I posted this in an IB thread, but somehow I just thought more ppl should read this, so I created an extra thread. Everything presumes a MS Windows based system: - Use a hardware firewall / router. - In addition, use a good software firewall. Agnitum Outpost or Comodo are ok. BE TOTALLY RESTRICTIVE WITH CREATING ANY ACCESS RULES. - Keep the system patched. - Use a safe browser. IE5/6 is totally unsafe, 7 is still unsafe, Firefox as well. I recommend Opera. Best solution: Use VMware for Internet browsing etc. (see below) - Use VMWare or virtualPC: If you do something "risky", like opening a mailed document etc., use this virtual machine. You can "throw away" the used machine later, restore it's original state or use a non-solid harddisk. - Additionally, use a good virus scanner like NOD32, but the points above are far more important. Generally speaking, virus scanners are only little help today and they are "overvalued", since most of the dangerous attacks are 0day (even "0hour"), where none of the AV-companies has a signature. You could also use a safe OS, like OpenBSD. But this is inconvenient, indeed. Advanced users can check their system using IceSword or a similar tool. Feel free to expand this list. Substantiated thoughts only, pls.
FF had several severe holes in the past!! (buffer overflows) An example, check http://www.milw0rm.com/exploits/3340 http://www.milw0rm.com/exploits/2082 (this is a site for programmers) Opera had far less holes.
probably the best tip is not to use a windows based system! A Mac is going to be far more reliable and secure, and if the worst happens, you can reformat and re-install the whole OS from scratch and be back up and running in under 50 minutes. No need for virus killers either...