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A
Brief Discussion of On-line Security Issues |
If you use the Internet and email on your
computer, there are several areas of security risk that you should
be aware of. The more connected you are, the greater the risk.
Lack of security can be costly.
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1 - Viruses, Worms, and
Trojans:
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These destructive
programs have become an increasing problem over the last several
years. Many viruses, worms, and trojans are spread though email
and other on-line means. Having a good and up-to-date antivirus
program has become a necessity. Antivirus programs may need to be
updated almost weekly to provide proper protection as new threats
emerge. Using the Internet or email without this protection is a
sure recipe for major problems with your computer. Be aware that
most current commercial programs of this type no longer support
Windows 95 operating systems. Some of the free or shareware
antivirus programs still do. |
2 - Internet Attacks:
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Many people do not
realize how many times their computers are scanned, probed, and
possibly attacked by external systems. Most of these may be
harmless, but there is certainly some risk. A good firewall has
become very important to have, especially if your computer is
connected to the Internet via an always-on broadband connection. A
good firewall can ignore external requests for access to your
computer which in effect makes it invisible. It can also block
programs on your machine from accessing the Internet without your
permission. Lack of a firewall can leave your computer open to a
hostile takeover and your computer could be used by someone to
attack other computers. |
3 - Spam:
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If you have a email
account, you have probably received spam. This is unwanted,
unsolicited email, much of which is offensive. It is a major
problem that only seems to get worse. There are several new types
of programs that can help deal with the problem by classifying and
filtering the email based on commercial blacklists of known spam
sources. There are also filtering services offered by some
Internet service providers and other commercial
companies. |
4 - Spyware:
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Another on-line
risk is spyware or adware. This is software that is put on your
machine, usually without your knowledge, by various on-line
sources. Sometimes it tags along when you install free software
that you want, such as on-line file sharing or download
accelerator services. It is often used by advertisers to gather
information on the Internet use patterns of people. These programs
can slow your machine down and some will even cause crashing. Many
people feel this is an invasion of privacy. There are several
companies that provide specialized software to detect and remove
spyware. |
5 - Advertisements, Pop-Ups, and
Cookies:
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These are the
in-your-face annoyances that so many people hate. If it seems that
you spend much of your on-line time just waiting for a page to
finish loading and half of it is advertising, then you are
probably in need of ad-blocking software. There are several good
programs of this type available. Many block ads, pop-ups,
pop-unders, sound, music, cookies, and other annoyances, and in so
doing will speed up page loading. This can be very helpful if you
use a dial-up Internet service. Cookies can also be used by
advertisers to store information about your Internet use and
target you for more selected advertising. For this and other
reasons, many people find it desirable to block
cookies. | |
