Keepin' it safe...

So now that I have told you a little about the potential hazards lurking in the dark corners of the Internet, it is time that I shed some light on what you can do to protect yourself.

So to revisit my last post, there are three basic threats that you should be concerned with...

1. Viruses (Self replicating malicious programs)
2. Spyware/Adware (Software that has been surrupticiously installed on your machine that will do a number of things including: moniter your surfing habits, record keystrokes, initate multiple pop-up ads, etc...)
3. Hackers (The folks that spend most of their waking hours trying to get into your machine.)

Remember the motivation for most of these threats has become financial gain. It used to be notoriety or even pranksters, but now it is a multi-billion dollar business. Spammers need machines to send out their garbage and are willing to pay .15-.18 cents a month per machine... This means YOU. Ever wonder why all of a sudden your machine is running like molasses? Well its probably because you are sending thousands of emails an hour unknowingly.

ANYWAY...

You need three essential things to protect yourself...

1. A good antivirus program. I recommend AVG, or Avast both are free and both are in my not-so-humble opinion signifagantly better then what is widely available... You can download a copy by clicking one of the following links: AVG or Avast
   
2. A good anti-spyware program. Microsoft Windows Defender is what I use. It is also free... Typically, I do not recommend beta versions to end users, BUT I have used this for quite some time and have found it to be both comprehensive and bugfree...
   
3. A Router. Erroneously called a hardware firewall, it uses a technology known as network address translation. I will spare you the techie details and tell you simply this, it makes your computer much harder to hack. Better still is an actual hardware firewall. I recommend the Zyxel P1

Well, that won't make you bulletproof, but it is a good start...

Keepin' it safe...

So now that I have told you a little about the potential hazards lurking in the dark corners of the Internet, it is time that I shed some light on what you can do to protect yourself.

So to revisit my last post, there are three basic threats that you should be concerned with...

1. Viruses (Self replicating malicious programs)
2. Spyware/Adware (Software that has been surrupticiously installed on your machine that will do a number of things including: moniter your surfing habits, record keystrokes, initate multiple pop-up ads, etc...)
3. Hackers (The folks that spend most of their waking hours trying to get into your machine.)

Remember the motivation for most of these threats has become financial gain. It used to be notoriety or even pranksters, but now it is a multi-billion dollar business. Spammers need machines to send out their garbage and are willing to pay .15-.18 cents a month per machine... This means YOU. Ever wonder why all of a sudden your machine is running like molasses? Well its probably because you are sending thousands of emails an hour unknowingly.

ANYWAY...

You need three essential things to protect yourself...

1. A good antivirus program. I recommend AVG, or Avast both are free and both are in my not-so-humble opinion signifagantly better then what is widely available... You can download a copy by clicking one of the following links: AVG or Avast
   
2. A good anti-spyware program. Microsoft Windows Defender is what I use. It is also free... Typically, I do not recommend beta versions to end users, BUT I have used this for quite some time and have found it to be both comprehensive and bugfree...
   
3. A Router. Erroneously called a hardware firewall, it uses a technology known as network address translation. I will spare you the techie details and tell you simply this, it makes your computer much harder to hack. Better still is an actual hardware firewall. I recommend the Zyxel P1

Well, that won't make you bulletproof, but it is a good start...

Regarding the Bad Guys...

With so many hostile factors facing your computer these days, it can be a monumental task to protect yourself. Let's start by defining the different types of threats.

• Viruses -is a self-replicating computer program written to alter the way a computer operates, without the permission or knowledge of the user (as defined by Wikipedia). Many people mistake other kinds of threats as viruses, however, spyware and other malware, may act very differently. Click this link for a complete definition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virus
  
• SpyWare -Wikipedia states:" a broad category of malicious software designed to intercept or take partial control of a computer's operation without the informed consent of that machine's owner or legitimate user. While the term taken literally suggests software that surreptitiously monitors the user, it has come to refer more broadly to software that subverts the computer's operation for the benefit of a third party." Often spyware is installed via virus, but it is not limited to that mode of installation.
  
• Root Kits -This particularly nasty form of Malware actually alters the root of the operating system to render the unwanted user invisible. In laymans terms, it makes the hacker and his tools invisible to Windows. Therefore you (and your antivirus protection) can't see them at all. More on this later
  
• Hackers -These guys are the guys that "hack". There are good guys known as White Hat Hackers and Bad Guy Hackers, known as Black Hat Hackers. This bears some further explanation.White Hats also known as "Ethical Hackers" are generally the folks that secure networks. The will also attempt to break into networks to expose security flaws for the perpose of evaluation and remediation. Black Hats These are the guys that most people think of when they hear of "hackers". They spend their time trying to maliciously break into networks and computer systems.
  
• Adware -Adware allows the unwanted software to serve ads. Usually in the form of popup ads. In some cases you don't even need to be on the internet. Other types of Adware adds a tool bar, or a search bar to your browser. In some cases, these can be extremely maliciaious, they can add additional spyware/malware, redirect your searches to their pages...

So what do you do?? How can you keep your computer in working order? What about email? What happens if you have already been infected? What about online banking and ecommerce??? What's the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow???All that and more in upcoming installments!! So Stay Tuned.