Internet Security Tips and Information

By Joe Black, Courtesy of WindowsRepairTool.com

Copyrigt !""# all rigts reser$ed.
Contents
Internet Security- The Truth About Identify Theft...................................................................................3
Internet Security for Teens- What You Need to Do..................................................................................4
Internet Security-Downloading E-ail Attach!ents................................................................................4
Internet Security- " Ti#s for $sing %aceboo&.........................................................................................."
Internet Security- ' Ti#s to (rotect Yourself When Dating )nline.............................................................*
Internet Security for Teens and Tweens- +, Ti#s to -ee# You (rotected.....................................................
Internet Security- (arental /ontrol Software..........................................................................................'
Internet Security- )nline Safety for Your /hildren...................................................................................'
/yber 0ullying- Another As#ect of 0rea&ing Internet Security...................................................................1
" Ti#s to Ensure Internet Security..........................................................................................................+,
Internet Security- Downloading usic off the Internet..........................................................................++
Internet Security- (o#ular )nline Sca!s..............................................................................................+2
Internet Security- (rotect Your Wireless /onnection.............................................................................+3
Internet Security- 3ow to Deal with S#yware.......................................................................................+3
Internet Security- (rotecting Yourself When You Sho# )nline................................................................+4
Internet Security- a&e Sure Your (asswords (rotect You.....................................................................+"
a&e Sure Your E!ails Are Safe4 Ti#s for Internet Security....................................................................+*
Internet Security- Why Should You $se a %irewall5................................................................................+.
Internet security-Signs That Your /hild6s Safety ight 0e /o!#ro!ised..................................................+'
Internet Security- (rotect Your 0usiness..............................................................................................+'
Internet Security- Safety When $sing (ublic /o!#uters........................................................................+1
4 E!ail Sca!s that Threaten Your Internet Security..............................................................................2,
Internet Security- Storing Your (assword on Your /o!#uter..................................................................2+
Internet Security-What Does Your 7arge 0usiness 8e9uire5....................................................................22
Internet Security-$sing Social $tility Sites............................................................................................22
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2
Internet Security- The Truth About Identify Theft
'ou would ate to tink tat &y ordering tat new purse or &uying tat airline ticket for $acation
migt end up costing you your identity. Wile most we&sites are secure wen it comes to
transactions, your personal and financial information can &e compromised. +s a result, tey
can open credit cards, cecking accounts, and e$en get an I) and purcase a new car wit
your personal information. +s a result, you could end up owing tousands of dollars, as well as
a$e to seek legal elp wic can cost e$en more money.
Identify teft can unfortunately appen to anyone. ,ere is some information tat migt
&e elpful in recogni-ing it and pre$enting it to maintain your internet security.
Signs that Your Personal Inforation !ight "e Co#roised
.. 'ou recei$e someting tat you did not order.
!. /ne0plained tings pop up on your credit report. 'ou migt not e$en notice tis until you
try to purcase someting and you are declined due to your poor credit rating.
1. /ne0plained purcases sow up in your cecking account or on your credit cards.
2. 'ou recei$e calls from &ill collectors for accounts tat you did not open.
Preventing Identity Theft
.. +lways sred any unwanted credit card offers or mail tat migt contain personal information
suc as your account num&er, social security num&er, cecking account num&er, etc.
!. Stay up to date on te latest scams. Tere are se$eral we&sites de$oted to tis.
1. use anti spam ware and ensure tat your e3mail account as a spam filter on it to
deposit unwanted emails into.
2. Ceck te pri$acy policy on a we&site tat asks for personal information. )on4t
su&mit anyting if it doesn4t a$e one.
5. )on4t keep your personal or financial information on your computer. 6ikewise, don4t store
your passwords on your computer eiter.
7. )on4t open an attacment if you recei$e an e3mail from someone tat you don4t know. /se an
anti3$irus program to scan te e3mail first to make sure tat it doesn4t contain any pising or
$irus programs on it.
8. 9eep your firewalls and anti3$irus software up3to3date on all of your computers.
If you suspect tat your security as &een compromised, cange all of your passwords, cancel
your credit cards, close your &ank account, and report it to te police. +lso, report te acti$ity at
once to your financial institution and Credit Card Company.
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3
Internet Security for Teens- $hat You %eed to &o
;$eryday you ear a&out teens &eing attacked or compromised &y people wo take
ad$antage of tem &y using te internet. *or a parent, tis can &e a frigtening concept.
,owe$er, tere are measures tat you can take to protect your teens on te internet. Te
following is a list of tips to elp ensure internet security for your teens.
1. Talk to your teen. *irst, make sure tat you talk to your teens a&out internet security.
,a$ing good communication is always te most effecti$e pre$enti$e measure. +fter all, you
can put security features on your computer at ome, &ut teens a$e access to computers
almost e$erywere tey go. <ake sure tat your teen understands te dangers associated
con$ersing wit people tey don4t know on te internet, meeting people off of te internet, and
using teir financial information to purcase someting online.
2. "e aware. Tere are tousands of cat rooms, message &oards, and forums out tere for
teens. +s a result, tere are tousands of people out tere wo pretend to &e teens in order to
con$erse wit tem. Tis is a dangerous situation. Wen your teen is at ome, monitor teir
internet use witout &eing too o$er&earing. 9now wat cat rooms tey use, wat people tey
con$erse wit on a daily &asis, and ask to &e a&le to access teir face&ook and myspace
pages. 6et tem know tat if tey are going to a$e a computer in teir room you a$e te
rigt to look at teir internet usage from time to time.
3. 'e#ort any sus#icious behavior. If your teen tells you tat someone on te internet wants
to meet tem, do some in$estigating yourself on tis person. 6ikewise, if your teen tells you
tat tey are trou&led &y someone wo is contacting tem on te internet ten report tis
person to te police. It is &etter to &e safe tan sorry.
4. &on(t let cyber bullying go unnoticed. Cy&er &ullying is a $ery real treat to internet
security, as well as pysical and emotional well3&eing to teens. If your teen is &eing cy&er
&ullied ten report te offenders to tat we&site tat it is occurring on and ten let te scool
know as well. <ore and more organi-ations and we&sites are taking tis seriously tis days.
=n face&ook, if you &lock someone now, it actually asks you if it was due to cy&er &ullying.
(arental Control Software 6ets face it life keeps us to &usy to &e a&le to monitor our
cildren%s internet acti$ity completely. +nd as muc as we would like to &elie$e our cildren
our &eing onest wit us it%s igly likely tey are not. Te ars reality is our cildren know
more a&out tecnology ten we do and can easily ide teir acti$ity from us. If you want te
piece of mind of knowing your cildren our safe in$est in (arental Control Software. Tere are
many great products a$aila&le. To sa$e you some time I a$e pro$ided a link to te software I
use personally. Click ere
4
)andling *ail
It seems silly tat people would waste teir time trying to come up wit different ways to
destroy oter people4s systems, &ut it appens on a daily &asis. Sometimes, people do it >ust
&ecause tey can and tere isn4t reason a $alid reason &eind teir actions. Tis can &e $ery
frustrating for te $ictims of suc an attack. 'ou must learn to &e cautious. So ow can you
protect your internet security wen it comes to downloading e3mail attacments?
Ignore te mail. + lot of times people wo send armful tings to your e3mail account try to get
away wit it &y pretending tat tey know you or are sending you someting tat you already
re@uested. Well, if you know tem ten you sould &e a&le to identify te e3mail address. 'ou
sould also recogni-e te name. Sometimes, tey will use te name of a legitimate company
to try to fool you. *or e0ample, it migt say A+ma-onB &ut wen you look more closely at te e3
mail address it migt read ama-onCotmail.com. :ow, would it really make sense for
+ma-on to use a free e3mail account?
+nti3$irus software. 'ou sould definitely in$est in some anti3$irus software. Tis will scan te
e3mails and attacments for you and let you know if tey are safe. Tis can &e particularly
important if you are using free email accounts.
(areto6ogic +nti3Dirus (6/S is a !icrosoft Certified Anti-virus and Internet Security Suite
tat is surprisingly afforda&le. Tese days we are all on a strict &udget.
I recommend tis software &ecause it is e$ery &it as good as :orton and <ac+fee &ut at a
fraction of te cost. Tis product is an all in one solution. It includes malware, spyware as well
as +nti3Dirus protection and elimination. Click ere to learn more.
Internet Security- + Ti#s for ,sing -acebook
'ou pro&a&ly a$e a face&ook account. If you don4t, ten cances are tat your cild does.
*ace&ook can &e an e0cellent way to interact wit your friends and co3workers, as well as
keep your family updated on wat is going on in your life. 'ou can post family $acation
pictures, send emails, and AcatB wit people tat li$e far away. Better yet, you can do all of
tis for freeE ,owe$er, tere are some risks associated wit internet security wen it comes to
*ace&ook. 6uckily, *ace&ook is aware of tese internet security risks. Tere are actually some
tings tat you can do to elp protect yourself. Te following is a list of 5 tips tat you can use
to make sure tat you are safe wen using *ace&ok.
.. <ake your profile pri$ate. 'ou can do tis in a num&er of ways. 'ou can make it so tat
only your friends can see your information and potos, or you can make it so tat people can
see your name and information &ut not your potos or wall unless you add tem as a friend.
Ceck tis out under your Apri$acy settingsBtap on your account.
!. Block people tat you don4t want to see your information. Tere is a coice under teir
potograp tat will allow you to &lock tem. Wen you do tis, you will not sow up on a
searc tat tey do and tey will not see anyting a$ing to do wit your account. It will &e
as toug you do not e0ist to tis person. Tis is a good feature is someone specifically is
&otering you.
"
1. Report cy&er stalking or arassment. If you coose to &lock someone, a window will pop up
asking you te reason. =ne of te coices is cy&er stalking. Coose tis option if it is true. It
won4t stop if people don4t report it.
2. =nly add people tat you know. Tis will elp your internet security tremendously. ,a$ing
1"" or more friends >ust so tat you can say you a$e a lot of tem is not a good reason
for continuing to add people.
5. )on4t purcase anyting $ia *ace&ook. <any applications cost money. Ignore tese and use
te multitude of free tings tat te site offers. 'ou don4t want your financial information to &e
compromised >ust &ecause you send someone a picture of a &irtday cake.
Internet Security- . Ti#s to Protect Yourself $hen &ating /nline
+ lot of people find great, ealty relationsips troug online dating communities. <ost of te
people wo sign up for tem are legitimately looking for lo$e and relationsips. ,owe$er,
tere are always going to &e people out tere wo will take ad$antage of oters.
So wat can you do to protect your internet security, and yourself, wen using online dating
we&sites?
.. If you do decide to meet someone in person, do it in a pu&lic place. (refera&ly, meet tem
in dayligt ours and ask someone to go wit you. If tat doesn4t work, ten at least lea$e
information wit a trusted person wic includes were you are going, ow long you plan on
staying,a s well as anyting identifia&le a&out te person tat you are meeting.
!. )o not rely on a potograp. It migt not e$en &e te person tat you are really talking to.
=r, it could a$e &een tem !" years &efore. (eople use different pictures or are disonest
a&out teir appearance all te time.
1. Sa$e all of your con$ersations in a file on your computer. Better yet, print tem out. 9eep
tem somewere tat is fairly easy to access.
2. Talking to someone online is not te same as talking to tem in person. )on4t rus
te relationsip and don4t feel as toug you a$e to meet tem rigt away.
5. use a different e3mail account for your online dating tan you do for your regular emails.
7. )o not e$er gi$e out any personal information at te &eginning. In addition, keep your last
name and anyting personal, suc as your address and directions to your ouse pri$ate, until
you a$e met te person and a$e gotten to know tem a little &it &etter. If you must gi$e
tem your num&er, gi$e tem a cell pone num&er instead of your ouse pone.
8. *ind a reputa&le online dating ser$ice. )on4t >ust go to Foogle and searc for singles cat
rooms. +n account tat you a$e to pay for is generally more reputa&le tan one tat is free
of carge.
*
G. )on4t post any racy or re$ealing potograps of yourself. Tis is sure to draw te wrong kind
of person3and not one tat is looking for a relationsip wit anyting serious in mind. In
addition, try to coose a screen name tat isn4t too re$ealing eiter.
Internet Security for Teens and Tweens- 01 Ti#s to 2ee# You Protected
Tere are a lot of safety risks out tere for teens and tweens wo use te Internet. ,owe$er,
tis doesn4t mean tat tey a$e to stop using te 4:et. Instead, tey sould use good
>udgment and try to make wise decisions. Te following article lists some elpful tips to keep
your teen and tween4s internet security protected.
.. )on4 let your username say too muc a&out you. *or instance, don4t make it your name and
age, like Susan.7. Instead, make it someting tat doesn4t say muc a&out your name, age, or
se0. 9eep it as neutral and $ague as possi&le.
!. )on4t e$er post your social security num&er, dri$er4s license num&er, pone num&er,
ome address or credit card information on te internet. If a friend asks you for your num&er
on <yspace ten eiter email tem a pri$ate message or wait until you see tem in person.
1. )on4t add friends on te Internet tat you don4t know. (eople often misrepresent temsel$es
and pretend to &e someting tey are not. It appens all te time and tey are $ery good
a&out it. )on4t tink tat you will know te difference.
2. :e$er agree to meet someone in person tat you a$e met off of te Internet. If you are part
of a group and someone wants to get togeter to discuss someting tat sounds legitimate,
a$e a parent go wit you and meet in a pu&lic place. :e$er su&stitute a friend for a parent.
5. If you a$e concerns a&out someone wo is arassing you on te Internet, tell an
adult. Cy&er stalking is &eing controlled tese days and awareness is growing.
7. <ake your profile pri$ate so tat only te people you know can see your information and
potos.
8. )o some researc on sites &efore you sign up for tem. )on4t >ust >oin tem &ecause
e$eryone else is. 6earn ow tey work &efore you post anyting.
G. )on4t store your passwords on your computer. It can make acking easier.
#.If you purcase someting wit a credit card, ensure tat you are using a secure ser$er.
Tis sould &e noticea&le &y a little em&lem on te &ottom rigt and side of your screen.
.". consider not using your full name wen you >oin a site. :ot posting your last name is a great
pre$enti$e measure wen it comes to Internet security.
.
Internet Security- Parental Control Software
9eeping your cild safe is one of te &iggest callenges tat parents face today. Food
communication is an e0cellent tool and necessary wen it comes to warning your cildren a&out
dangers tat tey may face. ,owe$er, sometimes it takes more tan >ust good communication
wen it comes to protecting your cild online.
+ltoug you can go troug te process of putting your family4s computer in a common room,
looking into te *ace&ook and <yspace accounts from time to time, and talking to your cild
a&out te risks of posting personal information, risks still arise.
Te fact is tat sometimes your cild will &e su&>ected to adult material, or material tat is
oterwise inappropriate for cildren, &y mistake. Tere are some pornograpy we&sites
wose addresses are $ery close to popular we&sites wit te same name. Sometimes, te
only difference is weter it is .net, .com. or e$en .go$.
=ne of te tings tat you can do to protect your cild4s internet security is to install parental
control software. +ltoug it migt seem e0treme, a parent will do wate$er it necessary to
protect teir cildren.
So what can #arental control software do3
l Create alerts. 'ou can &e notified at once troug eiter te0t messages, pone calls,
or e3mails wen someone in your ome $isits an inappropriate we&site.
l Tie controls. Tese are good &ecause you can actually set a pre3determined
amount of time tat your cild can spend on te Internet. =f course, wen teir time runs out,
tey can still access oter features of te computer suc as word programs wic tey migt
need for scool purposes. + common complaint tat parents a$e is tat teir cild spends
too muc time on te Internet.
l ,sage 4ogging. Wit tis feature, you can produce and re$iew logs of your cild4s
internet acti$ity. 'ou can see wat we&sites were $isited, logs of Instant messaging cats,
as well as te $arious programs tat were used during te Internet session.
l Content controls. Tese allow you to coose wat types of content, suc as
adult content, tat you want your cild to a$oid access to.
l Progra controls. (rogram controls control te access to certain programs suc
as downloading music files or oter files tat could &e dangerous.
l All in one solution. Look for an advance piece of software that has all its bases
covered. Email recording, Content filtering, and Kestroke logging are among the most
important.
Tere are many great products a$aila&le. To sa$e you some time I a$e pro$ided a link to te
software I use personally. Click ere
Internet Security- /nline Safety for Your Children
;$ery parent wants to keep teir cild safe. (rotecting your cildren wen tey are on te Internet
is no e0ception to tis. Wile you don4t want to tink a&out people arassing your cild
'
or trying to &ring arm to tem, tere are still tose out tere wo migt try. Te following is
an article tat contains tips on ow you can pro$ide online safety for your cildren.
l 'ou can purcase online tools for added internet security. Tese contain features tat
allow you to control your cild4s access to adult material. Some IS(s also contain parent3control
options tat &lock some types of material. In addition, you can purcase programs tat &lock
access to sites tat is &ased on a list tat your IS( makes.
l 'ou can also purcase filtering programs tat restrict personal information from
&eing sent online. Tis is particularly elpful in protecting your financial and personal
information.
l Install a program tat lets you set a time limit on ow long your cild can stay online.
Tis way, you can ensure tat tey are not spending a large amount of time on te internet.
,owe$er, tey will still &e a&le to use office programs for scool.
l If your cild as a <yspace of *ace&ook account, get one as well and &efriend tem
in order to monitor teir use. =nly inter$ene if tere is a safety concern in order to gi$e tem
more pri$acy.
l )on4t let your cild participate in cat rooms. Some IS(s offer programs tat &lock cat
rooms. Sometimes people enter cat rooms designed for cildren and teens and pretend to &e
one temsel$es.
l If you4re aware of any cild pornograpy contact te :ational Center for <issing
and ;0ploited Cildren. If your cild recei$es pornograpy, contact your local law
enforcement office.
l Talk to your cild a&out teir screen name creation. + screen name sould &e neutral
and sould not re$eal any of te cild4s personal information suc as teir name or age.
l Talk to your cild a&out posting personal information like teir address, age, and full
name on social utility sites. Wen tey create an account, a$e tem make it pri$ate to
ensure tat only people tey know can access it.
l Continuously monitor your credit cards and &anking account in order to &e aware of
any unusual acti$ity. Talk to your cild if you &ecome aware of someting different on te
account. Ten, talk to your credit card company or &ank.
Cyber "ullying- Another As#ect of "reaking Internet Security
Wen you tink of Internet security, you are pro&a&ly tinking of protecting your personal and
financial information. ,owe$er, tere are oter types of internet security &reeces. =ne type is
cy&er &ullying.
+ prase tat is &ecoming more and more pre$alent in te world wide we&, cy&er &ullying can
&e $ery in$asi$e and emotionally upsetting to cildren, teens, and e$en adults. It4s difficult to
control &ecause in many cases te perpetrator is known &ut can not &e pro$en. ,ow? Because
tey will gi$e >ust enoug information to let teir $ictim know wo tey are, &ut not enoug
information to actually &e con$icted of anyting. Tey can do tis &y using pretend user names,
fake pictures, and re$ealing $ery little information a&out temsel$es.
So wat types of tings appen wit cy&er &ullying?
l Treats3 a lot of times, a cy&er &ully will make treats. Tese can &e tinly $eiled or
outrigt $icious.
1
l ,arassment on $ictim4s out we&site3 anoter type of cy&er &ullying occurs wen te
&ully posts negati$e material in a&undance on te $ictim4s own we&site. Tis can come in te
form of negati$e comments, treats, and oter types of general arassment.
l Slander3 if te &ully as teir own site Hlike a &log or a face&ook or myspace pageI tey
migt make slanderous comments a&out te $ictim. Tese can &e falsities, suc as claiming
tat te $ictim is ceating on teir spouseJsignificant oter, or tey can &e armful truts tat
te general population doesn4t need to need.
l +ccusations3 a rare form of cy&er &ullying, &ut e@ually dangerous, is wen te &ully actually
accuses te $ictim of doing te same ting tat te &ully is doing. +n e0ample would &e tisK te
&ully sends negati$e e3mails to te $ictim. Ten, te &ully gets on teir own &log or we&site and
writes a&out ow upset tey are due tot e fact tat te $ictim is sending T,;< negati$e emails. In
suc cases, te &ully migt e$en recei$e sympaty and te $ictim is ten arassed e$en more &y
people wo feel sorry for te $ictim.
So wy do tings like tis appen?
It is $ery difficult to know wy. +nger, resentment, lack of self3esteem, or sometimes plain
&oredom can lead to cy&er &ullying. In addition, te anonymity of te internet makes it easier
tan e$ery to &ully someone. Still, cy&er &ullying can &e emotionally de$astating and can
treaten your own emotional security. If it is appening to you, don4t sit &ack and let it continue.
+ Ti#s to *nsure Internet Security
)o you want to keep your computer and personal information safe? =f course you do. ,ere
are 5 tips to elp ensure your internet security.
.. Be careful of em3mail attacments
=ne of te most common ways to treaten your internet security is to open an e3mail
attacment tat contains a $irus. Sometimes, >ust clicking on te attacment itself will unleas
te $irus. If you recei$e an email from someone tat you don4t know and it contains an
attacment, don4t open it >ust to &e on te safe side. 'ou can always send a message to tat
person to $erify tat te email is legitimate. It4s &est to in$est in an anti $irus software program
tat can scan te attacment &efore you open it. Some e3mail systems will scan emails for you.
,owe$er, if you go troug a free program Hlike otmailI don4t count on te system &eing as
complete as an email account tat you pay for.
!. +nti3$irus software
'ou must in$est in anti3$irus software. It is one of te most important tings for your computer.
In addition to keeping you safe from $iruses, it can also scan your ard dri$e and clear out
unnecessary information, tus making your computer run more efficiently as well. +nti3$irus
software programs are e$erywere &ut it elps to do some researc &efore in$esting in one.
Wit some of tem, you a$e to update tem and pay again e$ery year.
1. /pdate security patces for your &rowser
+,
=n Windows, you can go to AWindows /pdateB under te AStartB menu it will update security
patces for you. Tis is necessary &ecause oles are formed on te Internet fre@uently and
wile you migt &e protected tis week, tat doesn4t guarantee tat you will &e ne0t week.
2. (rotect your passwords
Wile it is easier to use your same password, or a $ariation of it, for all of your accounts, it is
safer not to do so. Wen forming your password, it is &etter to use a com&ination of letters
and num&ers. +lso, ne$er gi$e your password out to anyone and resist te urge to store tem
on your computer. *rom time to time, cange your password on your important accounts tat
contain personal information or financial information for added internet security.
5. Install a firewall.
+ firewall &locks unwanted access to your computer. Some systems, like Windows Dista,
a$e firewalls &uilt into tem. 'ou can also download oters.
Internet Security- &ownloading !usic off the Internet
Today, most people a$e downloaded music off of te Internet. :ot only is it con$enient, &ut it
is also fun and $ery ine0pensi$e. In te past, if you liked a song you eiter ad to wait until it
came on te radio to record it or you ad to go out and &uy te entire al&um. :ot only was tis
e0pensi$e, &ut it could &e a assle, too, if it was te only song off of te al&um tat you wanted.
)ownloading music, owe$er, costs less tan L. per song in most cases. It also downloads
@uickly and you can &urn it on a C) for your ome or $eicle. ,owe$er, downloading music
off te internet comes wit internet security risks as well.
Wen a peer to peer H(!(I site is used, eac person4s computer acts as a ost for a song
or download. +fter installing software, a person can decide if tey want to only download
from oter people or let oter people also get into teir computer and download from tem.
=&$iously tings like tis can cause pro&lems were internet security is concerned. By letting
oter people into your computer to download music, oter tings on your computer are also
at risk from &eing taken as well. Tis is especially true if a good acker gets in control of your
computer. *iles migt &e stolen, or deleted, or a $irus can get into your computer and infect it,
causing you to lose e$eryting. :ot really wort it for a couple of free songs.
Tere is anoter pro&lem wit downloading music in tis way as well. <usic is copyrigted.
Wen you download it witout te artist4s consent, you are &asically stealing. It is punisa&le &y
law. 'ou a$e pro&a&ly eard of pirated music or pirated mo$ies &efore.
+ common argument is tat artists are already ric and downloading a couple of songs souldn4t
matter. ,owe$er, it does matter. +rtists, &y te way, don4t really make tat muc money off of teir
C)s. *or a L.1 C), some of te profit goes to te songwriter, some to te record company, some
to te musicians tat played on te al&um, some to te distri&ution, and
++
some to te record store tat sold it. /nless te artist was also te songwriter, tey are getting
a $ery low profit, usually only a dollar or so.
If you are downloading music, a$e a good anti3$irus software program a$aila&le, as well as
a strong firewall. Tis will protect your computer, &ut not your rigts if you get sued.
Internet Security- Po#ular /nline Scas
:o&ody wants to get ooked into a scam, &ut some of tem are so cle$er tat you can get
caugt up in tem witout e$en reali-ing tat you are doing someting tat treatens your
internet security.
So wat are some poplar internet scams?
.. Casier4s cecks. Tis is a new scam tat is &ecoming popular, especially on craigslist. 6et4s
say tat you post someting for sale. + person writes you, witout seeing te item, and says
tat tey want to purcase it. Tey offer you a casier4s ceck tat is sometimes e$en o$er te
amount tat te price is set for. Tey e$en tell you to deposit it and to tat tey will wait until
te money sows up &efore tey pick up te item. Te money sows up in your account, tey
get te item, and ten suddenly, te &ank calls. Turns out te ceck wasn4t good to start wit.
To a$oid tis, only deal wit local people. :e$er accept a ceck tat is more tan te amount.
If possi&le, a$e your &ank ceck out te casier4s ceck wit te &ank account tat it was
drawn upon.
!. =nline auctions. +ltoug te sites migt &e legitimate, te products migt not &e. To protect
yourself, always purcase from a seller wit positi$e feed&ack, make sure tat it is a reputa&le
auction site Hlike ;&ayI, understand te payment terms, use a safe payment metod, and don4t
accept casier4s cecks for items.
1. (ising. In tis scam, someone writes you from a legitimate company, like a &ank, and tells
you tat your information as &een compromised. Tey ten direct you to anoter site were
you are asked to enter your personal information in order to protect e$eryting. )on4t fall for it.
If it was for real, you would a$e recei$ed a pone call or someting from te mail. To &e on
te safe side, call te company &y looking up te num&er in te pone &ook.
2. )isaster scams. + disaster strikes and te ne0t ting you know, someone is writing you
asking for donations. 6ook tem up on te internet &efore you write a ceck.
5. Work scams. Tese can come in te form of work at ome scams or scams in wic te
person tells you tat tey found your resume online and want to offer you a >o&. :e$er do
anyting tat re@uires you to pay money upfront or pro$ide your social security num&er of
&ank account num&er.
+2
Internet Security- Protect Your $ireless Connection
/sing a wireless connection wen it comes to your internet can &e great. It4s fast, it4s easy, and
you don4t a$e to deal wit cords. (lus, you can ook up at a lot of different places3from airports
to <c)onalds.
Wile wireless routers are great, tey are not as secure as ooking up your computer to a wall
in your ome. =ter people can use your routers and ook up to te internet. Tey can also
access your own personal information and &e pri$y to tings suc as your financial
information and oter tings tat you don4t want oter people to a$e access to.
,ackers are notorious for &reaking into unsecured connections. +ctually, you don4t a$e to &e
$ery tecnologically ad$anced to do it, eiter. ;$en someone wit limited tecnological skills
can use your router for teir own computer. Tis is especially true if you do not set a
password or make your connection secure.
Sometimes, people >ust want to use your router to access te internet temsel$es. =ter
times, tey want to steal information or send you $iruses. :o&ody wants to deal wit tat. +
$irus can cras your computer, sometimes to te point tat it is not sal$agea&le.
But ow do you make sure tat your internet security is good wen you use wireless internet?
*irst, if you are not using your wireless router ten you sould turn it off. Tis is one of te &est
ways to protect your internet security.
'ou sould also disa&le te router4s ),C( ser$ice. Wat does tis do? Tis &asically gi$es
te computer access to te wireless connection. ,owe$er, wen you disa&le it and figure it
manually ten you can gi$e your network a distinct I( address and make it more secure.
It is also important to setting up a strong password in order to encrypt te ser$er. <ake sure tat
te password is someting tat is strong enoug tat it can4t &e figured out. It is always
suggested tat you do not use te same password o$er and o$er for all of your accounts and
tat you try to make it a com&ination of letters and num&ers. )on4t e$er use your name, -ip
code, social security num&er, or e$en telepone num&er.
Setting up and ten acti$ating a firewall is an additional way to protect your internet security.
Tis is important weter you are using a wireless router or not. + firewall can protect you
from $iruses.
Internet Security- )ow to &eal with S#yware
So wat, e0actly, is Spyware? Spyware is software tat can collect your personal
information, cange your computer4s configuration, and install ad$ertising on your computer
witout you e$en knowing it. Spyware generally does tis witout your consent, wic is wat
makes it treaten your internet security.
+3
Tere are a ost of pro&lems associated wit spyware, too, and some of tese pro&lems include
trying to get rid of it.
$hy do #eo#le use S#yware3
Spyware is typically used for marketing purposes. Wen a company makes spyware, tey get
contracts from oter companies tat pay tem well. Tey can direct traffic to oter we&sites
tat are similar. *or tis reason, tey can &e &e good.
,owe$er, like most tings, spyware can &e a&used, too. Sometimes, tings pop up on your
screen tat are unwelcome, suc as adult content. =r, sometimes undreds of tings pop up
at once. Tis is annoying and can make you not want to return to tat particular we&site.
$hat kinds of s#yware is out there3
<ost spyware is adware. +dware captures data for ad$ertising tat is targeted. <alware, on te
oter and, causes pro&lems wit your computer. <alware can &e a $irus tat arms your
computer, for e0ample, or i>ack your computer4s information. Tis can ten &e used for identity
teft purposes. 'our personal information can &e sold to oter people wo can ten use it to
open accounts and purcase tings in your name.
$hat else can s#yware do3
It can cause you to lose control of your computer. It can also cause error messages and make your
computer run slower, wic is a &ig annoyance in and of itself. 'our computer can e$en &e used to
send out emails tat contain $iruses or for illegal purposes if te rigt acker gets into it.
)ow can you get rid of it3
=f course, now you want to know ow you can get rid of it. Well, resist te urge to use te
AuninstallationB part of te program. Wile it migt appear to take te spyware off of your
computer, it generally doesn4t. In fact, it migt e$en set off a trigger tat installs more. Instead,
spend te money and in$est in a reputa&le cleaner or spyware detection program. Tese
sometimes a$e to &e updated e$ery year wic migt re@uire a new su&scription &ut it4s
wort it to get your computer cleaned. It4s &etter to spend money on tat tan trying to reco$er
your identity later. If you don%t a$e protection download 5oftS#yS*
Internet Security- Protecting Yourself $hen You Sho# /nline
Te internet can &e a great place to go soppingE 'ou can do it rigt from your ome wit little
to effort. ,owe$er, tere are orror stories from people wo a$e ad teir credit card and e$en
entire identities stolen. So wat can you do to protect yourself from tis appening to you?
l 9eep in mind tat a lot of credit card companies a$e pro$isions for callenging
fraudulent carges. If you see someting tat doesn4t look rigt on your &ill, gi$e tem a call.
+lso, print out a copy of e$ery receipt of wat you &uy.
l =nly sop at sites tat contain a pysical address and a telepone num&er. If you feel
+4
leery a&out tem, eiter trust your gut or gi$e tem a call or email. See ow @uickly tey
return your message. If you call tem, don4t >ust talk to a macine, talk to a person.
Remem&er wo you spoke to. =rdering from a trusted site migt &e &etter tan one you
a$e ne$er eard of. *or e0ample,. =rdering straigt from =ld :a$y is pro&a&ly more
secure tan ordering from a random woman online wo sells =ld :a$y.
l )on4t e$er pro$ide personal or unnecessary information like your social security
num&er or cecking account information in order to process credit card transactions. +ll tey
need to know is your &illing address, telepone num&er, credit card num&er and type of credit
car, and te security num&er on te &ack. :e$er gi$e out your social security num&er. It is not
necessary.
l 6ook for sellers wo a$e secure ser$ers. Some companies tat are considered safe
are ;@uifa0, SecureSite eBusiness, Twate, and Derisign. Te encryption tecnology is always
canging and wile it already makes sopping pretty safe, it keeps adding additional features
for te security and protection of soppers like yourself. Tere sould &e a little em&lem in te
&ottom rigt and corner of protected sites to watc for.
l Wen you are on a secure page, rigt click wit your mouse on any &lank space and
you sould get te options &o0. Scroll to te &ottom of te &o0 and click on A(roperties.B + ta&le
tat is te security certificate sould appear. 'ou can ceck tis out to elp put yourself at east.
l If it gi$e you an option to store any information, >ust say no. If you return, you can enter it
all again.
Internet Security- !ake Sure Your Passwords Protect You
In tis day and age, protecting our internet security is $ery important. We store important
information on te internet suc as our personal information as well as out financial
information. Identities are stolen e$eryday and getting yours &ack and clearing up te damage
tat it can cause is e0pensi$e and time3consuming.
=ne of te most important tings you can do is to protect te passwords tat you use for
your $arious accounts. Wy is tis important? Because if someone gets a old of your
password, tey can a$e all sorts of information a&out you.
<ost people use teir same password, or a $ariation of it, for all of teir accounts. :eedless to
say, tis is not a good idea. +fter all, if someone gets tat password tey can tap into almost
any internet account you a$e and tus &reec your internet security.
So wat can you do?
*irst, don4t use your same password for e$erytingE +nd adding A.B after te password
in instances wen you need a num&er does not make te password different.
Secondly, don4t store your password on your computer. 'es, it can &e a pain to type it in
e$ery time, &ut if someone &roke into your ouse tey would &e pri$y to all of your accounts.
+lso, don4t store your passwords on a notepad rigt tere &y your computer, or in a document
on your computer called Ainternet passwords.B Tey sould &e a little arder to locate tan tat.
+"
'ou can also use <icrosoft4s (assword Strengt Tester. Tis program lets you enter in a
password to see wat its strengt is. If you gi$e it someting tat doesn4t test $ery strongly
ten you need to cange it in order to make it more secure.
=ne ting tat you can do is to make your password a com&ination of letters and num&ers.
Tis is more difficult to figure out. +lso, don4t e$er use your social security num&er, dri$er
license num&er, or -ip code. 'ou souldn4t &e storing your social security num&er on te
internet to &egin wit like tat and your -ip code is too easy to figure out.
In addition, don4t use your cild4s name, your partner4s name, or your own name as a
password. +gain, tese are @uite simple to figure out.
By following tese tips wen it comes to your password, you sould &e a&le to strengten your
internet security. Wile it is a assle to come up wit se$eral different passwords and to
remem&er tem, it is more of a assle to straigten out te mess tat can result from not doing
it.
!ake Sure Your *ails Are Safe6 Ti#s for Internet Security
Te last ting you want to do is to a$e an unwanted e3mail wreck a$oc on your computer.
,owe$er, tis appens e$eryday. +t te &est, it can make your computer run slower. +t te
worst, your personal and financial information can &e stolen, or your entire computer can
cras and e$eryting could get lost due to a $irus.
Te following article includes some tips for internet security wen it comes to your e3mail.
l )on4t open attacments from people you don4t know. Tis sould go witout saying.
,owe$er, people do it all te time. /sually, te su&>ect lines of tese unwanted e3mails eiter
make it look as toug tey are sending you someting tat you re@uested
HAere4s te information you asked forBI or tey make it appear as if tey know you
HA,ey, it4s me, JonBI. ,owe$er, if you weren4t e0pecting any email wit an attacment
and you don4t recogni-e te sender4s address don4t open it. It could contain a $irus.
l )on4t gi$e out any information. =n te oter and, sometimes your internet security can &e
treatened from senders wo pretend to know you and try to get you to gi$e tem information. *or
instance, if you are applying for >o&s on $arious searc sites, someone migt contact you and say
tat tey found your resume. Tey could ten send you to anoter site and ask for your personal
information, like your social security num&er, &y pretending to a$e you fill out an application.
/nless you are applying for a state or go$ernment >o&, or a$e already &een troug te inter$iew
process and tey need to run a &ackground ceck on you, you sould ne$er gi$e out your social
security num&er.
l )on4t use te same passwords. :e$er use te same passwords for your email account
as you do for your e0pedia account, online &anking account , or any oter we&site tat stores
financial information. It is fairly easy to figure out email passwords and once a acker as it,
tey can get into your oter accounts as well and your information can &e used.
l Cange your passwords. +lso, remem&er to cange your passwords from time to time. Try
including num&ers, as well as letters, in your passwords. It makes it arder to figure
+*
tem out.
l )on4t let oter people access your email account. :e$er gi$e someone else your
password wen it comes to your email accounts. It4s difficult enoug for you to keep ta&s on
your internet security, muc less trusting oter people to keep it safe.
Internet Security- $hy Should You ,se a -irewall3
Wat is a firewall and ow it will protect your internet security?
+ firewall is usually part of te internet router and &asically works &y passing traffic &etween
secure and insecure areas.
Tere are to kinds of firewallsK pro0y ser$ers and packet filters. (ro0ies are generally
more e0pensi$e tan packet filters.
Computers are identified &y I( num&ers a firewall can tell if a source is legitimate &y comparing
it to a set of rules tat it employs. Wit a packet filter, te firewall won4t let in sources tat do
not pass te rules. It more or less stands guard o$er your computer and won4t let tings pass
troug tat do not adere to its standards.
Wile firewalls are meant to keep tings coming in, in some rare cases it can actually pre$ent
users from getting out as well. Tis can &e frustrating wen you are trying to $isit a site tat
you know is secure &ut for some reason your firewall as a pro&lem wit it and won4t let you
access it.
If tis &ecomes a ma>or indrance, you can reconfigure your firewall settings. =f course, if you
are part of an Intranet, suc as at a place of &usiness, tere is little tat you can do unless
you, yourself, a$e access to te main computer and passwords. If you do a$e access,
owe$er, you can always add te site tat you are trying to access as a 4safe siteB so tat te
firewall will let you in in te future.
'ou can purcase internet security programs tat contain firewalls. It is &est to do some
researc on tem first to get a good feel of wat you are purcasing. Some are created superior
to oters. If you get a good program, it sould also come wit some adware and spyware
&lockers as well, and peraps an anti3$irus program. =f course, most good anti3$irus programs
also come wit firewalls.
+ltoug people often &emoan firewalls and te fact tat tey try to keep people out of sites tat
are sometimes legitimate, tey can &e a great way to protect your computer from armful
attacks. If you own and operate a &usiness and a$e employees accessing te internet tey can
&e especially elpful, too. It can &e difficult to protect your internet security wen you are dealing
wit multiple internet users. It4s ard enoug &eing safe yourselfE
+.
Internet security-Signs That Your Child(s Safety !ight "e Co#roised
+ltoug you do e$eryting you can to protect your cild, sometimes tings get past parents
and your cild4s internet security protection is compromised noneteless. So ow will you
know if tere is someting going on wit your cild? Te following is a list of signs to watc for
tat migt indicate your cild is suffering from internet related concerns.
.. 'our cild turns off te computer te minute you walk into te room. Tey migt a$e &een
catting wit teir crus or significant oter, or &een &een catting wit teir &est friend a&out
someting tat tey tougt sould &e pri$ate. =r, tey could a$e &een looking at an
inappropriate we&site. *or tis reason, you migt want to in$est in a tracking tool tat creates
logs of your cild4s internet acti$ity tat you can re$iew.
!. 'our cild recei$es standard mail or packages from people you don4t know. It is possi&le tat
tey ordered someting online. +sk tem and ten ceck your &ank account or credit cards.
,owe$er, sometimes predators do get online and pretend to &e someting tat tey are not. In
some cases, tey send teir $ictims gifts in order to get tem to &ecome &eolden to tem.
=pen any packages tat you weren4t e0pecting. In some cases, it is &etter to ask for forgi$eness
tan permission.
1. 'ou find pornograpy on your cild4s computer. Wile it was true tat growing up you migt a$e
sneaked a look at (lay&oy or someting similar, Internet pornograpy can &e difficult to get a grasp
on. It is rampant and muc of it is fairly different tan te almost caste images seen in (lay&oy.
Some of it is also Ade$iantB pornograpy tat includes &estiality and e$en cild pornograpy.
Terefore, te content sould &e monitored and communication sould e0ist.
2. 'our cild &ecomes witdrawn. Se0 offenders and oter people wo prey on cildren do
teir &est to upset family interactions. If your cild tells tem a pro&lem tat tey are a$ing at
ome, te person will often try to make tat pro&lem appear larger in order to make te cild
more upset at te parent or si&ling in an attempt to dri$e a wedge troug te family itself. Tis
is to gain more control of te cild.
5. 'our cild spends a lot of time on te computer, especially at nigt. In$est in a time
control de$ice tat limits te amount of time tey can spend on te internet at once.
Internet Security- Protect Your "usiness
+ltoug you often want to protect your cildren from armful tings on te we& tat can
treaten teir internet security, you migt also &e concerned a&out your &usiness. Tere
are se$eral types of software tat &e purcased in order to elp protect your &usiness.
So wat can tese $arious types of software programs offer in terms of protection?
l 'ou can use a filtering program tat in some cases can &lock do-ens of categories at once.
'ou can also customi-e your filtering in order to coose wat types of content you
+'
want to &e inaccessi&le to your employees.
l 'ou can create an entire list of specific we&sites to &lock as well. Tat way, if you don4t
want your employees on *ace&ook wile tey are in te office, tey will &e &locked from
entering te site. Tis is generally in addition to te filtering program tat te software, or
ardware, will offer.
l 'ou can create a list of keywords tat can4t &e used in searc engines. Tis will also
limit access to content and sites tat are inappropriate for te workplace.
l /se te software to &lock Instant <essaging. Tis can &e a pro&lem in many offices
were te employees want to cat wit teir friends, and sometimes e$en co3workers, wen
tey are on te >o&.
l Create logs. Create and re$iew logs of internet acti$ity to see tat e$eryone as &een up
to. Tese can sow you wat we&sites were accessed and te amount of time spent on te
we&sites. It can also keep track of wat people were searcing for in te searc engines.
l (re$ent files from &eing downloaded, tus making it more difficult to get a $irus, or
download applications suc as music downloading programs. Tis can protect your
internet security from armful &ugs, spyware, adware, and $iruses.
So does some of tis sound like an in$asion of pri$acy? (eraps. Just remem&er tat your
employees are on te >o& and tat you sould &e a&le to protect work computers from $iruses
and oter armful programs tat can access your computers. 'ou migt want to make your
employees aware tat tese tings programs e0ist, especially te logs, so tat tey will not
&e &lindsided. It is also recommended tat you a$e a good computer policy in your
employee and&ook for te employee to read wen tey are ired. <ake sure tat you
update it wen necessary.
Internet Security- Safety $hen ,sing Public Co#uters
<any times, you migt find yourself a$ing to use a pu&lic computer. (eraps te internet is
down at your ome or you a$e mo$ed and it asn4t &een set up yet. =r, you migt &e tra$eling
and need to use an internet cafe or a internet site in te airport. Tese are generally okay to
use, &ut you must use caution wen you are accessing sites tat ask you to use your password.
Te following article will gi$e you some information safety measures wen using
pu&lic computers.
*irst of all, wen you are at ome and you are accessing ;0pedia or +ma-on or e$en your &ank
account, you migt a$e your password already stored on your computer so tat you can enter
te site wit a click of te mouse. +nd wy not? It4s a lot easier to do it tat way. 'ou don4t a$e
to remem&er your password and you4re at ome so you feel safe.
,owe$er, wile tis is a not a good idea e$en in te first place, it4s an e$en worse idea to do it
wile you4re using a pu&lic computer. <ore often tan not, wen you enter a site on a pu&lic
computer and it asks you for your password it will ask you if you want te site to remem&er it or
not. +lways answer no.
+1
Some pu&lic computers will actually reset e$eryting once you a$e logged off. 'our &rowsing
istory and any information you entered wile you were using it will &e erased. ,owe$er, tis
isn4t te case wit e$ery pu&lic computer. So, to protect your internet security you are &etter
off ensuring tat noting personal is left &eind.
,a$e you e$er entered your pin num&er at te store or at an +T< macine and ad someone
standing rigt &eind you? Were you afraid tat tey migt read your num&er and use it
temsel$es? 'ou sould use te same caution wen using pu&lic computers. Te person
sitting down after you, or standing &eind you, migt easily find out your passwords and use
tem to teir ad$antage.
Tis is not to say tat you sould &e paranoid. Wen you are finised, it elps to erase all of
your &rowsing istory, as well as any cookies tat you migt a$e used. Ceck under
Ainternet toolsB at te top to see if any passwords were remem&ered. It is &etter to &e safe
tan sorry at any rate.
7 *ail Scas that Threaten Your Internet Security
)o you trust your e3mails? It4s ard to &elie$e, &ut tere are people out tere wo a$e noting
&etter to do ten to tink of ways of conning oter people out of &usiness. It actually is teir
&usiness to scam. )on4t let your internet security &e treatened &y tese scammers.
Te difficult ting is tat wile some of te scams sound outlandis, many of tem also appear
legitimate, too. Intelligent people a$e &een scammed and ad teir internet security treatened
wen te emails appeared real.
To elp keep you and your information safe, te following is a list of 2 email scams tat
can treaten your internet security.
.. Te &ank scam. Tis is one of te more realistic sounding scams. + supposed &ank will
contact you and tell you tat tey a$e ad a security &reec and tat you4re information as
&een $iolated. Tey will ten direct you to an outside we&site were you are ten supposed to
enter your personal and &anking information to Aprotect it.B *irst of all, you wouldn4t recei$e an
email from your &ank if tis appened. Secondly, ne$er enter your &anking information like tis.
If you feel like it could &e true, call your own local &ank &ranc and ask tem.
!. Te fake >o& scam. In tis scam, a person e3mails you and tells you tat tey found your
resume and are interested in iring you. Tey ten direct you to a we&site were you are asked
to enter a &unc of information suc as your social security num&er and dri$er4s license num&er.
+ legitimate &usiness would ask you to call tem to set up an inter$iew.
1. Te lottery scam. ,ere, a person will write you and tell you tat you a$e won te lottery.
+gain, you will &e directed to a site were you will &e asked your &anking information so tat
te money can &e deposited. )on4t fall for it. Tis is not te way te lottery works.
2,
2. Te foreign money scam. Tis is a great one as well. + person will write you and tell you tat
tey li$e in a foreign country and came into a lot of money. Tey will ask you to deposit it for
tem in your account and as a result tey will gi$e you a cunk of it. Just say no. Tey want
your account information to take your money.
Internet Security- Storing Your Password on Your Co#uter
=ne of te most common tings tat you do migt &e treatening your internet security. It4s a
mistake tat nearly e$eryone is guilty of making. Wat is it? Storing your password on your
computer.
Wen you create a new account, or sign into your account, your computer generally asks you
if you would like to a$e te password sa$ed. It makes more sense to answer AyesB due to te
fact tat it makes life a little simpler to not a$e to re3type your password time and time again.
,owe$er, doing tis can compromise your security and your personal information.
+side from te fact tat if someone comes into your ome and gets on your computer, tey can
easily a$e access to your accounts, sa$ing your password also allows ackers easier access
to your accounts as well.
Tink a&out te accounts tat you migt a$e sa$ed your password on. ;0pedia, for e0ample.
;$en witin ;0pedia you sa$e your credit card num&er, &illing information, and oter pertinent
financial information. In fact, you migt a$e more tan one credit card num&er entered in it.
+noter account tat you pro&a&ly a$e personal information stored in is +ma-on. +gain, wit
tis type of account you store your credit card information. +ltoug +ma-on itself is a secure
site, someone wit access to your information can use it against you to make purcases, open
new credit cards in your name, and generally ruin your credit.
'our &ank account is one of te most important tings tat you need to protect. Wit online
&anking &eing $ery popular tese days more and more people are using it instead of traditional
&anking. ,owe$er, is your information gets into te wrong ands ten someone can transfer
money from your &ank account or e$en use your information to open an account in your name.
Jo& searc sites can also &e a pro&lem. In some cases, you a$e to enter your social
security num&er or dri$er4s license num&er in order for tem to run a security ceck on you.
Tese are two tings tat you do not want people to a$e access to.
If you a$e trou&le remem&ering your passwords, write tem down on a piece of paper and
store tem close to your computer, &ut not in an o&$ious place. <any people actually create
a file on teir computer &ut ten tey name it someting like Acomputer passwordsB wic
isn4t $ery secure at all.
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Internet Security-$hat &oes Your 4arge "usiness 'e8uire3
Wy is internet security important for a large &usiness? Tere are se$eral reasons.
=ne of te most important reasons is due to te fact tat a &reec of internet security can
treaten te $ery li$eliood of te company itself, including $ital information suc as financial
formation. *or tat reason, one system sould &e a&le to keep track of recording and
monitoring all internet acti$ity across te &oard wen it comes to te &usiness itself.
Tere are a couple of different ways tat you can go a&out doing tis. To &egin wit, you can
monitor your employees using restricted access and &y not allowing access to certain
we&sites. H+ lot of companies &lock face&ook and myspace, for e0ample, muc to te cagrin
of te employeesI.
It is important to do tis &ecause many large &usinesses are treatened &y ackers wo get
onto te internet and ack into te &usiness4s system and treaten secure information. Tey do
tis &y eiter gatering te information to use for $arious reasons, or &y sending out $iruses tat
can arm te integrity of te system itself. By restricting access and monitoring your employees,
you can elp sta$e off some of tese attacks.
+ good security protection system witin eac computer is also recommended. Tis can &e in
te form of a firewall or anti3$irus program3prefera&ly &ot. By installing tese, you can try to
ward off some of te most common attacks. (rograms tat &lock adware and spyware is also
suggested and sould &e included as part of a good anti3$irus program, too. In addition, it
sould &e noted tat updating your we& &rowser from time to time can &e ad$antageous as
well. HWindows Dista does it for you automatically.I
Some companies a$e started a$ing internet training sessions for teir employees as well.
In tese sessions, employees are taugt te dangers of opening attacments from people
tey don4t know, canging teir passwords fre@uently, and staying away from sites tat are
not secure.
;nsure tat te email system tat your employees use as a $irus system included as well. +
good system will read and scan te attacments @uickly to ensure tat tere are no $iruses
included. Some of tem e$en do tis rigt as te emails come in, making it go a little &it faster.
6astly, make sure tat you always &ack up your important fields and documents and make
certain tat your employees know to do tis as well. In$est in flas dri$es for e$eryone.
Internet Security-,sing Social ,tility Sites
If you don4t a$e a *ace&ook, <yspace, or Twitter account ten you are among te few. Social
utility sites are some of te most common we&sites on te Internet today. Cildren as young as
ten years old can &uild teir own we&sites and upload music, potograps, and $ideos on
tem. Tey can &e a great way to keep in touc wit family and friends, promote your &usiness,
or e$en meet new people. ,owe$er, do tey treaten your internet security?
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In some cases, tey can. Tey can also treaten your personal security if you don4t make
wise decisions a&out ow you use tem.
6ike in Areal lifeB you sould use caution in your A$irtual life.B 'ou wouldn4t gi$e someone on te
street a potograp of your cild, your pone num&er, or your address, rigt? Well, &elie$e it
or not millions of people do tat on te internet e$eryday.
=n *ace&ook, it gi$es you a place to enter your employment information, your address, your
telepone num&er, and your work istory. If you coose to make your profile pu&lic, tat means
tat anyone wo looks at your profile can read all of tat.
*ace&ook also as applications tat re@uire you to pay for certain tings. H/sually tings like
AgiftsB tat you can send to people on your friend4s list.I ,owe$er, if someone acks into
your account tey can steal your credit card information. Tis is particularly easy if you store
your password on your computer.
In addition, sometime people ack into social utility sites, use a person4s profile, and send out
$iruses to te people on teir friend4s list. Wen tis appens, te $ictim4s friends open te e3
mail tinking tat it is from someone tat tey know, only to &e it wit a $irus tat could cras
teir entire system.
To a$oid tis, make sure tat you cange your password on a regular &asis and tat you keep
diligent watc of your acti$ity. If you decide not to use your account anymore, a$e it deleted.
+lways ask permission &efore you include a potograp of someone on your site. <any
people do not want teir picture posted for $arious reasons.
)on4t add someone if you do not know tem. It I $ery easy to pretend to &e someting
tat you4re not wen it comes to te internet.
6astly, make your profile pri$ate so tat only te people on your friend4s list can see it. Tis
will stop unwanted people from lurking on your site.
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