When speaking of computer systems, never
use the word "secure."
-- Donald H. Rumsfeld, former U.S. Secretary of Defense
If you use a computer, regardless of whether or not it is connected
to the internet, you are in danger. You've spent some money on a nice
system and it's proven to be very valuable. You've got lots of financial
data (at least your checkbook), your graphics, scanned photos and lord
knows what else stored safely on your hard drive.
You think you are safe? Think again.
Before you do anything else, make sure you have a
backup and recovery plan for your computer
system. Invest in some kind of backup device (a tape drive, zip drive or
whatever) and a good backup program (Backup Exec is good) and do regular
backups. At the very least, back up your critical data files. You MUST
do backups if you want a secure system ... if something gets through
your defenses you can rebuild if you have a backup. Otherwise, you are
stuck ... system destroyed an no backup means you lose all of your data.
Your first and most significant danger is from nasty little
viruses. Your system is in danger if it has
any contact of any kind with an outside computer. This includes an
internet connection, a network link or even a floppy disk. What do you
do about it? Spend the money and buy the best antivirus software that
you can find ... I prefer
Norton
Antivirus because of it's ease of use and automatic updating
features. There are plenty of products to choose from, but be sure you
can get regular, easily and automatically installed virus updates.
Norton is good because it also comes with an email module which scans
incoming messages and removes viruses automatically.
The next thing I would recommend is to check out your email program.
Microsoft's email programs are wonderful, but they are so powerful that
they allow a multitude of malicious programs to damage your computer. If
you are using
Outlook
Express, consider switching to
Eudora or a similar program. If you are using
Outlook, I
would suggest you check out the
security upgrade from Microsoft which effectively disables many
scripting features and the opening of executable files. This will
prevent email viruses, more properly called Trojan Horses, from
infecting your system.
Once you are protected from viruses and email Trojan Horses, it's
time to protect yourself from people attempting to break into your
system. Even if you are using a dialup connection, it is a good idea to
get yourself a firewall. If you can afford
it, purchase a hardware firewall such as the
SonicWall.
You can also get a nice software firewall such as
Zone Alarm
(you can install the free version). A hardware firewall is far superior
to the software versions.
You may also want to use an anonymous proxy
service to cloak your TCP/IP address from others. An anonymous
remailer is good to keep your email address confidential, although you
can use several free
web-based email accounts to perform a similar function.
Now if you really want to be secure invest in
AdSubtract Pro
(there is also a free version) and configure the
cookie and referrer protection. This
allows you to selectively enable or disable cookies and referrers (and
some other things) based upon web site address. It's very useful and
easy to configure.
Also remember to configure
AdSubtract
to remove advertisements and web bugs, and
you've got yourself a pretty secure system.
Now you want to stay secure ... you've got to understand that there
is a war going on right now as we speak. This is the war between hackers
and the rest of the world. Hackers are constantly testing the limits of
computer systems, and find new holes and vulnerabilities all of the
time. Thus, in order to keep your system really, really safe, you need
to sat on top of the most current security information.
Read up on other threats to your privacy so you can be more careful
online. Be especially wary of scams and other
attempts to defraud you. If you've got kids, but
in place adequate safeguards to protect them.
This is very important if you don't want them getting themselves, and
you, into danger.
Finally, be cautious about installing any new programs, spreadsheets
or documents (specifically Word documents). If you download a program
off the internet, make sure it is from a very trusted source.
Downloading that game from the cool site that you found last night is
probably not a good idea - no telling what is in the program, waiting to
cause havoc on your computer.
As you can see, keeping your system secure is a lot of work. But if
you do not do it, you will no be happy with the results. At the very
least, make sure you have a good backup. In fact, if you can only do one
thing, spend the time on your backups. That way you can always recover.
Contents
- News Important news related to the security
of computers, the internet and the web.
- Using anonymous proxy server services to
hide your TCP-IP address If you have a direct connection to the
internet, such as a DSL or cable modem, then you should consider one
of these services to hide your TCP/IP address. It is very important to
use anonymous browsing to protect your privacy online while surfing.
These services are basically anonymous proxy servers which hide your
TCP/IP address. Some of them include remailers to help protect you
from spam and junk mail.
- Backing up your system is an essential part
of your security scheme Backups are extremely critical to keep
your system secure. If your system is damaged by a virus or an
intruder you have a way to recover. Remember, however, that you must
think through and test your scheme. You have many options in hardware:
tape, jazz or zip drives, depending upon whether you are on windows
NT, Unix, SUN, ATL, DEC, IBM, NCR or HP.
- Preparing for Disaster Do you use your
computer for anything?If you do, then you had better make a backup.
You never know when something could happen to destroy all of your
work.
- Cookies Cookies (under names like magic
cookies, persistent cookies, and just plain cookies) are basically
harmless, but many surfers are very much afraid of them for various
reasons. Companies like Doubleclick use them to track your surfing
habits. These can be a great way to personalize your experience on a
web site, though, and sometimes a web site simply will not work. Buy
Norton Internet Security 2000 to selectively delete and add cookies.
- So What's A Cookie For, Anyway? Cookies were invented for a
good reason and have valid uses. It's too bad evil companies have
perverted the concept and threatened our privacy.
- The Fear Of Cookies Afraid of the
lowly cookie file. Here's some of the reasons why you should be.
- Protecting Your Children The internet
is a very hostile place to children. It's bright and shiny and fun,
but there are dangers everywhere. Protect your kids from prowlers,
pornography and hate sites. Your children's safety is at stake.
- Report Child Pornography Report
child pornography to the authorities immediately and always so that
it can be dealt with. The world does not need this kind of sum and
trash.
- A Dangerous Environment Think the
internet is safe for your kids? Think again, and spend the time now
to keep them safe - or suffer the consequences.
- Firewalls protect your system You must
protect your system with a personal filewall, especially if you are
using DSL or cable modem.
- DMZ A DMZ is useful to allow some systems
to be exposed to the outside world while still remaining secure.
- Honeypots A honeypot is used to get
hackers to concentrate their efforts on a decoy system.
- Features of a Good Hardware
Firewall So you want to get a good hardware firewall? This
article presents some of the things you should expect.
- Fraud and scams Be careful when purchasing
or signing onto anything on the web, as it's full of fraud schemes.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can help with bonds and
stocks, while the U.S. Post Office can help with mail fraud. Remember,
there are con men and scams everywhere. (See also
Money Making
Opportunities - Scams and Cons)
- Referrer You may be unknowingly giving
out some of your usernames and passwords as you surf the web. Here's
what's happening and how to stop it.
- Social engineering is a way to hack into your
system Don't give out your username, password or credit card data
without very good reason and being very sure who the other person is.
Hackers use something called social engineering to get this data from
you.
- Viruses The most important thing you can
do to protect your system is install a virus checker (also known as an
anti-virus program). These programs will scan your system for viruses
and Trojan horses and delete or repair them. There are several
products including those by McAfee and Norton (Symantec).
- Some More About Viruses There is
much to know about viruses, and it's important that you learn as
much as possible to protect yourself.
- The Ultimate In Virus Protection
Learn how to protect your computer and your hard work. Start with a
backup plan, install antivirus software and subscribe to
newsletters.
- Outlook Security Patch
If you run Outlook and you want to protect yourself, you should
install the Outlook security patch.
- Viruses - Code Red Worm System
administrators will remember the summer of 2001 as a strange time
indeed. Code Red and Code Red II are some of the reasons.
- Viruses - SirCam The SirCam virus
is one of the nastiest and most prolific viruses to hit the internet
yet.
- Hoaxes Have you gotten an email
recently which claims your computer will be trashed by a horrible
virus? Did you send it out to all of your friends? Here's what you
should have done.
- Setting Up Your AntiVirus Software
First, get some antivirus software. Next, make sure it is configured
in the most paranoid way possible.
- Get Real About Virus Protection
Some people believe they are safe from viruses just because they
don't use Microsoft products. They should think again.
- Web Bugs Web bugs are little graphic
images inserted into web pages, emails and other web-aware documents
to allow companies to gather information about you without your
knowledge.
- Web Bugs Are Crawling Everywhere
You've heard about web bugs. They are little things designed to
track your movements. Watch out - they are exploding all over the
internet.
- Hacker Notes This column is intended to
educate people on what threats exist and how they can defend
themselves against them.
- Hacker Notes - Back Doors
Sometimes people create alternate ways to get into your system which
bypass the front line security. These are called back doors.
- Hacker Notes - History Hacking
has a long and colorful history. It is very interesting reading.
- Hacker Notes - Denial Of Service
Attacks Denial of service attacks have gotten a lot of press
lately. What the heck is it?
- Hacker Notes - Email Bombs
An email bomb is a way to deny someone access to his email account
for a period of time.
- Hacker Notes - Passwords You
want to have a hacker on your system? Do what most people do and
have weak passwords.
- Hacker Notes - Ping Of Death
One common attack method is to send a huge PING packet at a system.
Some older or unpatched operating systems will crash in response.
- Hacker Notes - Terms This
article defines some of the terms commonly used by hackers.
- Hacker Notes - War Dialer
Hackers often use war dialers to find modems which they can use to
crack into your network.
- Hacker Notes - Trojan Horses
In order to damage, control or even just examine a system a hacker
must convince someone (a user, an operating system or an
application) to install something for him. A Trojan Horse is one way
to do this.
- Hacker Notes - Web Site
Defacement A hacker who wants to "leave his mark" might deface a
web site. He might also want to leave a message or simply mock the
webmaster.
- War Driving, War Flying and War
Chalking With the advent of extremely inexpensive wireless
access points, a new hacking technique called war driving has
appeared.
- Hacker Notes - Zombies
Sometimes a virus does not appear to do anything, yet has infected
your system. If this happens, you might actually be helping attack a
government, a company or a university.
- Cyberterrorism Is cyberterrorism
a real threat to the United States? In spite of real possibilities,
terrorists prefer weapons that cause mass deaths and destruction.
- Cyber-terrorism Replies
Got some replies to my article on cyber-terrorism. Here are my
responses.
- Let's Use Our Brains, Please
I think it's time to begin to use our own brains and be more
discrete about what we make available on the internet.
- Cyber Warfare The United States
is at war with terrorism. It's realistic to assume that terrorists
will attempt various cyber attacks now and then. So prepare yourself
and your network.
- What is a security certificate?
Security certificates provide a way whereby people can trust one
another on the internet.
- Physical Security Working on
making your systems more secure? Before doing anything, ensure they
are behind locked doors.
Unless otherwise noted, all photos and text is Copyright © Richard G Lowe, Jr.
