Tag Archives: programs

7 Steps to Get the Best Online Internet Security

The concerns of Internet Security have grown today like never before. Despite the continuous attempts of Internet community, the threats are increasing and getting more and more vicious by each passing day.

There are many Internet Security tools available in the market. Some of them are outstanding. But still, none of them is perfect. It can’t be. The best protection is in your own hands. Follow a disciplined approach while using Internet services.

1. Be careful about using MS Outlook. Outlook is more susceptible to worms than other e-mail programs, unless you have efficient Anti-Virus programs running. Use Pegasus or Thunderbird (by Mozilla), or a web-based program such as Hotmail or Yahoo.

2. Take special precaution while dealing with email attachments. Be cautious about attachments with a double extension, such as .txt.vb or .jpg.exe, as the system will only recognize the extension to the extreme right, and run the file as such. Double extensions are often a good indicator that the file is malicious.

3. Do not use disks that other people gave you, even from work. The disk could be infected with a virus. Of course, you can run a virus scan on it first to check it out, but AV programs are not 100% effective.

4. Do not download software from just any website. If it is a reputable site that you trust, you are probably safe. The threat is not only from software; even other file types like .txt, .doc, .xml can have infections.

5. Be careful when surfing. You might get a malicious script from a webpage without even getting a warning. Tweak your Browser settings for maximum safety.

6. Try to balance paranoia with common sense. Some people get really weird about viruses, spyware, etc. It’s just a computer! Back up your data and follow these steps, and it shouldn’t be a big problem.

7. Setup your download manager to scan a download first before you open it. When you click to download a file from Internet, generally browser gives two options. To save it on the Disk or To Open the file with the default program. Always choose the first option, because, it ensures that the download is first scanned with your antivirus, before saving it on the disk.

7 Steps to Get the Best Online Internet Security

The concerns of Internet Security have grown today like never before. Despite the continuous attempts of Internet community, the threats are increasing and getting more and more vicious by each passing day.

There are many Internet Security tools available in the market. Some of them are outstanding. But still, none of them is perfect. It can’t be. The best protection is in your own hands. Follow a disciplined approach while using Internet services.

1. Be careful about using MS Outlook. Outlook is more susceptible to worms than other e-mail programs, unless you have efficient Anti-Virus programs running. Use Pegasus or Thunderbird (by Mozilla), or a web-based program such as Hotmail or Yahoo.

2. Take special precaution while dealing with email attachments. Be cautious about attachments with a double extension, such as .txt.vb or .jpg.exe, as the system will only recognize the extension to the extreme right, and run the file as such. Double extensions are often a good indicator that the file is malicious.

3. Do not use disks that other people gave you, even from work. The disk could be infected with a virus. Of course, you can run a virus scan on it first to check it out, but AV programs are not 100% effective.

4. Do not download software from just any website. If it is a reputable site that you trust, you are probably safe. The threat is not only from software; even other file types like .txt, .doc, .xml can have infections.

5. Be careful when surfing. You might get a malicious script from a webpage without even getting a warning. Tweak your Browser settings for maximum safety.

6. Try to balance paranoia with common sense. Some people get really weird about viruses, spyware, etc. It’s just a computer! Back up your data and follow these steps, and it shouldn’t be a big problem.

7. Setup your download manager to scan a download first before you open it. When you click to download a file from Internet, generally browser gives two options. To save it on the Disk or To Open the file with the default program. Always choose the first option, because, it ensures that the download is first scanned with your antivirus, before saving it on the disk.

Learn How You Can Stop Spyware From Entering Your Computer

Older kids and teenagers are often the victims of computer virus and spyware. This is because they frequent sites that contain spyware or share computer viruses from computer to computer. So, if you have kids who share a computer with you, then it is highly possible that your computer is home to viruses and spyware.

To prevent further invasion and a possible computer crash, it is important to teach your children how to avoid attracting computer viruses and spyware.

1. Avoid peer-to-peer sharing. As human viruses are transmitted by person-to-person contact, computer viruses, are transmitted from computer to computer, often via p2p file-sharing. It is essential, therefore, to teach your kids not to use these programs. Peer-to-peer file-sharing softwares known to hold malicious contents are Kazaa and Grokster. If possible, get the paid versions of p2p file sharing softwares since they are virus, adware, and spyware free.

2. Avoid entering lyrics and music sites. Many of these sites tend to insist that you download ActiveX control first before you can enter their websites. If you are going to think about it, ActiveX control has no relation to viewing music lyrics as they are just ordinary texts. To make matters worst, kids aren’t aware of the danger of downloading such programs from these sources; so spyware can easily penetrate and bring you inconvenience.

3. Don’t click on banners, advertisements and popups from webpages. Often, viruses, adware, and spyware enter the computer because kids ask for it. The sad thing though is that kids are unaware that the things they do are the exact things that invite these malicious programs. What you should do is to tell them that they should never click on any banners, advertisements and popups they see online.

4. Don’t download email attachments from unknown sender. Kids are eager to open emails. But if they are from unknown senders, then they may contain viruses, spyware or adware. Tell them never in any circumstances would they download attachments without your permission.

5. Give you kids limited computer accounts. Whether your kids have their own computer in their room or share one with you, keep their accounts “limited” so that you (administrator) have the control on the things that can be done by your kids.

Remember this: It is your responsibility to tell your kids about the dangers that these threats can give.