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Jun. 19, 2008
Computer Safety
One of the blogs I read semi-regularly had a post yesterday explaining that she had a hacker break into her computer and destroy numerous files including photos and family videos. I began to wonder how safe most of us are. I am probably safer than most, basically because I'm married to an I.S./I.T. guy who has seen to it that we are well protected. Actually I had trouble with my internet one time and my ISP couldn't remotely find my computer, they only could get as far as the first router after I shut down the firewall machine (yes, we have a hardware firewall.)
For those of you who are like me and not terribly up on these things, there are a few things I'm going to recommend. First and most obviously, have antivirus! We use a wonderful one that is FREE (as are the other products I'm going to recommend). It is called Avast (found here ), it is the antivirus my husbands company uses. You can set it up to scan constantly in the background and it has a pretty cool warning if it's detected a potential problem. It also updates itself (important for me) and it completely deletes any virus you may pick up (this person said her problem was caused by not regularly emptying her security vault.) It does seem to make my computer load more slowly when I first turn it on, but I think that's a small price to pay.
Another potential problem is from something called spyware. These are things that can be installed on your computer by internet sites you visit without your knowledge or permission. Some of them will allow the creators to track where you have been on the internet (and maybe other personal data), they are part of the cause of popups (especially ones that have nothing to do with the site you are visiting) and they can even send out data that allows your computer to be identified. They are bad, you don't want them. My first recommendation is to try Mozilla Firefox (found here) instead of Internet Explorer. Here is what their web site says about security:
Simply put, your online security is our top priority. Firefox includes strict anti-phishing and anti-malware measures, plus easy ways to tell the good guys from the bad like our new one-click site ID info. And, thanks to our open source process we have thousands of security experts around the globe working around the clock to keep you (and your personal information) safe.
I know it is a pain to adjust to a new program, but I really, really like Firefox. Since nothing is perfect, you will also want a program to get rid of the odd spyware that slips through. My husband has installed Ad-aware (here) and Spybot S&D (here) on our computers. They sort of work in tandem, each finding what the other misses. They will scan and then remove any problems they find, you can select which ones you want to have removed. I want to warn you though, if you Google either of these, don't click on the sponsored link (in the pink box.) Those are different companies that claim to have free programs, but they only scan for free then you have to buy them to remove what they find.
Now for you more computer savvy people, we used an old computer to set up the firewall. My husband uses Dan's Guardian. I don't know much about it, but I do know that it can also be setup to block undesirable web sites. He has also set it up for me so that if it blocks a site I want to go to, I can enter a password and I can get on the site. Now don't think I go to offensive sites! Actually we have the settings pretty high so if I want a recipe that uses white meat chicken, it will frequently be blocked (I think if br**st appears more than once the page is blocked.) It also blocks most stain removal sites (bl**d, w*ne.) I have to use the stars or I'd be blocked from my own blog!
Hopefully you found some of this helpful! And you learned something new about how to protect yourself. |
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Jun. 24, 2008 - Untitled Comment
http://apeekinsideourworld.blogspot.com/