Protecting Yourself While Online.

[Chronos]

Protecting Yourself While Online by Chronos

 Many people say that nothing will happen to them, sometimes it doesn't, but more often than not it does. This can be applied to just about anything you do. People will often say to me, "I don't need a firewall as I am on a dial up". They say this until the eventful day when they realize that they have been hacked. Yes even Dial-up users will get hacked.

There are many types of hacker. Some are called white hackers who will hack a companies computer system, and then send them an email to let them know of the security holes that they have. BUT there are many other hackers who will just hack for the challenge or just for the plain fun of it (their fun not ours). So how do you stop it and protect your computer and your privacy?

Firewalls

The main thing is a firewall. This can be either a program that you install (i.e. Zonealarm) or a router with an inbuilt firewall which is installed between your telephone socket and the computer. I will be talking about the programs that you install onto your computer.

There are many programs that you can install. Some are free software or you may choose a paid software. Many people use Zonealarm. It is available in free and paid versions, Many consider this to be the best free firewall. Other quality free firewalls are produced by: Sygate and Tiny.

The main two paid firewalls are by Norton and McAfee. I cannot recommend which one is best for you to use because everyone's needs are different. I personally use Zonealarm.

You have your firewall, what next?

Many people will install a firewall and will leave it at that. You should test the firewall to see if it does what it should. There are many online tests you can do to test how good your firewall is at it's job. These are Steve Gibson's website, Sygate's test page, and PC flank.

Anti Virus checkers.

Once you have your firewall installed the next step is to install a virus checker. There are a lot of viruses on the internet and while many are used to simply replicate themselves or use your address books, many are destructive and will wipe data from your hard drive, or the worst type will destroy your hard-drive. The best way to stop this happening to you is install a virus checker.

Again these come in both free and paid versions. People will say you get what you pay for, in other words the free ones are useless. This is not always the case. The main free ones can be found at: AVG anti-virus, V-Catch and Anti-Vir (This page is hit and miss). The paid ones are by Norton and McAfee.

All the programs are set up to automatically update or to update manually. I would recommend that you set it to update automatically at least once every couple of days. The main thing to remember is that although it may take a couple of minutes to do do the update, it is nothing compared to the time you would spend fixing your computer if you got a virus!

Along with a virus checker on the computer, you can also do an online virus scan. These sites usually have the very latest updates and personally I would recommend using one of these once a week. They are: Symantec (Norton), PC Pitstop, and Trend Micro's online scan.

Other Ways People Access Your Computer.

Many people clear out the temp and history files on a regular basis, but cookies, (small files containing passwords and personal preferences for websites) can do more than store info. They can provide information about where you go on the internet and what software you have on your computer.

Another main way your computer is accessed are programs called spyware (i.e. Gator, Comet curser, and BonziBuddy). These programs are installed either by accident or as part of a software install. One of the ways you can tell you have spyware is either by Pop-ups or Pop-unders.

The best program to check and remove any of this spyware is Ad-aware. This is a free piece of software and invaluable if you are concerned about online privacy or have strange pop-up windows while on the internet. Ad-aware can be found here. All you do with this program is install it and run it. It works automatically seeking out spyware.

The other main way that people will attempt to 'get into' your computer is by using Trojans or worms. They will access the internet and allow the writer access to your computer. The main ways to avoid them is to keep an eye on Microsoft's security bulletins. If you're using Microsoft Outlook/Outlook Express, change the security settings in so that em-bedded scripting is disabled. There are programs you can download that will check your computer for Trojans. As yet the only ones are paid versions, but if you think that you have a Trojan they usually have a 30 day trial period.

Above all Never, ever:


Open files or e-mail attachments from someone you don't know.
Open files or e-mail attachments forwarded to you even if they are from someone you know. (Viruses most often come from someone you know because their address book was used by the virus program to spread itself.)
Open unsolicited or unexpected e-mail attachments until you've confirmed the sender actually meant to send them.
Open a document with macros enabled, period.
Boot from a floppy unless you personally created it, write protected it and stored it in a locked safe since then.
 

Many times forwarded messages come as attachments. A way to check emails in Microsoft Outlook/Outlook Express without opening them is to right click on the email title and choose "Properties". Click the tab "Details" and then click the button "Message Source". You may then read the message to decide if you should open the email.

I have done all this what else can I do?

The only advice I can give on this is don't give out your username and/or password to anyone. In delphiforums, if you have a problem with your account don't give your password out to anyone unless they are a member of Delphi staff, (i.e. Walt Howe, Gunter) If you aren't sure ask them. Your ISP won't ask for your password. They should have it on your records, they will ask you for your username. Think of it this way... You wouldn't let a stranger have your bank account details. Treat your usernames and passwords as you would your bank account.

Above all choose a password with a combination of numbers and random letters, Avoid using family names, your date of birth, telephone number, or something that can be easily guessed. Make it hard for them. Use a different password for every account. This may be hard to remember so write them down. I have a little book I keep them in. Then put the book someplace safe.

Remember when protecting your computer and your privacy, it is better to be safe than sorry.