Computer security has come a long way in the last 15 years, and the days of needing multiple bits of antivirus and anti-spyware software to keep your Windows XP machine secure are largely behind us. Having said that, the information we share with our computers is potentially more damaging than ever, and there could be serious consequences if your device were to be compromised by a malicious attacker. Cybersecurity doesn't have to be hard, and ensuring you're not the easy target is often half the game. That said, here are a few easy to install bits of software that will help ensure your computer is safe and secure online.

5 Antivirus software

Antivirus is still a good idea in 2024

The debate on whether you still need antivirus software on your PC has been raging for years. It's even something we've covered on XDA with respect to Linux. Here at XDA we do recommend using a trustworthy antivirus of some kind, whether it's a third-party offering or the integrated Windows security suite. Modern antivirus programs are unlikely to cause the same performance hitches that the software was famous for in the '90s, '00s, and even last decade. In addition to a smoother experience, it also offers protection from a range of common and known threats. It's far from foolproof, and many modern antivirus software programs try and bundle a range of other (often unnecessary) protections. But it is still worthwhile to find one that you are comfortable using.

In the past decade, the integrated Windows Security suite (previously known as Microsoft Security Essentials, among other names) has improved significantly. This built-in antivirus should be more than adequate on Windows, and we'd recommend you take a moment to ensure that it's enabled on your PC and maybe even run a quick scan. On macOS, there's no first-party antivirus provided. While its Unix-like nature makes it somewhat more secure, macOS is far from foolproof and still often relies on downloading binaries from the internet to install software. We have separate recommendations for the best antivirus software for your Mac, and we would recommend installing one of them.

4 Firewall

Double-check that your OS is protecting you

Your firewall is an oft-forgotten but essential part of your computer's security suite. A firewall blocks incoming and outgoing connections from your PC, typically letting some pass through on the basis of a set of rules. Firewalls have fallen somewhat out of the discussion over the last decade or two, mostly because people have been relying on their routers (and NAT) to protect them from arbitrary incoming connections to their PC. But this isn't always reliable, nor necessarily in your control if you've been using an ISP provided router. If you're using standard IPv6 (internet protocol) you may already be exposed to incoming connections from the internet that could potentially attack your PC.

Windows and macOS both have firewalls built in that you can customize easily within the OS. Both should be enabled by default, but it's worth checking if they are enabled. You can check your firewall status by either searching Firewall in Windows search, or by going to Systems Settings on macOS and selecting Network > Firewall to verify that it's enabled.

3 Password manager

Essential for protecting your security online

One of the best recommendations for keeping your privacy secure online is a good password manager. Password managers can help you in several ways, some more obvious than others. In theory, they can protect you from some keyloggers stealing your most secure passwords - though if your PC was totally compromised, we wouldn't expect this to make much difference aside from slowing an attacker down. More importantly, they encourage and make it easy to use randomly generated, complex passwords across your accounts. By using a unique password for each account, the blast radius of a compromised account or password is significantly reduced. One of the most prevalent dangers online is malicious users being able to use repeated passwords from compromised services to traverse your accounts and access your data, steal your identity, or commit other cyber crimes. Often, the compromised services are accounts you've completely forgotten you had, and if you're using a shared password between them, then this could open up multiple other accounts extremely quickly.

There are convenient benefits to having a password manager as well, like allowing easy and secure synchronization of your accounts between devices, without needing to grant the provider access to your plaintext passwords.

2 Virtual Private Network (VPN)

VPNs can help with your security

The benefits of using a VPN for security are often touted and even exaggerated in what they can and can't protect you against. But a VPN is a strong security tool which can help protect your privacy from would-be attackers, governments, and even your ISP. A VPN creates an encrypted tunnel between you and a destination server somewhere else on the internet, passing all your traffic through it before it reaches the wider internet. This can protect you from your ISP sniffing some elements of your traffic, like DNS requests, which can be used to build up a profile of your activity and potentially the sites you visit. Similarly, VPNs can help ensure that all of your traffic is encrypted by default when using potentially vulnerable public Wi-Fi networks. While most of your traffic is already encrypted, there are some specific bits of data or attack vectors that can exist on public Wi-Fi, so it's a good idea to use one.

VPNs also have additional benefits, like helping to access geolocked content. If you're looking for extra protection while traveling, or trying to access your home services while away, we've got guides on running your own Tailscale VPN from home.

1 Browser extensions

This one will vary based on your browser

A final bit of software you can install to help improve your privacy online would be some sensible browser extensions. These would include things like HTTPs Everywhere, which ensures that you're always using HTTPs when connecting to websites (and hence your connection is always encrypted). uBlock Origin is another essential tool, not just for blocking ads, but for blocking a range of malicious scripts that may run in your browser. This could be anything from tracking software to bitcoin miners. If you're not looking for an ad-blocker, Privacy Badger is another great extension that learns tracking cookies from across the internet, then detects and blocks them. This is more intelligent than traditional blockers that operate on large blocklists of known tracking scripts. All of these extensions should work across Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.

Looking after your security doesn't need to be difficult.

While the security of your devices has arguably never been better, the dangers involved with a compromised machine have also never been more serious. By taking a few simple steps, like not reusing passwords and ensuring you don't download files or attachments from unknown sources, you can greatly reduce this threat.