Friday, June 24, 2005
Edumacation: Top 10 Security Tips
Edumacation. That's what is needed. Did you know that all of the major sites out there put "tracking" files on your computer? Microsoft, Amazon, EBay and all of the others do that. Then the ad sites put their tracking files on your computer as well. And this is all at a minimum. Reality is that most sites that have lots of pop-ups end up trying to put spy software on your computer. Did you also know that by just being online you are exposing your computer without even opening an email or going to a website. Most internet users are really unaware of how much information they give out. Do you ever notice that even though you have internet explorer that blocks pop-ups you still get pop-up windows? This could mean you have something called "Ad-Ware". Basically it is a separate program that downloads ads to your computer and also can track what you are surfing to. If you internet is going slower than normal you might have something called a "Trojan Horse" that allows people over the internet to access your computer. So here are some programs to download to make sure your computer is protected:
1. Get an anti-virus program and update it. This is a must. Get one that does real-time monitoring. It makes a big difference. I use Norton Anti-virus with Norton Internet Security and whenever I visit a site that has a virus on it Norton notifies me and quarantines the virus. You can purchase and download it below, but I would actually recommend going to Wal-mart and buying it out of the box - especially so you can read the instructions and figure out how to work it.
http://www.symantec.com/product/
2. Install Ad-Aware. You can get a free personal edition that will scan you computer for ad-ware ads.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
3. Install a firewall or get a router. A firewall protects your computer whenever you are online. A real hacker can get into computers that have ports exposed. A router usually blocks ports the way firewalls do as well. If you don't have one of those then it doesn't matter what you do, your computer will be exposed. For a free firewall I recommend getting Zone Alarm.
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp
4. Install Spy-ware Exterminator. This utility is a real-time checker of tracking cookies and spy-ware as well. It offers protection as sites and installers put cookies on your machine. It basically catches the stuff that Ad-Aware doesn't catch.
http://www.stompsoft.com/
5. Always look for the Key symbol at the bottom right in Internet Explorer. If you ever purchase anything online make sure you see a key at the bottom of Internet Explorer - this indicates that your credit card information is encrypted whenever it gets sent.
6. Pay-pal is more secure. If possible always use pay-pal for buying things online as opposed to entering credit card information.
7. There is no such thing as being completely secure. Let's say you do all of these steps and someone still gets your credit card info. It is very possible, because it might be the other machine that is insecure and not yours. As long as there is any computer in the world that has your information you can be hacked. Even if you choose to never use a computer again, your bank will always use them. And someone could hack your bank.
8. Never, ever reply or click on a link in an email from someone you don't know. This is basic. I refuse to do business via email. Phishing is the art of sending out an email that pretends it is from your bank. They sometimes say you need to update your account information. So you click on their link, it goes to a fake site that looks real and they end up with your account information.
9. Get better passwords. It is very easy for someone to get your password by what is called a brute-force attack. Basically a hacker will try out thousands of commonly used passwords and eventually get into a system. Always use a combination of numbers and letters in your passwords. It is also good to use really long passwords. Try typing a complete sentence as a password with numbers in it. That is hard to hack.
10. Use temporary credit cards. If you have to use credit cards some banks are issuing what they call "temporary card numbers". Basically you go to your banks site and they will give you numbers that expire after the first use. What is cool is that even if a hacker gets this number, it won't be active. This is just starting to catch on, but I believe it will be more popular in the future.
Armed with knowledge ye must go out and surf sayeth I.
Thought of the Day
"It's mostly bills, magazines and junk mail, anyway."
"Elaine, that's what mail *is*. Without bills, magazines
and junk mail, there *is* no mail."
- Elaine and Jerry, in "The Visa"
1. Get an anti-virus program and update it. This is a must. Get one that does real-time monitoring. It makes a big difference. I use Norton Anti-virus with Norton Internet Security and whenever I visit a site that has a virus on it Norton notifies me and quarantines the virus. You can purchase and download it below, but I would actually recommend going to Wal-mart and buying it out of the box - especially so you can read the instructions and figure out how to work it.
http://www.symantec.com/product/
2. Install Ad-Aware. You can get a free personal edition that will scan you computer for ad-ware ads.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
3. Install a firewall or get a router. A firewall protects your computer whenever you are online. A real hacker can get into computers that have ports exposed. A router usually blocks ports the way firewalls do as well. If you don't have one of those then it doesn't matter what you do, your computer will be exposed. For a free firewall I recommend getting Zone Alarm.
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp
4. Install Spy-ware Exterminator. This utility is a real-time checker of tracking cookies and spy-ware as well. It offers protection as sites and installers put cookies on your machine. It basically catches the stuff that Ad-Aware doesn't catch.
http://www.stompsoft.com/
5. Always look for the Key symbol at the bottom right in Internet Explorer. If you ever purchase anything online make sure you see a key at the bottom of Internet Explorer - this indicates that your credit card information is encrypted whenever it gets sent.
6. Pay-pal is more secure. If possible always use pay-pal for buying things online as opposed to entering credit card information.
7. There is no such thing as being completely secure. Let's say you do all of these steps and someone still gets your credit card info. It is very possible, because it might be the other machine that is insecure and not yours. As long as there is any computer in the world that has your information you can be hacked. Even if you choose to never use a computer again, your bank will always use them. And someone could hack your bank.
8. Never, ever reply or click on a link in an email from someone you don't know. This is basic. I refuse to do business via email. Phishing is the art of sending out an email that pretends it is from your bank. They sometimes say you need to update your account information. So you click on their link, it goes to a fake site that looks real and they end up with your account information.
9. Get better passwords. It is very easy for someone to get your password by what is called a brute-force attack. Basically a hacker will try out thousands of commonly used passwords and eventually get into a system. Always use a combination of numbers and letters in your passwords. It is also good to use really long passwords. Try typing a complete sentence as a password with numbers in it. That is hard to hack.
10. Use temporary credit cards. If you have to use credit cards some banks are issuing what they call "temporary card numbers". Basically you go to your banks site and they will give you numbers that expire after the first use. What is cool is that even if a hacker gets this number, it won't be active. This is just starting to catch on, but I believe it will be more popular in the future.
Armed with knowledge ye must go out and surf sayeth I.
Thought of the Day
"It's mostly bills, magazines and junk mail, anyway."
"Elaine, that's what mail *is*. Without bills, magazines
and junk mail, there *is* no mail."
- Elaine and Jerry, in "The Visa"
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