Q: Is it safe to surf the Internet using an administrative account on Windows?
A: No. Using a non-administrative account mitigates 92% of Microsoft vulnerabilities with a critical severity rating.
Microsoft
really shot itself in the foot with Windows, as its initial
administration, where users create logins, leads users to believe that
only one login is necessary, when in fact there should be a minimum of
two: one with administrative privileges that is only used to install
software and fix system problems, and one without administrative
privilege for general use. And its Windows 10 attempt to force
users to use online Microsoft logins perpetuates the situation, as users
should be encouraged to create a local administrative login as well as a
regular login to surf the Internet (to create a local login on a new Windows 10 system, do not connect to the Internet).
Q: Does a safe way of doing online banking exist?
A: Bank via LiveCD/DVD or LiveUSB, running Linux instead of Windows in a temporary session, though UEFI SecureBoot will need to be temporarily disabled in BIOS. Some PCs with a CD/DVD drive boot from a CD/DVD
by default; some require pressing a specific key as soon as the first boot screen is seen; some won't allow it until BIOS options are properly set; most require BIOS options to be set to boot from a USB flash drive. Read advice here from Ubuntu and Arch. Linux distributions Linux Mint (a fork of Ubuntu; read user's manual), Manjaro (an Arch fork; read help) and Linux Lite (an Ubuntu fork designed for Windows refugees; read help) are recommended.
If
you have a PC running Windows XP, Vista, 7, or 8, a LiveCD/DVD or Live USB would
be a much safer way to surf the Internet. Even better -- and faster
-- would be to replace the HDD with an SSD, and install Linux on it.
Q: What is the best antivirus for Windows?
A: Read the findings of the top-two labs, AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives. Your author recommends
pccobbler
This is the blog for pccobbler: former software engineer and IT consultant.