Step 4 of improving IE and Email Security

Malicious hackers and virus compilers can use insecure settings in your email and Web browser software to intrude into your computer. They can email you or seduce you to browse webpages containing malicious code to achieve their purpose. By improving the security settings of your Microsoft IE browser, Outltlook, and Outlook Express, you can reduce the possibility of attacks.

Now you can take four steps to improve your security:
1. Set the security level of IE to high
2. Add websites that you think are safe to the list of Trusted Sites
3. Read your received email in plain text
4. Block the pop-up window in your browser

Step 1: Set your browser security level to high

When you use IE to browse Web pages, you can improve the security level:
1. Click the Internet option in the tool menu of IE.
2. In the Internet Options dialog box, click Security Label and select the Internet icon.
3. In the security level option of the region, slide the slide to the highest point. In this way, the security level of all your websites is set to the highest. (If there is no slider, click the default level and then slide the slider to the highest point .)

Note: High settings may make some websites unavailable. If you cannot view the webpage normally after changing this setting, you can add the webpage you want to browse to the list of trusted sites. This allows the webpage to be browsed normally with high security settings.

Step 2: Add a security network to the list of Trusted Sites

Setting the IE security level to high may make some website steps accessible, including Microsoft Windows®Update. If you cannot access the website normally after changing the settings, you can add them to the list of trusted sites, which will make the website work normally.

Microsoft recommends that you first add Windows Update (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com) to the list of trusted sites so that you can directly install the always-on system upgrade.

Add a security network to the list of trusted sites:
1. Click Internet in the IE tool menu.
2. In the Internet option dialog box, click Security Label.
3. Click the icon of a trusted site and click the website button.
4. In the trusted Website dialog box, enter the website URL in the "add this website to Region" dialog box and click Add. A trusted site can only start with Http. Deselect the server verification option for all sites in the region.

5. Click OK.
6. Move the slider to the intermediate level in the security level of the region. In this way, the security level of all websites you trust is set to intermediate. (If there is no slider, click the default level and then slide the slider to the highest point .)

Step 3: Read email information in plain text

To help improve the security of your email, set Outlook or Outlook Express to read all information in plain text.

Set plaintext reading information in Outlook Express:
1. Click options in the Outlook Express tool menu.
2. In the option dialog box, Click Read tab.
3. Select plain text to read all information.
4. Click OK.

Set plaintext reading information in Outlook:
1. Click options in the Outlook Express tool menu.
2. In the Options dialog box, click the email Option Button under the tag of the preferred parameter.
3. In the E-mail option dialog box, select read to read all standard emails in text format.
4. Click OK to close the E-mail option dialog box, and then click OK to close the option dialog box.

Step 4: Block the pop-up window in your browser

To protect your computer from being affected by malicious pop-up windows, take some measures to prevent them from opening. Some websites use small browser windows to display advertisements, which is sometimes annoying. Malicious attackers may also use the pop-up window to pretend to be an advertisement or suggest installing malicious code on your computer.

An effective method is to install a tool in your browser to prevent pop-up windows. Most similar software is compatible with IE, including the free MSN toolbar.