There are three things that everyone should have in place on their home network.
- A firewall
- Anti-virus Software
- Anti-spyware Software
The firewall is a tool for separating networks. Think of it more as a doorman than a wall. I think the tech guys just thought firewall sounded better in the beginning. The doorman or receptionist's job is to keep the wrong visitors out and admit the right ones. It's not perfect and there are ways to get around it. The most common is when traffic is initiated from the inside. Like when I send you an email with a link to a website; that you dutifully click on. This tells the firewall that you wanted the communication in the first place. That is one way to get the bad stuff past the firewall - it's not foolproof. The better firewalls are on the lookout for bad data trying to get through.
It is ideal to have a firewall on your network; that is at the point of origin in your house (by the cable or DSL modem). It should be an appliance - a physical box separate from your computer. It will handle the bulk of the work and screen all sorts of bad stuff.
It is also ideal to have a software firewall on your computer - desktop or laptop. This does not need to be some robust system like Norton Internet Security because your appliance is carrying the bulk of the workload. This firewall gives you more control over who your computer tries to contact - outbound traffic. On a laptop this is an essential tool if you ever connect to public networks where such a lightweight firewall prevents many disasters. This local firewall let's you more easily keep those programs you just installed from reaching out to the web - ah you didn't know they did that, huh. Remember though, the more robust (read powerful) this firewall is the more of your computer's resources it will consume; which means slower downloads, graphics processing, etc.
Anti-virus software is like the linebacker behind the firewall. It prowls around and makes sure that anything that gets through gets special attention. It also fills the role of a free safety by making sure that everthing crossing the line is covered. In other words - for the non-football minded - this software makes sure that the code (program) that is malicious is not able to install or run. How it does this is not really important here; what is important is having it installed and running ALL THE TIME!
Anti-spyware is still evolving and is useful for preventing some of the methods used for tracking your activity on the computer. Try a few like Spybot, Adaware, Microsoft, and the others; then see which combination is best for you since none get everything.
When it doubt... Google the application that is trying to reach the web, or the term you do not understand. Google and Wikipedia are your friend and partner on this and will help choose the right programs to deny access to the web.
That's the quick and dirty. For more advice, send an email.
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