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The_Top_Twelve_Threats_No_Computer_User_Should_Ignore_by_Kai_Chandler
| The Top Twelve Threats No Computer User Should Ignore by Kai Chandler
The Top Twelve Threats No Computer User Should Ignore The
internet is undoubtedly a fantastic resource for families and
offers a rich vein of educational content. However, there are
potential dangers - welcome to the seedy world of viruses, spam,
trojans, pornography, spyware and other nasties.
Here are the Top Twelve Threats No Computer User Should Ignore:
1. Viruses - A computer program that copies itself. They often
disrupt your computer system or damage your data. Viruses are
usually received by email attachments so be careful opening
anything from a dubious source. They can affect anyone, for
example, the destructive Mydoom worm affected one out of three
small and mid-sized businesses.
2. Spyware - Sends information about you and your computer to
somebody else. Spyware may send the addresses of sites you have
visited or worse still, transmit personal information. With
today's concerns about identify theft this is a real worry. For
example, CoolWebSearch may hijack web searches, home page, and
other Internet Explorer settings. Spyware is normally received
as part of shareware or freeware downloaded from the web.
3. IP Spoofing - A technique to gain unauthorized access to
computers, whereby the intruder sends messages to a computer
with an address indicating that the message is coming from a
trusted host.
4. Trojans - An apparently legitimate computer program that is
really intended to disrupt and damage computer activity by
sending information, perhaps even passwords onto a third party
without you knowing. As an example, recent emails entitled
"Osama Bin Laden Captured" attempted to download the
"Trj/Small.B." Trojan if the embedded URL was clicked. This
trojan attempts to hijack the PC.
5. Spam - Unsolicited mail often promoting products of a dubious
financial or sexual nature. Don't leave your email address on
websites and internet bulletin boards as they are harvested by
spammers.
6. Adware - puts advertisements on your screen. These take many
forms including popups, popunders and advertisements that appear
later, even if your browser is closed. Some are sent using the
Windows Messenger service which allows a spammer to direct an
advertisement straight to your computer by sequentially sending
messages to IP addresses. Always irritating, they are also often
of a pornographic nature.
7. Diallers - for those of us still with dial up modems, dialler
programs redirect calls to a very expensive number. You won't
know until you get the bill.
8. Hijackers - Hijackers take control of your web browser and
may reset your home page, search bar and search pages. They can
redirect you to undesirable sites or stop you going to
particular sites.
9. Hackers - With so much personal data available online to
anyone with a password you must be sure your password is secure.
If you are using your mother's maiden name, your cat's name or
your birthday then your password is at risk. Here are two tips
for making a secure password. Method One - pick two random
unrelated three letter words and two digits. Mix them up and
what do you have? A secure password such as "red19cat" or
"hotpin73". Method Two - pick a short sequence of words such as
Now Is The Winter Of Our Discontent Made Glorious' and you have
a password of "nitwoodmg". You could even change the I's and O's
to digits.
10. Phishing - Emails purporting to come from reliable sources
such as Paypal, Ebay or your bank. Often wanting you to verify
your account details, they can look very realistic but are
generally scams to harvest usernames and passwords. Always open
a new browser winder and type the address there, rather than
clicking on the link provided.
11. Hoaxes - Chain letters, scams, false alarms. At best they
take up time and bandwidth but at worst vulnerable can be
victims of fraud. Pass it on!
12. Stranger-danger - For those of us with children - do you
know what they actually do when they are online? Are they
working on homework tasks, downloading illegal music or
pornography? Or are they chatting to strangers in chat rooms?
You should consider blocking access to undesirable sites and
logging their activity with a surveillance tool. Oh, and don't
forget that where children are concerned, computers should
always be kept in a family room and never in their bedroom.
Three Step Action Plan
There are three essential steps that should be taken to ensure
your PC is kept threat-free.
Firstly, be sensible when opening attachments or following email
instructions from apparently reputable sites.
Secondly, make sure you are using the latest service pack of
Windows as Microsoft is continually closing loopholes to tighten
up security.
Finally, there's a range of low cost tools such as firewalls,
antivirus, spam blockers and spyware killers available. Like
everything else they vary in quality and you tend to get what
you pay for so always do your research first and perhaps try a
free trial before getting your credit card out.
http://www.surfcontrols.com specializes in providing reviews and
recommendations of top-rated tools to help protect your online
experience. There's a quick reference list to dozens of top
sites promoting different aspects of safe surfing packed with
useful information and there's also a great set of top tips for
safe surfing.
Copyright Kai Chandler (#12t5109)
About the author:
Kai Chandler is a project manager and journalist particularly
interested in tools and techniques to protect his family and
computer against spam, porn, viruses and malware. As a father of
two he is keen to ensure that his children enjoy a safe surfing
surfing experience. His reviews of the very best parental
internet filters, anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-spyware and
surveillance tools are at http://www.surfcontrols.com. It's
essential read
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