Written By Trevor A. Winchell To keep yourself secure online there are a few precautions you should take. The internet is one way that people can accumulate personal information about you if the proper precautions are not taken.
Never submit any of your personal information through an unsecured email. Other people are able to view your information. Hackers could be anywhere. Your address credit cards and social security number should never be disclosed in electronic mail. Even if you receive an email that claims to be from a reputable website, you should never give your personal information through email that is not encrypted. When using a public computer, ALWAYS log out when you are finished. Even if you close the browser when you leave, someone can still view the history and find some if not all your information.
Do not fill in your social security number, full name or address on any website that is not secure. You can tell whether or not a website is secure be looking for the padlock icon. If it is a business website, you should check reviews from places other than that website and check the Better Business Bureau. Find out who is responsible for running the site and find out if is has a copyright date. If it does, then that means it has been registered with the government. That is a good sign.
Beware of phishing. Phishing is when frauds create a replica of a familiar website, most often times a financial website, in order to collect personal information like your username and password. The site will look very similar to the actual website, but you will not actually be able to enter the website after entering information. Never put your information in twice. If you do enter your information, and then are asked to do it again, try typing the url again and signing in to the real site. Contact customer service immediately and let them know that you suspect phishing.
In order to protect your computer, never open emails from someone you don't know. Just delete it. Internet explorer, believe it or not, is not the safest browser out there. Mozilla firefox and Opera are to competitors that are actually more difficult to hack or manipulate. Also, to protect your computer, don't open, download, or install any programs from any unknown website. Whatever browser you use, make sure that you are using a pop-up blocker and always keep it on. Your browser should make you aware when something has been blocked, and if you need to view a screen, you should have the option of viewing that pop-up only, or always allowing pop-ups from that single trusted website. Get a firewall active and virus protection. It is unsafe to surf the web without it now.
If you follow these tips you should avoid most opportunities for criminals to obtain your information and protect your computer from viruses. Always use discretion and think twice before accepting anything in email or any website.
Protect Your Computer From Boot Sector Viruses, Spyware, and Adware
Written By Trevor A. Winchell If your computer is convinced it does not have a virus, when, in fact, it does, there can be problems. Especially when the reason it does not think it has a virus is because of a virus. What kind of virus could do this? Boot sector virus. Considered evil and difficult, boot sector virus's lodge in your boot sector (the part which "boots" your computer), and as soon as you turn your computer on, the virus has already loaded itself into the memory.
You can take precautions to try to prevent boot sector virus. The best way to do this is to switch your operating system from Microsoft Windows, if that is what you're currently using. Windows is one of the only systems, which are commonly infected by viruses. This may be due to faulty programming doings. An example of faulty programs, is demonstrated when you have an e-mail with an attachment, and it is automatically opened, and the instructions of the attachment are followed, regardless of what they say. That is a significant way viruses are put in computers.
If you are using Microsoft Windows, you may want to consider switching to either macs or linux machines, as they are rarely infected. They both contain built-in safeguard to protect your computer from the above-stated problem, which will help keep your computer virus-free.
If you did not prevent the virus, and have it, removing the virus can be quite tricky, but the best way to go about it, is to make a back up disk. The reasoning is that if your boot sector is contaminated by the virus, and your computer is loading off the boot sector, it is loading off the virus. If, however, you put your clean, virus-free disk in the drive, your computer loads from that, instead.
Along with boot sector virus removal, your computer might need a few other protection precautions, such as spyware and adware protection.
Spyware is far less harmful than viruses, but similar. It does much of what the name implies: spies. Web cites with spam, they can plant a program to your web browser, which will track which websites you visit and what you buy and such, and send that information back to them, so that they can use it to market things to you. In effect, you will receive more pop-up windows and slow down your computer.
Similar to spyware, adware can divert your web browser, which will send you to web sites you didn't intend on visiting. It, in turn, will prevent you from reaching the site you did intend to visit.
There are several adware and spyware removal programs to help keep your computer safe. Install these programs to your computer, and you will find you computer running faster, less pop-ups, and more control over what is going on in cyber space.
PC viruses are more than just a nuisance; they can actually cause serious damage to your computer, just as a biological virus can cause damage to your body. There are many different types of viruses, some are just annoying and may cause a message to flash on your screen, while others are more malicious and can actually delete files necessary for your computerís operating system. There are others that can also leave your computer open for hackers to do as they please with your computer.
Viruses are for the most part easy to prevent. You should always have a trusted up to date anti-virus program running at all times as well as deleted emails with unknown file attachments. However, despite our best intentions it is still possible for your computer to become infected with a virus.
If you do get a virus, it is important to do a little diagnosis before trying to fix and eradicate the virus.
Firstly, you should try and find out what the virus is one your computer. Run a full virus scan using your anti-virus software. Make sure your software has the most current virus database and donít skip any sections of your hard drive or memory. This can take some time, but it should find it and recommend a course of action to get rid of the virus.
If your computer is not operational try and boot your computer using an anti-virus CD or diskette, you should have created one when you got your computer. Once you are back in your computer do the previous step and do a full virus scan of your system.
If you have only rebooted the computer once since infection and are running any version of Windows you can try to reboot from the Last Known Good Configuration. This usually doesnít help but it is worth a try.
If you cant discover the source of the virus take a look at your computers operating files. Most of them should have the same date and one that is more current may be a virus. kernel32.exe and lsass.exe are two files that are often hit by viruses. If you find some discrepancy try replacing them with clean files.
If you find youíre only having problems with one program try uninstalling it completely and reinstalling with a new copy.
If you have lost data that is vital to you and have no backup you may need to get professional help. While there is no guarantee that your data can be recovered it is possible. This may be an expensive lesson that you should frequently backup all important data.
Five Key Steps To The Most Effective Spyware Protection
Written By Trevor A. Winchell
Antispyware programs alone are insufficient to protect our computers and data from spyware. Not only are there rogue programs being marketed that fraudulently claim to detect and remove spyware, but a single spyware blocker will not remove all spyware.
My own spyware remover evaluation of popular antispyware programs shows the best will only remove around 50 percent of spyware. This figure will vary with the amount and types of spyware presented to the spyware blocker. For instance, another independent test has shown spyware detection and removal at the 70% level.
My point is... if you have an antispyware program, and you have spyware installed on your computer, then there's a good chance your software is not removing all of it. Current advice for home and small office users is to use at least two antispyware programs -- but more of that later.
Spyware can be installed and have its effects on our computers through a number of different routes. So, by plugging these holes in our system, we can reduce the amount and type of spyware that does get through. This, in turn, means our spyware blockers have a lighter spyware load with which to deal.
What now follows are five steps to plug those holes and ensure that we have the best protection against spyware available...
1. Install A Two-Way Firewall
A number of spyware programs use our Internet connection to send our data, such as our address book and financial information etc, to a third party. Other spyware will connect to base and download more advertisements or other malware to be run on our PCs. Having a firewall that controls outward bound traffic, as well as inbound, will block and warn of this activity. For those of you relying on the Windows XP firewall, you may already know that it only screens incoming traffic, so you are not protected against spyware that is 'phoning home'.
2. Check Your Anti-Virus Blocks Trojans
Anti-virus (AV) software is not currently designed to detect spyware. However, most AV software is good at stopping viruses and worms that are carrying a spyware payload. There are a few AV programs that are very effective at stopping Trojan horses... often used as spyware or to take control of PCs, turning them into zombie computers. By ensuring you have one of these top AV programs, you'll not only have the best performing software against viruses and worms, but also better protection against Trojans than provided by spyware removers.
3. Patch Your System
Some types of spyware infect computers through system vulnerabilities. Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, Outlook and Outlook Express have frequent security flaws, so are attractive targets for spyware and other malware. By regularly checking for fixes, known as patches, for these flaws across all your software programs, your system will be at its optimal security setting against spyware and other malware.
4. Change Internet Explorer
Most of us use Internet Explorer (IE) as our Internet browser. However, IE has been consistently plagued with security flaws, as mentioned above. A number of these flaws are to do with ActiveX controls, which spyware, such as browser hijackers and dialers, have taken advantage of. Security was so poor with IE, that US CERT advised people to use a different browser for their computer protection. The new IE7 browser is currently under test and promises to offer more protection. While you're waiting, I'd advise you to try an alternative browser, such as Mozilla Firefox or Opera, which, although not security heaven, are more resilient against spyware and other attacks.
5. Install Top Of The Line Spyware Removers
The final -- and mandatory -- step in spyware protection is the installation of antispyware. As I said earlier, there are fraudulent antispyware programs out there and even with the best antispyware, there is a high risk that all spyware will not be removed from your PC. Part of the answer is to install at least two, reputable and tested commercial programs. I say "commercial" because the programs I have tested and recommend far outperform the freeware programs. I'm not saying don't use free antispyware. In fact, the second part of the answer is to install three -- or even all -- of Ad-Aware SE Personal, Spybot - Search & Destroy, Windows Defender, SpywareBlaster and SpywareGuard. Why? Although not as effective as the bigger-bucks-development of the top antispyware products, tests have shown they can pick up spyware sometimes missed by their more affluent cousins. By combining two commercial and three free spyware remover programs, running one each day and taking the previous steps, you'll have erected an optimized shield around your computer to guard privacy and online security against the worst of spyware.
