-mails usually is a Trojan horse . The objective of Trojan horse is to gain control of victim's computer.

Viruses can be delivered to your computer by simply looking at a web page using a vulnerable web browser.

Verify website identity before entering passphrase:

Fraudulent "phishing" websites designed to trick you into divulging your password or other sensitive information are common. Spoofed e-mail is commonly used to lure victims to phishing websites. Never assume that a website is the website you intended to be at based on its appearance.

Only for websites with installed appropiate security software: Before entering your password, ensure you are at the real website by:

a) Checking for an active yellow lock symbol on the bottom right hand corner of your browser.

b) Checking the browser location bar for a site name beginning with: https://www instead of http://www.

c) Checking the SSL certificate

Use an Anti-Virus program:

If you follow all of the recommendations from this page a virus will have difficulty infecting your computer.

However, since a computer virus can be a vehicle for a criminal to gain total control of your computer and thereby any information stored on, sent by, or received by your computer, it is prudent to install antivirus software from a reputable source and run it regularly.

Since new viruses are discovered daily, it is important to keep antivirus software and the virus definitions it uses for detection up to date at all times.

Keep your operating system and applications updated:

Use Windows Update to make sure you have the latest security patches installed. Also check for updates to your application programs, especially Microsoft Office.

Use a hardware and/or software firewall: A firewall can protect your computer from malicious traffic. A hardware firewall/router (such as the many offerings of companies like Linksys, D-Link, SMC, and others) acts as a barrier between the outside world and your computer.

A software firewall, such as ZoneAlarm, performs that function to a lesser degree but can also block malicious programs on your computer from sending data out to the Internet. Windows XP includes a simple firewall but it is disabled by default. The free version of ZoneAlarm does a very nice job.

Do not run untrusted applications:

Running any program that arrives via email or that was downloaded from the Internet can be dangerous. Only run applications that you wish to grant complete access to your computer and the data contained on it.

Maintain your online home business safe.

Upgrade to a better web browser:

Mozilla's Firefox is available for almost every operating system and has many security and privacy advantages. The features are many and you can download it for free.

Educate yourself:

And become a smarter computer user with regard to security issues.

I hope that before you establish your online home business you raise your guard and doing so let hecker`s pockets emptier than yours.

For your online business see also...
Smart Online Business Opportunities For Partners In Christ