Security

Being Protected

July 11, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

When you have a computer you will constantly run the risk of developing some sort of malicious code-related problem. Whether it be having your computer slow down because of a virus, having it be spied upon and having your information stolen or just having irritating ads popping up that won’t go away, you need to protect yourself.

There is a lot you can do when it comes to protecting yourself from malicious code. Firstly you can do your best to only associate with reputable sites. The worst types of sites are the ones that will force your computer to download all kinds of spam or other types of malicious code. This type of code may look harmless or even go unnoticed, but it will often affect your computer in all kinds of ways. You need to go beyond the paid programs when you want to really protect yourself from malicious code.

The best things you can do are generally free. When you use free software you can also get free updates for it without the constant advertising that orders you to buy more and more. While every company wants you to at least donate, the free software is typically far less obnoxious than the kind you have to pay in order to use. So when you think of being protected, at least consider downloading some free software and making your compute safer that way. While there won’t be any ads encouraging you to do this, you will still be just as protected.

Filed Under: Anti-Virus, Security Tagged With: Android, Android Market, Security

Staying Safe While Gaming

July 8, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

If you or someone in your household does online gaming, you may be concerned about safety. You want your computer to be safe from viruses, but you also want to protect yourself. There are plenty of good programs out there to protect your computer, but perhaps you haven’t really thought about potential dangers to yourself.

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Unfortunately there are scam artists that target gamers to get their personal information. Also beware of “free” games designed to lure you in and get you paying for extras in such small increments that you don’t realize that before long you’ve spent hundreds of dollars. One way to protect yourself from these types of dangers is to stay diligent. Keep a complete record of what you are paying for by keeping a log book. Keep a low credit limit credit card for all online purchases. Never use a debit card linked to an account with a large balance.

Another danger of online gaming is not saving money when possible or getting involved in something new that you aren’t educated about. Some online activities such as online gambling can be a lot of fun if done correctly yet disastrous if not. First and foremost, learn all the rules and strategies about what you will be playing. Then, before you sign up with a casino, find out about their online casino bonuses. Starting up with a new player bonus can save you a ton!

Following the old adage that if it looks too good to be true it probably is not true can keep you from making a costly mistake when gaming. Always practice safe gaming!

Filed Under: Security

Should You Pay for Antivirus Protection?

May 23, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Antivirus protection is one of the most important things to have for your computer system. It provides key protection for your computer, to ensure it is not vulnerable to third party viruses, spyware and other malicious threats.

Screenshot of ClamTk 3.08 running on Ubuntu 8....

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Paying for It

There are free antivirus programs available. Others cost a significant amount of money. How can you tell if you should pay for a program or not? Here are some tips to help you to make that decision.

Free programs often have fewer features than paid programs. Consider the benefits of using a program to aid with email protection from spam, for example, which may be a protection only available through a paid antivirus program.
In some cases, a free program can be okay, especially if the Internet connection is not constant or you are not using it often. If there is a constant connection, the benefit of having a program is clear. Without it, anyone can enter the system through a vulnerable point and take advantage of the user.
For a business, especially businesses using cloud computing methods or storing customer data, having an in-house, paid antivirus program is essential. The level of help is ideal in this higher-end product.

If you are considering the benefits of a free antivirus program or a paid one, remember to compare the specific features of each product before making a decision about which one is right for your specific needs. Most of the time, you can get a free trial of a program to help you to make the decision about whether or not the more expensive version fits your needs better, or offers improved benefits to you.

Filed Under: Anti-Virus, Security Tagged With: antivirus, Shareware, Spyware

Computers and Society’s Future

March 24, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

There is a lot of thought given to the future of computers on society. Some predictions are encouraging and exciting; other predictions are dark and foreboding. For starters, it is important to see how far computers have come.

The very first basic computing tool was the abacus, circa 500 B.C. The first genuine computer was not invented until 1936. From that point on, computer technology moved forward, gaining momentum with each year. Today, computers have advanced in use and sophistication to the point that they involved in the fabric of everyday life. Therin lies the primary concern of many futurists.

One of the cornerstones on the future of computers is Moore’s Law. Simply stated, More believed that as computers evolve and become smaller they will also become more powerful and capable of performing more functions. Over the past 40 years computers have reduced in size and at the same time, become more powerful and adaptable to a variety of tasks, Moore’s Law appears to have validity.

Computers are now used in almost every aspect of American – and world – society. One of the downsides to the growth of computer use is the reduction of people’s interaction with each other in business and socially. Computers are already replacing bank tellers and grocery clerks. Email and texting have replaced face-to-face interaction. Shopping can be done on the computer without ever talking to a sales clerk. While computer technology has spawned a career field that is in high demand, it has also led to the elimination of manufacturing jobs one done my humans in favor of automating and computerizing the work.

Filed Under: Computers, Security Tagged With: Moore's law, Prediction, United States

Home Computers’ Security Quandry and the Solution

March 9, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

A home computer, fresh out of the box, with software pre-loaded is safe and secure. Once it is plugged in, running and connected to the Internet, all bets are off for security. There are a lot of nasty viruses and malware on the Internet. The good news is that there are several steps that can be taken to protect a computer from intruders.

The first task in protecting a computer is to install a strong anti-virus program that will recognize and stop any virus from getting in. When selecting an anti-virus program, compare the features on several programs and talk to others who have anti-virus software installed. The point is to find a program that is well known, respected and can do the job.

The next step is to install a firewall – preferably a two-sided firewall. A firewall prevents any unwanted Internet traffic from gaining access to a computer. A two-sided firewall also looks at traffic going from the computer to the Internet. The better anti-virus software programs usually include a two-sided firewall.

It is also important to back up all important information and documents. If there are constant changes or additions to what is stored on the computer, it is wise to back important files up at least once a month - or even once a week. In the event that data on the computer is destroyed for any reason, the backed up data can be downloaded. Back ups can be copied to a blank CD or with some anti-virus programs, be backed up to remote server.

Most computer users fail to understand that whatever they send out onto the Internet can be seen by anyone curious enough to look. For this reason, encryption software is important because it makes it difficult to see correspondence of any kind.

Finally, be cautious about unfamiliar email - if the party is unknown, delete the message.

Filed Under: Computers, Security Tagged With: Anti-Virus, Firewalls, Spyware

Computer Security and Protection

March 7, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

When the Internet first started as ARPAnet in the mid 1960s, computers were big, slow and confined to use by the government and academia. Computer use was based on trust – trust that users would always act ethically and follow the rules. The growth of the Internet and its availability to millions of users coupled with the advent of e-commerce changed the cyber environment and simple trust no longer protected computers from cyber-crime.

The emergence and growth of cyber crime has brought about the creation of a new branch of computer technology in the corporate world and government – Information Security. The goal of Information Security is to implement a secure computer operating system that protects data from being stolen, corrupted or destroyed. At the same time, the system must remain accessible to authorized users. It is a tall order.

Individual computers are most vunerable to attack by hackers and cyber crooks when connected to other computers – like a network. Information security is best achieved through collective processes and techniques that protect sensitive information from being published or tampered with by unauthorized individuals at the server. This goal is accomplished by making corporate servers and networks elusive to cyber criminals intent onbreaking into a system.

The keys to ensuring a secure computer network liein three words: confidentiality, integrity and authentication – CIA for short. Confidentiality means a system cannot be acessed by unauthorized users and that secrecy and privacy will not be compromised. Integrity means that information is unauthorized changes canot be made to data without authorized users detecting the intrusion. Authentication means that authorized users are authenticated for access to information. A fourth key, availability, means that resources are available to authorized users on demand and protected against denial of service attacks.

The most important mission for Information Security remains - to ensure and maintain privacy for a computer system’s users.

Filed Under: Anti-Virus, Security Tagged With: Computer crime, Denial-of-service attack, Information security

Avoid Using Your Primary Email For Sign Ups

February 23, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Email has quickly become one of the most dominant ways in which to communicate with people. Whether you utilize it at your place of employment, or for personal uses, email has drastically increased in popularity and in terms of the number of people who utilize it on a regular basis. As this fact becomes more prevalent, people are going to find ways in which to take advantage of the large number of people using emails for various scams and virus implementation. This practice is already going on, and has gotten worse over the years as emailing has grown.

One of the most prone ways in which an email address becomes compromised is during a sign up process at a specific site regarding a product or service the consumer might be interested in. Primarily every online business requires potential customers to sign up and enter an email address as a result of this sign up process. This in itself is not an issue. However, what the company does with the information is where the problem lies. Many companies are legitimate and use the email addresses for simple updates regarding the various products and services that pertain to the company and the customers interests.

However, the less legitimate companies utilize the email addresses in one of two popular ways: The first consists of simply selling the information to marketing companies that are bent on spamming your inbox with irrelevant products and services that have no bearing on your own interests whatsoever. Secondly, and more rarely, the company is not a company at all, but a hacker or virus developer using the business as a front to obtain email addresses. Once they have access to your email address, they send a slew of spam, scammy messages, and emails containing file attachments that are generally viruses.

Filed Under: Emails, Security Tagged With: Email address, Gmail, Spam

Be Weary of Entering Too Much Personal Information

February 16, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

With the popularity of the Internet soaring to new heights, more people are utilizing it for a number of different things that are different from the primary entertainment factor that it was utilized for a decade ago. Among one of the areas of the Internet that has grown most over the past decade are the various retail outlets in which people can browse inventory online and purchase items. Through the variety of popular brick and mortar retailers that offer online stores to their customers, to primarily online vendors that operate solely through a web site; there are droves of options for consumers to choose from.

While in fact the diverse amount of choices that are available for consumers is not a bad thing, it can pose potential dangers if people are not careful. The problem lies in the fact that when you are making a purchase at the various online retailers, you are required to enter specific personal information in order to carry through with the purchase. Among one of the more important pieces of information is the credit card or debit card number that you might be using in order to make the purchase. This is by no means a problem in itself. but as people get used to the concept of having to enter their credit card information, they may get a little too relaxed on sites and in situations that they should be weary of. As a result of this, droves of people enter their information on sites that are phishing sites and obtain information fraudulently. This can result in excessive billing to the account in question and pose immense problems to the card carrier. Additionally, some sites have a great deal of small print in which people do not typically pay attention to that states their card will be billed for products or services that they are not interested in; running large tabs without the card owner knowing.

Filed Under: Internet, Security Tagged With: Credit card, Online shopping, Personally identifiable information

The Importance of Updating Your Operating System

February 3, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Despite the vast popularity of computers and their increasing necessity as a standard part of the modern home, there are still more people who do not own computers and have access to the internet than there are people that do in The United States. As a result of this, while in fact the demand for computers are growing, there are droves of people who are unfamiliar with their operation, let alone general maintenance and security. Unfortunately, malicious entities are aware of this fact and write programs to issue attacks onto unsuspecting computer operators. These attacks come in a wide range of forms, typically taking on the illusion of a trusted piece of software, or sneaking in via a pop-up or even through cookies. Many people who have these seemingly minute viruses are unknowingly having their search history recorded and private information stolen.

There are a few ways to go about ensuring your computer remains safe. These remedies are simple and should be followed on a consistent basis. By performing these acts, 99% of potential dangers will be sent packing. The most important of these methods, and arguably the most simple, is that users ensure their operating system is updated. Generally, the operating system lets the user know whenever there is an update available, and even offers the option for automatic installations when they are released. Typically, these updates are aesthetic as well as remedies to ongoing bugs that occur in the software. Additionally, and most importantly, they are updates to the security of the operating system; as new viruses and loopholes are discovered constantly, so it is vital for developers to consistently update the security of their software to neutralize these new threats. If you do not update your operating system, as simple as it is, you are putting your computer at major risk by leaving all of the potential loopholes unpatched.

In all, there are numerous ways to safeguard your computer against potential threats. The basis of any secure computer is updated software, particularly an updated and freshly patched operating system.

Filed Under: Computers, Security Tagged With: Operating system, Security, United States

The Dangers Lurking on The Internet

February 1, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

The internet is a wonderful place, full of vast amounts of easily accessible information and droves on entertainment. People are using search engines such as Google to find the information they need more often than they are looking in traditional books at the library, this is an indication as to the power the internet holds on modern society. However, despite the popularity of computers and internet access, more people are not connected than people that are. As a result, there is still large amounts of space for the internet to grow in terms of people who utilize it. With this prospective growth also comes the increase in ignorance of these new people who are unaware of the dangers the internet can hold.

One of the most common issues that ties hand in hand with the internet are the viruses that are consistently transferring around from one place to another. These viruses come in many forms and thus, can be contracted in many different ways. People who are unfamiliar with computers and the internet are more prone to making the easy mistakes that result one of these viruses being transferred onto their computers.

Email is one of the most common ways to open a door for a computer virus. There are tens of thousands of ominous entities who obtain email addresses and mass-send emails on an auto-mated timer to their email lists. These types of emails are commonly referred to as spam, and tend to contain one or more downloadable files within them. These files can consist of anything from harmless text files that simply contain some irritating sales pitch, to malicious content that acts as a gateway for a virus onto your computer. As a rule of thumb, it is vital to never open any files within emails from sources you are unfamiliar with.

In all, the internet is a fantastic tool to utilize for finding information and seeking entertainment. However, as with anything that is extremely popular, there are always people that try to utilize measures to take advantage of the system and monetize off the honesty of others.

Filed Under: Internet, Security Tagged With: Email address, Internet, Personal computer