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Computer Security

From the minute you press the power button, you must think, 'Safety first!' The right security software is a life-or-death matter for your computer, since spyware, viruses, Trojan horses, worms, and hackers can quickly send your PC to an early grave.

With technology becoming more widely used in everyday life more people are using computers than there were ten years ago. This also brings about the constant hassle of worrying about your personal information falling in the wrong hands. To ensure that this does not happen, you should secure your computers as well as you possibly can.

Computer hackers do more than try to take your personal inforamtion. Some will try to gain full control of your computer and lock you out of it. Others will place various files on your computer that can damage your computer hardware or even the files on your computer. Viruses, spyware, worms, and root kits are just a few of those types of files that they can place on your computer without your knowledge.

Of course no computer is completely secure. The only truly secure system is one that is powered off, cast in a block of concrete and sealed in a lead-lined room with armed guards. But even then it could be compromised. But that would make the computer useless as well.

So we have to do our best to keep out the world's hackers that would want to break into your system via the internet.

Learn About The Following On This Page:

Updates	Antivirus Programs
Passwords	Safe Downloads
Antispyware Programs	Firewall Programs
Email with Attachments	Hardware Firewalls
Backups	More Resources on Microsoft

Keep Your System Up To Date

If one of your appliances broke, you’d probably try to have it repaired. You’d call a repairperson whom you hope could do the job. You’d get an estimate and then you’d either get it fixed or replace it. Your goal is to somehow restore the functions that the appliance provides.

Operating Systems and various software providers have regularly issued updates that are free. Others require you to purchase a liscense for their program before you can receive these updates. Your possibly using some form of Micorsoft Windows. Microsoft offers free updates for their operating system and many of their programs. To keep your operating system secure you should definately keep it updated with the various fixes. But, 'what are operating system updates?'

What do you do when a software “appliance” – a program – or the operating system itself breaks? How do you restore the functions that they provide? Do you know whom to call or even where to look to determine what to do next?

Most vendors provide patches that are supposed to fix bugs in their products. Frequently these patches do what they’re supposed to do. However, sometimes a patch fixes one problem but causes another. For example, did you ever have a repairperson fix an appliance but in the process, they scratched the floor or damaged a countertop during their visit? For a computer, the repair cycle might have to be repeated until a patch completely fixes a problem.

Vendors often provide free patches on their web sites. When you purchase programs, it’s a good idea to see if and how the vendor supplies patches, and if and how they provide a way to ask questions about their products. Just as appliance vendors often sell extended warranties for their products, some software vendors may also sell support for theirs.

Install and Use Anti-Virus Programs

What is antivirus software?

If someone rang your doorbell and wanted to come into your living space to sell you something or to use your telephone, you’d need to make a decision whether or not to let them in. If they were a neighbor or someone you knew, you’d probably let them in. If you didn’t know them but believed their story and found them to be otherwise acceptable, say they were neat and clean and not threatening, you’d probably also let them in, but you’d watch them closely while they were in your space.

What are you doing here? You are profiling this person and then deciding what to do based on that profile. It’s your responsibility to be concerned about who enters your living space. Further, if you have children, you’ve probably also taught them how to deal with strangers who come to your door.

For more protection keep your software and Operating Systems up to date. This includes any virus, spyware, or other malware protection software updated as well.

Install and Use Anti-Spyware Programs

Have you ever been viewing a web page and all of sudden the web browser changes to another page and you had not even clicked on a link? This is an action caused by spyware on your system.

Spyware generally refers to hidden programs running on your computer that track and communicate your online activities without your knowledge or consent. Some malicious spyware programs can log everything you type on the keyboard and transmit this information back to an unauthorized user. At minimum, this could be embarrassing; at worst, it could open you up to identity theft. This also drags down the performance of your computer.

Install and Use a Firewall Program

Have you ever visited a business where you first stopped at the reception desk to interact with a security guard? That guard’s job is to assess everybody who wishes to enter or leave the building to decide if they should continue on or be stopped. The guard keeps the unwanted out and permits only appropriate people and objects to enter and leave the business’s premises.

What is a firewall?

On a computer, the firewall acts much like a guard when it looks at network traffic destined for or received from another computer. The firewall determines if that traffic should continue on to its destination or be stopped. The firewall “guard” is important because it keeps the unwanted out and permits only appropriate traffic to enter and leave the computer.

To do this job, the firewall has to look at every piece of information – every packet – that tries to enter or leave a computer. Each packet is labeled with where it came from and where it wants to go. Some packets are allowed to go anywhere (the employee with the ID badge) while others can only go to specific places (visitors for a specific person). If the firewall allows the packet to proceed (being acceptable according to the rules), it moves the packet on its way to the destination. In most cases, the firewall records where the packet came from, where it’s going, and when it was seen. For people entering a building, this is similar to the ID card system keeping track of who enters or the visitor signing the visitor’s log.

Microsoft Windows comes with a firewall program as do many other operating systems. This firewall program I don't suggest using as your sole firewall program. Microsoft Windows is one of the most targeted operating systems and this does not exclude the programs created by them. So you will want to implement another firewall program.

Make Backups of Important Files and Folders

Whether you know it or not, you’ve divided everything you own into two broad categories: those items you can replace and those you can’t. For the items you can’t replace, you’ve probably stored them in a safe place, either somewhere in your living space or elsewhere, in a lockbox at a bank, for example. In either case, you’ve probably also bought insurance that provides the funds you’d need to buy replacements. Your insurance policy covers almost everything you own.

On your home computer, have you similarly divided everything into the same categories? What have you done about the items – files in this case – that you can’t replace? Examples are the files that make up your checking account records, that novel you’ve been writing for the past few years, and those pictures you took last summer with your digital camera. What happens if your computer malfunctions or is destroyed by a successful attacker? Are those files gone forever?

To ensure that these files are safe from this you should keep backups of your files that you do not want to lose. Windows comes equiped with a tool for this and there are some other tools available for download that can be used as well. Once you have selected all of the files you want to back up you should either store them on some external media such as an external hard drive or a cd.

Use Strong Passwords

Your living space has doors and windows, and perhaps most of the time they’re locked. For each lock that uses a key, chances are that each key is different. You know to lock up and not to share the keys with strangers, and probably not with most of your friends. You should not hide keys under the mat or in a flowerpot on your front porch.

Passwords for computers are much the same. For each computer and service you use (online purchasing, for example), you should have a password. Each password should be unique and unrelated to any of your other passwords. You shouldn’t write them down nor should you share them with anyone, even your best friends.

A password should also be complicated. Most schemes let you use any combination of letters, both upper and lower case, and numbers; and some also let you use special characters. Lengths can vary. You can create a password to be as complicated as you want. You can check to see if your password is strong enough on Microsoft's Website. The key (no pun intended) is to be able to remember this password whenever you need it without having to write it down to jog your memory.

Use Care When Downloading And Installing A Program

No matter how you acquire a program, it runs on your computer at the mercy of the program’s author. Anything, any operation, any task that you can do, this program can also do. If you’re allowed to remove any file, the program can too. If you can send email, the program can too. If you can install or remove a program, the program can too. Anything you can do, the intruder can do also, through the program you’ve just installed and run.

Sometimes there’s no explanation of what a program is supposed to do or what it actually does. There may be no user’s guide. There may be no way to contact the author. You’re on your own, trying to weigh a program’s benefits against the risk of the harm that it might cause.

The best thing to do is to research the program and find out if it is a legitimate program and that it does what it says it should. Also only download the program from the actual maker or someone that they recommend to download it from.

Use Care When Reading Email with Attachments

We’ve all heard stories about people receiving an item in the mail that in some way caused them harm. We’ve heard of letter bombs and exploding packages, and in 2001, we learned about Anthrax-laden letters. Although their frequency is low, they do make news.

These unsolicited items are sent to unsuspecting recipients. They may contain a return address, a provocative envelope, or something else that encourages its receiver to open it. This technique is called social engineering. Because we are trusting and curious, social engineering is often effective.

Email-borne viruses and worms operate much the same way, except there are consequences, sometimes significant ones. Malicious email often contains a return address of someone we know and often has a provocative Subject line. This is social engineering at its finest – something we want to read from someone we know.

Anti-virus programs work much the same way. These programs look at the contents of each file, searching for specific patterns that match a profile – called a virus signature – of something known to be harmful. For each file that matches a signature, the anti-virus program typically provides several options on how to respond, such as removing the offending patterns or destroying the file.

Install And Run A Hardware Firewall

Complement your firewall program by installing a hardware firewall. Together, these two firewalls stand between your home computer and the Internet. This is another place where your money is well spent.

Cisco is one of many makers of firewall appliances. You can also turn and old computer that you may have lying around into a firewall with a Linux Live CD

Searching for all of the above mentioned programs is very time consuming. Especially with those false and malicious programs. So I have saved you some time by creating a list of recommended programs to ensure your computer is secure.