Alan E. Mann, AG

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uga@alanmann.com                                                                       Accredited Genealogist

UGA Spring Conference 2005                                               Saturday, April 23, 8:30 - 9:30 am

 

 

Keeping Your PC Safe

From Viruses, Hackers, Spoofers, and Identity Thieves

 

 This session deals only with Windows computers. I’m including basics of computer organization to help you better manage your PC. Protection against hackers, spoofers, and thieves is mostly prevented by a combination of education and common sense. Keep up to date on PC threats and never let your guard down. Along the way, you will learn some useful things. Your computer is a powerful tool. Learn how to use it!

Getting more from what we have

Right now, most of us are using Windows. I believe that there will be a shift to Linux or other “open source” software in the near future, but most of us still need to use Windows. There are several concepts that are important:

·  Windows Explorer – Use it;  folder options & file associations.

·  Windows Task Manager varies according to which OS you’re using. I recommend using XP. The task manager has four tabs—applications, processes, performance, and networking. There is a lot of information available in these four panels. Watching the data on the performance panel can help diagnose or prevent problems.

·  System tray and startup. The task bar at the bottom of the screen has a notification area (formerly called system tray). Every icon in that area represents a process that is using your computers resources. Know what each icon represents. You can close unnecessary processes to conserve resources and make your system run faster. But when you reboot, they may come back. To permanently remove them, use www.windowsstartup.com to install a utility that tells you what each process does and whether it is safe to remove it, then will remove it at your request. To learn more about processes that are running but which aren’t listed at WindowsStartup, see www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm.

·  Adware, spyware. This is when someone is able to gather information about your computer, your habits, or your activities and have that data transferred to them when you connect to the Internet without you knowing about it. If you connect to the Internet, it is essential to have a utility to detect this. Use Spybot, available free at www.majorgeeks.com/download2471.html. However, Spybot can miss some types of spyware. I suggest you use the free scan available at www.pestscan.com/ScanOrTrial.asp to see if Spybot has missed anything. This scan is free, but you have to buy the product to have it remove any “pests” that it finds.

·  Hoaxes – While many people have heard about viruses, there is more time lost to hoaxes than to viruses. Some hoaxes are identity theft schemes, some are viruses, and others are just time wasters. You can’t believe how many email campaigns have been started to send email to congressmen to stop legislation that never existed in the first place!  A real message about pending legislation should include the bill number, and you can verify it’s validity at the appropriate legislature’s site. Check out the validity of a rumor before passing it on. The U.S. Department of Energy hosts the Computer Incident Advisory Capability, where you can learn about hoaxes. Check it out at http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/ or at http://kumite.com/myths/.

·  Virus protection – our computers need to be protected from virus infection. Potential sources for virus infection include diskettes (from clients, fellow researchers, potential relatives…), CD-ROMs, flash drives, the Internet, and networks (particularly wireless). McAfee and Norton are the leaders, but a new, free alternative is AVG AntiVirus (free.grisoft.com). Unfortunately, your virus education isn’t complete until you know about hoaxes. Many good intentioned emailers forward messages about a terrible threat on to their acquaintances. In a short time, millions of messages are being forwarded around about a virus that never existed. Check out the validity of a rumor before passing it on (see preceding bullet). A useful lists of links follows:

Symantec Antivirus Research Center                      www.symantec.com/avcenter/
Dr. Solomon's Virus Central                                        www.drsolomon.com/vircen/
DataFellows Virus Information Center                    www.datafellows.com/vir-info/
Stiller Research Virus Information                            www.stiller.com/
Virus Bulletin Home Page                                             www.virusbtn.com/
Joe Well's Wild Lists - Viruses in the wild.                             www.virusbtn.com/WildLists/
NIST Virus Information Page                                      http://csrc.nist.gov/virus/
McAfee Virus Pages                                                         www.mcafee.com/
Sophos Virus Information Page                                  www.sophos.com/Virus/virus.html
Seven Locks Software                                                     www.sevenlocks.com/
Cheyenne Security Center                                            www.cheyenne.com/security/avirus.html

·  E-mail smarts – Being assured that we have virus protection, we are ready to deal with e-mail. This is a common way to spread viruses or to plant spyware. If you don’t know what an attachment is, DON’T OPEN IT! One I see every day is disguised as an email you supposedly sent that was rejected. Of course you want to open it to see which of your messages didn’t get delivered. It typically has an attachment named “McAfee_EmailScanReport” or “Details.txt.” DO NOT OPEN these attachments, they are viruses! Email is also the primary way to start, spread, and perpetuate hoaxes. Be careful about email.

·  Operating System (OS) updates – occasionally, Microsoft releases updates that correct problems with their OS. More frequently, Microsoft releases “patches” that close loopholes (vulnerabilities) that hackers use to cause problems. No matter what OS you use, you should download updates! When patches and updates since the original release of the OS are numerous, Microsoft will release a Service Pack. A service pack is just the combination of all the patches and updates since the OS was first released. As additional patches and updates come out, there may be an additional service pack. A second service pack will only contain the patches and updates since the previous service pack. Thus, Microsoft XP has two—denoted SP1 and SP2. Some users prefer to wait a month or two before applying a service pack.

·  Security/Firewall. A computer firewall refers to a piece of hardware or software which prevents undesired transfers of information or other communications forbidden by your policy. It has the basic task of preventing intrusion from a connected network device into other networked devices. It is needed if you connect your computer to any type of network, including wireless networks (business, home, school, library, or ?) and the Internet. When you connect to a network, other computers on that network may be able to steal information from your computer, put viruses on your computer, or use your computer to commit an illegal act which could be traced back to your computer. A firewall is an attempt to block these attempts. Connecting to the Internet or any network without firewall protection is asking for serious trouble! Windows XP comes with a basic firewall, but a more robust firewall is advisable. To check your computer for security vulnerabilities, use NeWT, available free at www.tenablesecurity.com/newt.html.

·  Firefox or Opera – use a less security-flawed web browser. Firefox is a smash hit. In the fourth quarter of 2004 alone, 5% of Internet Explorer users switched to Firefox. Maximum PC says using Firefox is a primary strategy for protecting your PC.

·  Learn more about your system--how to configure, improve, and troubleshoot. Use:

§        www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/app_taskman.mspx

§     www.techrepublic.com

§     Google and wikipedia.

·  Use utility tools and programs such as Google Desktop (NOTE: not Google toolbar), which creates an index to your whole computer! Find anything quickly! Take a look at desktop.google.com/about.html

 

Emerging technologies and security concerns

o        Wireless networking, WiFi, or 802.11 all refer to the way of “connecting” computers without using wires. This is done by transmitting radio signals.  

If you want you computers at home to speak to each other, or if you want to have a wireless available throughout your house, you need to buy a wireless access point, which originates the signal. Anyone can receive those signals, so you may want some security protection.  PLEASE NOTE: the default setting of a wireless access point is NO security You can easily reset this just by launching the startup instructions in your web browser and setting a WEP key (Wireless Equivalent Privacy).  For complete information on what all this means and how wireless works, see http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wireless-network.htm.

  

Keeping up to date

There’s a lot you can do to be aware of new threats to your online safety and to developing technology. I would suggest:

 

 

 

©Copyright 2004-5 by Alan E. Mann.  All rights reserved.  Written permission to reproduce all or part of this syllabus material in any format, including photocopying, data retrieval or the Internet, must be secured in advance from the copyright holder.