Computer Security

It is very important to make sure that your personal computer is safe from intruders. Leaving your computer unprotected is like leaving your car or house unlocked when you leave it. Like securing your home securing your computer isn't difficult but it does require some work and basic understanding on your part. A computer that has not been secured can result in a lot of problems, not only for yourself, but for others as well. It can be used to send Spam or transmit a virus. It can also be used by a third party as a point to hack into other networks or allow them access to your personal information including financial information that you may have stored on your machine.

Securing your PC
Securing your personal computer can be as easy as these three steps:

1. Installing a firewall
   
2. Ensuring your software is up to date
   
3. Install Anti-Virus software and keep it updated
   

• Checking for Trojan Software
  
• E-mail safety
  
• Peer-to-Peer safety
  

Installing a Firewall
There are two types of firewall, hardware and software. A hardware firewall is a physical device that you must install between your cable modem and your PC. This is one of the most secure options.

There are many styles and types of these devices but they all perform the same basic functions. A hardware firewall acts similar to having another computer between your main computer and the internet. The device acquires a public IP address from our servers and assigns a local IP address to your computer. This means that when someone attempts to access your public IP address they are actually accessing the firewall device, not your computer. Because your computer is assigned a private non-routable IP address from the hardware device someone accessing the firewall from the outside cannot access your computer unless you allow it.

Software firewalls are programs that require installation on your computer. There is a vast number of software providers and the cost can range from free to several hundred dollars. The ease of configuration and use of software firewalls also varies greatly. Some of the more popular software firewalls are available from these venders:

• Computer Associates (12 months free)
  
• McAfee Security
  
• Symantec
  
• Tiny Software: Tiny Personal Firewall
  

Further information on installing a firewall can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/security/articles/firewall.asp

For information on how to secure a home network go to http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/home_networks.html

Information on how to interpret firewall logs can be found at http://www.mynetwatchman.com/scanguide.asp

You can test your firewall security by doing a remote scan of your system from Shields UP!! by Gibson Research (http://grc.com) or Sygate Online Services (http://scan.sygatetech.com/).

Installing Anti-Virus Software
There hundreds of thousands of viruses floating around in cyberspace with more being created and released everyday. Because of this it is important that you protect your computer by installing Anti-Virus software and make sure that it is kept up-to-date with the newest virus definitions. You should configure your software to scan your system daily, check for updates, as well as having it run in the background while your system is running.

There are several Anti-Virus software vendors. A few of them are listed below:

• Computer Associates (12 months free)
  
• McAfee Security
  
• Symantec
  
• Trend Micro
  

• http://securityresponse.symantec.com/
  
• http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/
  
• http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/
  

Keeping your system up-to-date
One of the most important things that you can do to secure your computer is to make sure that all of your software is up-to-date. This includes your operating system as well as anti-virus and firewall software.

Hundreds of new vulnerabilities are found every month. It is important to make sure that your software is updated to prevent one of these from being used to access your PC.

Updates for Microsoft operating systems can be found at the following: http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp

Microsoft Office products at the following: http://office.microsoft.com/OfficeUpdate/default.aspx

These sites allow you to scan your system to see what updates are needed for Microsoft products and then tell you which ones you need to download and install. In November 2003 Microsoft began releasing software updates on the second Tuesday of each month. You should check your system on that day, or shortly after, to ensure that your system is constantly updated. You can also use the Automatic Updates software that is included with later versions of Microsoft Windows. This option can be found and configured in the control panel area.

If you are using a Microsoft operating system information on how to secure your specific version can be found on Microsoft's site at this link:

Checking for Trojan and Spyware Software
In computers, a Trojan horse is a program in which malicious or harmful code is contained inside apparently harmless programming or data in such a way that it can get control and do its chosen form of damage, such as ruining the file allocation table on your hard disk. In one celebrated case, a Trojan horse was a program that was supposed to find and destroy computer viruses. A Trojan horse can be considered a virus if it is widely redistributed.

The use of "spyware" by marketing companies has risen dramatically over the past year. This software can be placed on your system without you knowing it and can send personal information to these marketing companies.

There is software available that can help identify and remove Trojan software, as well as Spyware, from your machine. Although many anti-virus products will find some Trojans, they will generally not find all, or malicious software that may damage or slow down your Internet connnection. As such, it is just as important to scan for these little bugs as well as for viruses. Below are links to some examples of sites or programs that can be used to rid your machine of these pests.

Webroot Privacy Analyzer

Privacy Analyzer quickly scans your PC to reveal:

• Hidden spyware infections that can lead to identity theft, computer corruption and increased exposure to advertising.


• Unnecessary cache, cookie and history files that can slow your system and expose you to privacy invasions.


• System vulnerabilities that can result in bombardment from pop-up advertising.

Average scans take less than one minute.

Webroot Spy Audit

Spy Audit scans your system registry and hard drive space for thousands of known spyware programs.

Spy Audit shows you what spyware is on your system. It will not remove or modify any files.

Spy Audit takes seconds to run.

• TrojanScan
  
• Spybot Search & Destroy
  
• a squared
  
• Ad-Aware
  
• Digital Patrol
  
• Pest Patrol
  
• Tauscan
  
• The Cleaner
  
• PC Doorguard
  

E-mail Safety
Probably the one thing that you can do that will do the most to safe guard your machine from a virus infection through e-mail is DO NOT OPEN ATTACHMENTS. Unless someone tells you that they are sending you an attachment do not open any that you receive.

Even an e-mail that appears to be from a friend or business associate that contains an attachment may in fact be a virus.

One trait of many viruses is that they pull information from your e-mail client's address book and send themselves to every address listed. They will also show themselves as being from that individual that is infected. So what may appear at first glance to be something that is safe may indeed not be.

Not using the preview pane is also a means of preventing infection by some viruses. There are certain types that are imbedded in graphics or HTML type e-mail that can infect your machine simply by viewing them in the preview window. Turning off this option will help safeguard you from these.

Another measure that you can take to help keep your system from being infected by e-mail bourn viruses is to have your anti-virus software scan your e-mail as it downloads it. This way you can check the mail for virus infection before you even see it. See your anti-virus help files for information on how to set this up.

Peer-to-Peer safety
Peer-to-Peer file sharing has become extremely popular over the past couple of years particularly with the younger Internet users. P2P, as it is more widely known, can be very useful when used for legitimate purposes. But it also has a dark side. The most widely publicized has to do with copyright infringement. This becomes an issue when you allow files on your system to be shared with others. When you do this you then become a provider of the information and violate the DMCA.

Information on how to disable sharing on many of the P2P programs can be found at the University of Chicago's web site at http://security.uchicago.edu/peer-to-peer/no_fileshare.shtml Information on how to do this with Kazaa can be found at http://www.musicunited.org/kazaa.pdf

A lesser-known side affect to P2P is the spyware and Trojan software that can end up on your system as a result. This can happen as the result of spyware or Trojan software contained within the application itself or as the result of downloading what you thought was a good file that was actually a piece of spyware or Trojan. This is just another good reason to make sure that your anti-virus software is up to date.

NOTE: All of the links and software provided on this page are provided as a courtesy to our customers. We do not recommend any particular software for a particular purpose. We will not provide support for these products. Support requirements are met solely by the software vendor and we assumes no responsibility for any issues that may arise through your use of any of the products listed here.