New installation of Windows should be patched by installing the latest service packs and hotfixes

Key applications such as Adobe Acrobat, Macromedia Flash, Java, Winzip etc., must have the latest security patches installed

Install a personal firewall and lock down unused ports from connecting to your computer

Install the latest signatures for Antivirus software

Configure " Windows Update " to automatic

Create a non-admin user with a complex password and logon to this account

You can start using your computer as vendors such as DELL, HP and IBM would have already installed the latest service packs.

Bogus ECHO reply packets are flooded on the network spoofing the IP and MAC address

The ICMP packets signal the victim system to reply and the combination of traffic saturates the bandwidth of the victim ' s network

ECHO packets are flooded on the network saturating the bandwidth of the subnet causing denial of service

A DDoS ICMP flood attack occurs when the zombies send large volumes of ICMP_ECHO_REPLY packets to the victim system.

Scan for suspicious startup programs using msconfig

Scan for suspicious network activities using Wireshark

Scan for suspicious device drivers in c:\windows\system32\drivers

Scan for suspicious open ports using netstat