The Top Twelve Threats No Computer User Should Ignore by Kai Chandler

by: Kai Chandler
The Top Twelve Threats No Computer User Should IgnoreThe internet is undoubtedly a fantastic resource forfamilies and offers a rich vein of educational content. However, there are potential dangers - welcome to theseedy world of viruses, spam, trojans, pornography, spywareand other nasties. Here are the Top Twelve Threats No Computer User ShouldIgnore: 1. Viruses - A computer program that copies itself. Theyoften disrupt your computer system or damage your data.Viruses are usually received by email attachments so becareful opening anything from a dubious source. They canaffect anyone, for example, the destructive Mydoom wormaffected one out of three small and mid-sized businesses.2. Spyware - Sends information about you and your computerto somebody else. Spyware may send the addresses of sitesyou have visited or worse still, transmit personalinformation. With today's concerns about identify theftthis is a real worry. For example, CoolWebSearch may hijackweb searches, home page, and other Internet Explorersettings. Spyware is normally received as part of sharewareor freeware downloaded from the web.3. IP Spoofing - A technique to gain unauthorized accessto computers, whereby the intruder sends messages to acomputer with an address indicating that the message iscoming from a trusted host.4. Trojans - An apparently legitimate computer programthat is really intended to disrupt and damage computeractivity by sending information, perhaps even passwordsonto a third party without you knowing. As an example,recent emails entitled "Osama Bin Laden Captured" attemptedto download the "Trj/Small.B." Trojan if the embedded URLwas clicked. This trojan attempts to hijack the PC.5. Spam - Unsolicited mail often promoting products of adubious financial or sexual nature. Don't leave your emailaddress on websites and internet bulletin boards as theyare harvested by spammers.6. Adware - puts advertisements on your screen. These takemany forms including popups, popunders and advertisementsthat appear later, even if your browser is closed. Some aresent using the Windows Messenger service which allows aspammer to direct an advertisement straight to yourcomputer by sequentially sending messages to IP addresses.Always irritating, they are also often of a pornographicnature.7. Diallers - for those of us still with dial up modems,dialler programs redirect calls to a very expensive number.You won't know until you get the bill.8. Hijackers - Hijackers take control of your web browserand may reset your home page, search bar and search pages.They can redirect you to undesirable sites or stop yougoing to particular sites.9. Hackers - With so much personal data available onlineto anyone with a password you must be sure your password issecure. If you are using your mother's maiden name, yourcat's name or your birthday then your password is at risk.Here are two tips for making a secure password. Method One -pick two random unrelated three letter words and twodigits. Mix them up and what do you have? A secure passwordsuch as "red19cat" or "hotpin73". Method Two - pick a shortsequence of words such as Now Is The Winter Of OurDiscontent Made Glorious' and you have a password of"nitwoodmg". You could even change the I's and O's todigits.10. Phishing - Emails purporting to come from reliablesources such as Paypal, Ebay or your bank. Often wantingyou to verify your account details, they can look veryrealistic but are generally scams to harvest usernames andpasswords. Always open a new browser winder and type theaddress there, rather than clicking on the link provided.11. Hoaxes - Chain letters, scams, false alarms. At bestthey take up time and bandwidth but at worst vulnerable canbe victims of fraud. Pass it on!12. Stranger-danger - For those of us with children - doyou know what they actually do when they are online? Arethey working on homework tasks, downloading illegal musicor pornography? Or are they chatting to strangers in chatrooms? You should consider blocking access to undesirablesites and logging their activity with a surveillance tool.Oh, and don't forget that where children are concerned,computers should always be kept in a family room and neverin their bedroom.Three Step Action PlanThere are three essential steps that should be taken toensure your PC is kept threat-free.Firstly, be sensible when opening attachments or followingemail instructions from apparently reputable sites.Secondly, make sure you are using the latest service packof Windows as Microsoft is continually closing loopholes totighten up security.Finally, there's a range of low cost tools such asfirewalls, antivirus, spam blockers and spyware killersavailable. Like everything else they vary in quality andyou tend to get what you pay for so always do your researchfirst and perhaps try a free trial before getting yourcredit card out.http://www.surfcontrols.com specializes in providingreviews and recommendations of top-rated tools to helpprotect your online experience. There's a quick referencelist to dozens of top sites promoting different aspects ofsafe surfing packed with useful information and there'salso a great set of top tips for safe surfing.Copyright Kai Chandler (#12t5109)