Advice for a novice on setting up a critical security defence strategy

Greetings from new member,

First of all a big thanks to those maintaining this forum and it's particpants. I'm learning about computers and security at a fast pace thanks to the info on this platform.

I need to post a question and need advice on where to post it.

Before I make my query, I wish to say this to avoid someone getting impatient with a beginner's basic questions (because I know some people just ask on forums and save themselves from doing their own research, and that's not an appropriate attitude):

My intention is not to get someone to do the thinking for me. On the contrary! I spend a lot of time doing research, but one has to admit that there's extensive info out there and it can get mind dazzling at some point. Also, from browsing this forum I've realised that there's many more risks than I intially thought.

Fact is I am using the internet a lot for personal research and also need to protect data. Therefore, in order to surf and transfer data securely, I need to set up some basic defence strategy. As all the users of this forum are conscious of the risks, we all wish to avoid having our system infected, and then have to repair after. I'm not sure I even have basic security covered.

I am conscious that the forum requires users to know the basics of computers and security in order to run smoothly, but I believe here is the best place one can find updated and expert advice. To illustrate this, I was about to purchase a Maxtor Black Armor encrypted 320GB portable drive, thinking that it would save the CPU on my laptop form being over sollicited compared to software-based encryption. By posting on the forum I then received excellent advice from a helpful member and was able to learn that an open source software-based encryption would be more advisable, would offer the advantage of no backdoor and would neither have the effect I apprehended on CPU. So I came out of the forum making a better choice for a larger portable drive and encryption which is more trustworthy.

So I basically need immediate advice on how to protect the computer so I can continue using the web and beneficial places such as the Wilders Security Forum for research and to increase my knowledge.

I need to post a topic such as : "what should be the basic security setup for immediate protection?" (then I'd give a bit of info on the system I use and what I use the computer for).

Where can I find an appropriate thread to post the above question?

Thank you in advance for any advice and guidance.

Best regards,

TKHGeneva

 

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