There are no guarantees of safety or security in life. On the Internet,
the same thing holds true. If you have an Internet connection, you will be
vulnerable to worm, viruses, hackers and other unsavory reminders that human
greed and vice is alive and well. All one can do is secure their computers
against the most prevalent threats and make it as hard to crack your system as
possible.
There are three distinct threats to your computer: Viruses
(and worms), hackers and spy
or adware.
Viruses and worms are programs that get into your computer by various means
from e-mail attachments to wiggling in through holes in the operating system's
security. There are many ways of closing the known holes and keeping these
things at bay. Antivirus programs, firewalls,
anti-spy programs and operating system updates.
ANTIVIRUS PROGRAMS:
The single-most effective tool for keeping viruses out is an antivirus
program. For our clients, we recommend BitDefender.
This program provides an
exceptional level of protection, is generally
very easy to use and install and does not usually cause conflicts with other
programs or devices. The only drawback is that, for most people, it can
only be obtained from the BitDefender website at www.bitdefender.com
.
If you have an older computer, or want a more complete, all-in-one package
for your Internet Security, you may want to use Trend-Micro's
PC-Cillin Internet Security. For a few dollars more, you get a firewall,
and a few other features that help make you safer, including very good
anti-spyware features. BitDefender Antivirus provides the best virus
protection protection and very good antispyware protection, however does not
include a firewall and the BitDefender firewall is not recommended. If you
need an all-in-one solution Trend-Micro's PC-CIllin is the best bet for you. You can purchase it at
www.trendmicro.com/en/home/us/personal.htm
.
But having an antivirus program alone isn't enough. It must be updated
REGULARLY. Both BitDefender and PC-Cillin have automatic update options that checks for
updates frequently while your computer is connected to the Internet for the first
year. After that, a subscription for the virus definition files (the part
of the program that tells it what viruses there are out there and how to handle
them), is available for a little less than half the cost of a new program,
however we recommend you only purchase such a subscription ONCE. After two
years, an antivirus program may not be up to the challenges of an ever changing
Internet and new features and abilities will be incorporated into a new
release. So, for example, if you have BitDefender 9.0, and the current
version is 11.0, you should buy the new program at BitDefender.com at the end of
your subscription rather than renewing the subscription. You then will not have to buy a new antivirus program
for 2 more years and if you get the 2 year license from BitDefender, you need
not renew anything for 2 years.
A CURRENT AND UPDATED ANTIVIRUS PROGRAM IS NOT AN OPTIONAL EXPENSE!!!!!
A virus or worm can do many things: eat your computer's data, create more
copies of itself and e-mail them to everyone in your address book, call another
program into your computer so someone can read your files or use your computer
for illegal purposes, even send out spam for porno sites or male organ
enhancement ads. When you have a virus, your computer may not seem to act
any differently to you, but to the rest of the world, your computer is a
menace. Old, expired definitions and antivirus programs WILL NOT KEEP YOU
SAFE. In fact, it's possible that even with a current and updated
antivirus program, you could still be infected. New viruses come out all
the time for which NO ONE has a defense. But keeping your antivirus
programs updated and current is the single most effective method of dealing with
the problem.
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FIREWALLS:
In short, a firewall is a boarder guard. It checks for the legitimate
Internet traffic both in and out of your computer. As was mentioned
before, some worms and viruses send out spam or create a "hole" in the
network of the computer
through which a hacker can do almost anything. A firewall is your second
line of defense against these threats after your antivirus program. What
the antivirus program may miss, the firewall will probably catch.
There are several choices for a firewall that work nicely for the home
user. A free firewall called ZoneAlarm
Basic is available for download. It has the basic firewall of
ZoneAlarm Pro, without many of the more detailed options. As a firewall,
it is MUCH better than nothing and the price is right Other premium (or
non-free) firewalls are
ZONEALARM PRO :
This is the full-featured version of the basic program. If you opt for
purchasing the antivirus program separately, and using the free ZoneAlarm basic,
then upgrading to the Pro version later only makes sense. You will not
have to 'retrain' your firewall and it provides as good or better protection as
Norton Personal Firewall. (Note: As of April, 2007, ZoneAlarm is not
compatible with Windows Vista.)
You will need a firewall if you have ANY connection to the Internet.
For those with network routers or dial-up, chances are all you will need is the
free ZoneAlarm firewall. But for those who have one computer no router and
DSL or cable-modem (or any other kind of connection), then a premium firewall is
highly recommended. Free is a very good price, but for the best level of
protection for the most vulnerable kinds of Internet connections like direct
cable and DSL, it is far better to buy that protection than get it
free. Something is better than nothing in all cases.
Many of these companies offer free upgrades for their products or upgrading
at a fraction of the cost of the new program.
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SPYWARE :
The old saying, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" applies
so well on the Internet that one should take it to heart. Except in a few
cases, virtually every game, utility or program you download for 'free' contains
some kind of spyware or adware.
The concept is pretty simple. Adware brings you advertising. In
short - pop-ups. LOTS of pop-ups. The more programs you may have
downloaded, the more pop-ups you get. The ability to run the program you
downloaded is usually tied to the ability of creating pop-ups. That is to
say, if you get rid of the pop-up producing programs, you can't run the
program/game/utility, etc. Since it was a free download in the first
place, you are hardly out of your hard-earned money. If you read the EULA
(or software agreement), you'll see that by downloading and/or installing
the program, you are agreeing to being terminally annoyed by pop-ups and ads.
Spyware is more insidious. These are programs that monitor where you go
and what you buy on the Internet. Theoretically, this is so that the ads
you do see on a web page are in keeping with your browsing and purchasing
tastes. It can be a lot less innocent that that, however, especially when
one understands that most people consider their Internet browsing habits
to be private.
Combating these is a little more complicated. First of all, never
download ANYTHING from the Internet that does NOT have a corresponding for-pay
item. Never click 'yes' to anything that pops up as you browse.
Finally, read all of the license agreement before you install ANYTHING for
free. Say no if you have any questions of what they mean.
If you are already a victim of these crimes against computer users, there are
some programs that can help.
Sbybot is a free utility put
out to help remove all sorts of nasty adware and spyware programs. It is
not comprehensive, but does a credible job of getting what some other programs
may miss.
Adaware is another
tool that comes in both free and paid versions. The free version, in
combination with others, is usually enough to stop the pop-ups and spyware from
working.
By using these programs together, it's pretty sure that you will remove the
overwhelming majority of spyware in your computer. Just keep in mind that
the free game or utility you downloaded may not work once the spy part of them
have been removed. The sites for each of the above programs spells out the
consequences of using those programs. Read it carefully first, then decide
what to do. The programs are not for the novice user, but anyone who has
an intermediate knowledge of the computer should be able to deal with them
without much problem.
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CRITICAL UPDATES:
For users of any Microsoft Windows version, it is mandatory that you keep
your operating system updated. This involves going to the Windows
Update web site and following the instructions written there. The only
items requiring downloading are the 'critical updates' .
You may have heard about the security 'holes' in the Microsoft Windows
operating systems. What this means is there are un-secure or open
avenues within the operating system through which malicious programs known as
worms can enter your computer. As with a virus, the worm can then do
further damage by automatically downloading more programs that can allow a
hacker to take control of your computer or use it for illegal purposes.
This is just one of literally any possibility of abuses of your computer by a
worm.
When these holes are discovered, Microsoft then develops what is known as a
'patch' to apply to cover this hole up and prevent a worm from exploiting the
vulnerability. These patches are specific to the vulnerability unless they
are bundled together to address multiple problems. All security patches
should be obtained and installed. The process is automatic albeit (for
those with a dial-up connection) time consuming. If you are updating an
operating system for the first time and using dial-up, expect to spend at least
eight to twenty hours downloading all of the updates and programs mentioned
here.
Once again, the ONLY things you MUST download from the Windows
Update web site are the Critical Updates. Anything else you can
download at your discretion.
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CONCLUSION:
Internet security today is no joke. There are programs out there, worms
and viruses, that can do some very nasty things. When traced back to your
computer, it could even result in a visit by the local federal authorities at
some ungodly hour. By being Computer Security conscious, you save yourself
and your Internet neighbors a lot of headache and frustration down the
road. You will also be doing your part in reducing spam and making the
Internet a much more pleasant, and safe, place.
