Protect Your Computer!

To start this editorial, a joke: Why did the programmers mix up Halloween & Christmas? Because 25 DEC = 31 OCT. Haha! Well... in case you got that, you most likely needn't read this editorial.

It is often said that there is no such things as 100% security. While that is true, it is no reason why you ought to not take all necessary precautions to prevent unauthorized access. In this editorial they will examine a few ways to protect your knowledge.

Local Security

 Out of all the different ways an intruder can access your computer, local access is the most promising way to circumvent your security. If a person has local access to a computer, it is only a matter of time before the knowledge on the computer will be extracted.

However, defending your computer against local assaults is also simple & only takes a couple of minutes. First, put a password on your BIOS configuration. Usually, it involves pressing Esc, Tab, F1, or some other key to access the BIOS configuration. From there, the configuration menu ought to have a tab about security. Open the tab about security & pick a respectable password (there is hints about choosing a lovely password later on). Also, set the computer to boot up from the hard drive first, & do not let it try to boot from the A:\ drive or the CD-ROM drive. The reason why it ought to not try to read the A:\ or CD-ROM drive is that an intruder could use a CD-ROM bootable O.S. like Knoppix to steal your password, although a BIOS password is set. Now save the changes & exit.

Now to set a password on your accounts on Windows operating systems:

For NT & XP users: Make definite your administrative account has a password on it. Also, put a password on any other accounts you have & disable the visitor account.

For 95, 98, & ME users: The security offered on these platforms is insufficient for the protection of your knowledge. The most suitable choice for these platforms would be to depend on other forms of protection, such as encryption.

Web Security

 The Web opens up a host of security issues, but since the security issues are so prevalent there are a lot of lovely solutions. They will now take a glance at plenty of them.

Firewalls:

 Firewalls protect things called ports. Ports are what your computer makes use of to access the Web. To view a webpage, for example, your computer connects to the website's computer through port 80. Programs called Trojans can open ports on your computer & let people get in to your computer & do whatever they require, including stealing passwords & credit cards. With a firewall, you can close most ports & protect your computer from Web assaults. A firewall that I highly recommend is Zone Lab's free firewall called Zone Alarm. It can be found at Zone Lab's web-site, http://www.zonelabs.com.

Anti-Virus application:

 Ah... its name rings like poetry in my ear... but seriously, anti-virus application is seriously serious business. Seriously. No way around it, you need to be protected! Anti-virus application is not the be all finish of computer security, nor was it meant to be. However, it is a major & powerful kind of defense against viruses, Trojans, & worms. Now let's talk money... the universal language. Most anti-virus products cost money & a subscription cost... so check around for the best deals. However, the most prominent anti-virus application products are Norton Anti-virus (http://www.symantec.com/) & McAffee (http://www.mcafee.com). But for you individuals who cannot live without freebies, try AVG by Grisoft (http://www.grisoft.com/). The personal version is free... & awesome. Literally... no jokes... free. Wow. Try all of them & select which you like the best. After you have, setup auto scan if it is not setup already. All right, now you are prepared! Concentrate, & become with the force!

Adware protection:

 Adware... that this stuff can be plain disagreeable. These are the programs that discover knowledge about you & send it to their disagreeable masters. Beware! Danger, Will Robinson! Now, let’s speak about ways to destroy them. People will have day-long arguments over which product to make use of, but the main programs (both free!) are Spybot: Search & Destroy (chilled name - http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html) & Ad-aware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/). Try them both, & see which you like.

Now for the most powerful security gizmo... listens carefully... this is powerful! COMMON SENSE! Firewalls, anti-virus application, & adware protection is useless against social engineering. Social engineering is conning a person in to compromising their security. Now I do know what you are saying, why would anyone ever compromise their security because some stranger told them to do so!?!? It doesn't make sense... but it happens. On a regular basis. Think about some e-mail messages you might have gotten... "I Love you!" "Your pics are inside!" "I saw your profile..." If a virus is attached, & you download it hoping to see something & you see something different, you have been the victim of social engineering. Most social engineering assaults are more powerful & dicey, but you get the idea.

Checklist to protect yourself:

 ___ set a bios password.

 ___ Change startup to hard disk.

 ___ Set password on user accounts.

 ___ Disable visitor account.

 ___ Download & setup firewall.

 ___ Download & setup anti-virus application.

 ___ Download & setup adware remover.

 ___ Use common sense!

Keep in mind, security is not a location, it is a journey.