In the constant war against spyware its definitly a good idea to take every precaution possible to protect your computer, in this tutorial I will talk about some ways of further immunising your system against malicious programs.

The first question you need to ask yourself is: How much portection does my browser provide?
If you are using internet explorer - the answer would be: very little, you need to use a web browser with built in protection tools. I think the best example of this would be mozilla firefox, it helps protect against not only spyware, but Hijackers and dialers too!

Some people are very reluctant to change their browser because they think it will make the internet connection run slower, or because they fear not being able to use the new browser due to its complicated nature. With Firefox this is not an issue - its just as simple to use as Internet Explorer is and it looks more or less the same, so you wont have to worry about getting lost.

 Now that you are equipped with a protective browser you are under less threat from spyware, however you are still in danger if you act foolishly. There are certain types of websites that will give you spyware or Acitve X controls (lets just call there viruses for now) no matter what browser you are using.

Due to this fact - there are certain websites that you should make sure you avoid, I will list some of the most commonly known genres of site that you should not visit.

1) Warez  

A warez site is one where you can apparently download illegal software or games, most of these sites are total scams, and exist only to make money by infecting their users with spyware.

2) Pornography

Dont need to explain this one much, por site owners are out to get as much money as they can, they dont care if its at your expense.

3) Free Music

Not a dead cert for spyware, but remember that old age saying "nothing truly comes free"

You also need to watch out for soyware in programs, for example MSN Plus comes with a whole bundle of spyware which it will install whether you like it or not, this is really just common sense, in most cases you dont have a choice, but if an installation has "would you like to install our sponsor program?" always say NO.

This is pretty much all I have come across in the field of spyware protection, hope it helps you out.