| Explanation & Hint:
To effectively prevent unauthorized users from accessing your computer remotely, there are several security measures you can take. From the options given, these two are particularly effective:
- Use strong passwords on all user accounts: This is a fundamental security practice. Strong passwords that are unique and complex help protect against brute force attacks and unauthorized access. Ensuring that all user accounts on your computer use strong passwords is crucial for safeguarding against remote intrusions.
- Turn on a firewall: A firewall acts as a barrier between your computer and the internet, controlling both incoming and outgoing traffic based on security rules. By configuring a firewall to deny unauthorized access while allowing legitimate communications, you can significantly reduce the risk of malicious actors accessing your computer remotely.
The other options, while related to security, are less directly effective at preventing remote access:
- Don’t use wireless networks – only wired: While wired networks can sometimes offer more security than wireless networks, simply using a wired connection does not inherently prevent remote access if other security flaws are present (such as weak passwords or vulnerabilities in the system). Moreover, modern wireless networks with strong encryption and security practices can be quite secure.
- Block all cookies: Blocking all cookies does not prevent remote access to your computer. Cookies are used primarily for tracking and storing user preferences on websites, and while they have privacy implications, they do not facilitate remote access to hardware or software systems.
- Block third party cookies: Like blocking all cookies, blocking only third-party cookies helps improve privacy while browsing but does not prevent remote access to your computer. This setting prevents websites from storing cookies that originate from domains other than the one you are currently visiting.
Therefore, using strong passwords and turning on a firewall are the most effective choices from your list to prevent unauthorized remote access to your computer. |