Unfriendly airwaves? There’s a class for that!

August 9, 2007 By - 8 Comments

Tesla TowerIt seems that Newscientist.com has discovered that wireless computing isn’t very safe. Wow. I’ve been telling everyone to secure your wireless router for years. Now the time has come that its not enough. This is a great read about what hackers can do even if you have your wireless router secured.

The truth is don’t get all panicky just yet. There is hope for the rest of you and a ton of resources out there. I personal like what cnet.com has setup with the classroom series. Go over to there Wireless Security online class and learn how you can help protect your data. Now I might go on and on and on about how dangerous the wireless world is, however i’m sitting here in bed with a pillow between me and the 1,000 degree laptop I’m blogging with. Keep those wires cut, but protect yourself with some knowledge at these classes: http://wireless-security.classes.cnet.com/

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The Bad words of Computer Security Part 3 – Software Updates

March 8, 2007 By - Leave a Comment
There is a lot of words for Software updates including, Vulnerabilities, patches, versions and bugs. Software and your Operating system need to have the latest version, otherwise you risk your computer to cyber attacks. For example if your using an outdated version of Firefox (a web browser) and enter a site that attacks a certain bug which has been known and fixed in newer versions then even if you have an Anti-virus program you can get attacked. The simple rules:
  • Make sure your Operating system is always up to date. Schedule your machine to automatically update your software. Next make sure that all your applications are up to date. This use to be a very hard one but has gotten much easier. Before you would have to compare each verison of your software or goto each software and see if they have an upgrade button and click it once in a while. Today a lot of software like Firefox and Thunderbird will automatically install new updates and inform you when these have been done. Also There is a software inspector that inspects your computer for all out dated (vulnerable) software. This is the secunia inspector. Click the button below to inspect your computer and make sure all your software is up to date. This should be run every month.
  • Run the Secunia Software inspector to make sure your computer is safe.
If you follow the first part of the serious about passwords, the second part about Viruses and this part about updating your software there will be a 99% chance of your computer getting taken over, infected and your identity stolen over the Internet. These are simple rules and are equivalent to changing the oil in your car.
Filed Under: Advice, Internet Tools, Security, Technically Foreign Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Bad words of Computer Security Part 2 – Viruses

March 6, 2007 By - Leave a Comment

In the first Part of the “Bad” words of Computer Security I talked about Passwords. Now that you have a safe and secure password what about Viruses??? Since a computer was built by a human you will notice we take a lot of the same words when we talk about ourselves. If you get a virus, that’s not a good thing. The same goes for your computer. Now we protect ourselves from viruses, we don’t eat from the garbage, wear the right clothing when its cold and in general stay away from the things that will harm us. That is the same with computer viruses, be careful what you feed your computer. In the good old days that meant putting a disk in a drive, today that means going to a website, downloading a program or opening an email. Security experts use to say don’t open anything from strangers, but even that has changed.

Rules for protecting your computer from getting a virus:

  • Install an anti-virus program. Then make sure you have the up to date virus definitions each month. PLEASE READ, yes that four letter word, READ, the information on the anti-virus companies website. Most anti-virus software comes with a subscription, when that subscription runs out then you are no longer protected from the latest viruses since you will not be able to install the latest definitions. I list Anti-virus programs at the end of the article.
  • UPDATE, I know i mentioned it above but make sure that you are getting the updated definitions each day or at least each week. (Companies don’t always reales them each day.)
  • Make sure you have a firewall on. Most Operating Systems (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux) have built-in firewalls.
  • Run an anti-virus scan at-least monthly with of course the newest definitions. You can schedule the scan. I run mine weekly.
  • That Is it…. now for those resources

Resources:

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The bad words of Computer Security Part 1- Passwords

November 21, 2006 By - 2 Comments

So there is this thing out there that computers are the Root of all evil. Now that is actually a very geeky joke that no one should ever get, but there are some out there I can hear laughing as you pet your Playstation 3. So what is Computer Security? What does it have to do with the average user? A LOT!!!!

Today everything is on our computer. Well almost everything, we still can’t get pizza from the computer. We could order it online but what’s the fun of that. Since we work, bank, communicate and play on our computer there is a lot of information and information is as valuables as gold. This first section is concentrating on PASSWORDS. You know that little word you need to gain entrance into a private little space usually in Cyberia. Now this little guy can be used against you, can be your worst nightmare.

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Filed Under: Advice, Security, Technology Tagged With: , ,