[ Cross posted from LockerGnome ]

Robert Scoble recently posted a list of things he does to keep himself safe in today’s world of security hazards.

While some are common sense, it’s often good to be reminded of the basics. And, while Robert is a Microsoft Evangelist, these tips apply quite broadly.

Here is the list in short form, click through to the main article for the full post as well as all the fun comments:

1) Install Windows XP Service Pack 2.
2) Get a good anti-virus program.
3) Get a good two-way firewall on every machine.
4) Get a hardware-based firewall or NAT at point of network entry.
5) Turn on automatic updating.
6) Run the latest email and Web clients.
7) Visit www.microsoft.com/security regularly.
8) Run at least one good anti-spyware program like Adaware or Webroot’s Spy Sweeper or Spyware Blaster.
9) If you visit high-risk Websites, turn off ActiveX and scripting in your browser.
10) Don’t run in administrator mode.
11) Keep an install partition on each of your machines [or using Imaging software].
12) Don’t allow anonymous users on your wireless network.
13) Use better passwords (for more info on this, see this post by Michael Giagnocavo at my blog)
14) Backup your data regularly.

Again, common sense. But how many people can say they are doing all 14 of these items? Of course you could add more like turn off unnecessary services (in any OS), log all entry attempts, etc. But, these 14 points are very, very good starting points and will get you past just about any desktop security audit.