Computer Security In Today's Society, Protecting Your Computer Is A Requirement
Advances in computer technology is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it affords us quick and easy access to numerous conveniences such as bank statements, favorite shopping centers, school and health records, and more. On the other hand, it can also grant the same access to those who aren't supposed to get it. Although it's a rare occurrence, hacking has become the biggest criminal nuisance in computer history.
Make no bones about it. There's nothing innocent or cute about the hacker. Today's hackers aren't the pimply-faced teen rebels that you might be thinking of. Instead, this generation of hackers are grown individuals who are more than likely earning a living by stealing the identities of innocent, law abiding individuals and then selling those identities to others who want to slip by the system. And the only protection against these seedy people is prevention.
Computer security couldn't be more important than it is today and that's why we've taken the time to introduce it to you. You can reduce the probability of experiencing identity theft by making your computer as hacker-proof as possible. All that's needed is a little software and a lot of common sense.
1. Install an anti-virus/anti-spyware program. Anti-virus/anti-spyware software will stop malicious code from downloading and installing onto your computer while you peruse the Internet. Known as viruses, worms, or spyware, this malicious code can destroy important files and render your computer good for only one thing: sending sensitive data back to the server of an identity thief.
2. Don't store sensitive data on your computer in the first place. Should your computer get infected with a virus, worm, or piece of spyware, you can thwart the individuals responsible by not storing your personal information on your PC so that when and if your computer does send back data - it won't be anything valuable. Hackers look for things like full names, social security numbers, phone numbers, home addresses, work-related information, and credit card numbers. If these things aren't saved onto a computer, there's nothing critical to worry about other than restoring your computer to a non-virus condition.
3. Don't open files without scanning them with an anti-virus/anti-spyware program. In the past, the warning was to avoid opening files from people that you don't know. Today it's really not safe to open files from anyone (without scanning the files) because that's how viruses get spread - through files - even by mistake. So even though your co-worker may have emailed a funny video, it's no more safe to open than a video downloaded from a complete stranger. Be safe and scan each and every file you download from the Internet or receive through email regardless of where it came from.
4. Create a barrier between your computer and prying eyes. Anti-virus/anti-spyware programs are only effective after the effect. But you can prevent identity theft from occurring by installing a firewall. A firewall is software that checks all data entering and exiting a computer and it then blocks that which doesn't meet specified security criteria (user-defined rules).1
5. Don't click on website links in spam messages. In an effort to obtain personal information, some spammers will send email that asks you to click on a link. The email messages are often disguised as important messages from well-known online establishments, and they often try to scare their readers into clicking links with threats of closing an account of some sort. Sometimes the links are harmless and attempt to con the reader into volunteering personal information (credit card number), but other times the links attempt to download harmful software onto a computer.
Your best protection against computer crimes is your own knowledge. Hopefully the suggestions above will prompt you into taking appropriate action and into protecting your computer with the suggested tools. In doing so, you'll not only protect yourself, you'll prevent the spread of these malicious activities and protect others at the same time.
Word count 664 1 Source: Copyright (c) 1996-1998 Mecklermedia Corp.
|
Accessorizing Computers What Comes Out of the Box is a Really Just a Starter Kit Yesterday, we spent about three ... read more
Automating Things with Batch Files They Work on Today's Computers Too! If you're familiar with MS-DOS at all, you'll recall ... read more
Basic GUI Terminology Knowing What You're Working With Helps Technicians Getting help with your computer software can be easier when ... read more
Buying a Computer What To Do And Why It isn't fair, but buying a computer is just plain easier for ... read more
Cheap and Fast Software An Introduction to Shareware Visit any computer store today and you'll find what seems like miles ... read more
A Few Common Computer Errors (And What They Mean) Computer errors can pop up when least expected, they can cause ... read more
Computer Help Where and How to Get It Well there's no denying it - No matter how new or how ... read more
Computer Security In Today's Society, Protecting Your Computer Is A Requirement Advances in computer technology is a double-edged sword. On ... read more
Customizing Your Computer with Preferences Making Your Computer Work with You - Not Against You Although you did not design ... read more
Dust Kills Cleaning the Unit Fan is Essential Computer Care Between taking care of the household, the kids, the pets, ... read more
Programs Included With a New Computer Are they good enough to stand on their own? The Windows operating systems already ... read more
Introduction to Programming Controlling Your Computer with a Programming Language In a previous article, we introduced automating some tasks with ... read more
Networking Home Computers Increasing Productivity With the Whole Family Have you ever thought about networking your computers at home? If ... read more
Open Source Software If you've spent any lengthy amount of time on the Internet, you've probably heard of open source ... read more
Protecting Children Online Steps Toward Making Your Computer "Weirdo-Proof" It's an unfortunate fact of reality, but children are the most ... read more
Selling Your Computer Looking At Alternatives At some point, your needs are going to outgrow the capabilities of your computer. ... read more
Smartphones What's the craze all about? If you haven't heard of smartphones, we'd like to learn where you've been hiding ... read more
Software Piracy It's Best To Avoid It At All Costs Like electronic identity theft, computer viruses, and the spread of ... read more
Understanding Compression What It Is and What's Involved Downloading files from the Internet has always been one of the most ... read more
Understanding Operating Systems Every new computer that's brought home from the store has an operating system installed onto it. But ... read more
Using Computers It's Not Rocket Science These days it's strange to hear people say, "I'm just not computer literate," as ... read more
Viruses What They Are And One Reason Why People Make Them Over recent years, computers have become synonymous with viruses ... read more
What's That File? An Introduction to File Extensions In an effort to be "user-friendly," Windows (and perhaps some other operating ... read more
When Less Is More Clean Your Disk Drive of Unnecessary Files and Your Computer's Performance Will Improve When it comes ... read more
Working With Computers In Today's Society, There's No Escape Well, we've been warned that this time would come - probably ... read more
|
|
|
Disclaimer:
The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in
the creation of this website, notwithstanding the fact that he does not
warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate
due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet.
This site
is a common sense guide to Computer Security. In practical advice websites,
like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made.
Readers are cautioned to reply on their own judgment about their
individual circumstances to act accordingly.
This site
is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or
financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent
professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field.
Any
perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.
|