Good News / Bad News of Computer Security from a Keen Non-Techie.

Written by Diane M Hoffmann


First forrepparttar Bad News:

There are many risks attached to connecting torepparttar 150914 Internet. The only way to keep one hundred percent safe is by not connecting! But who wants to do that especially if one’s in business?

It is a fact that when you connect torepparttar 150915 Internet you will be wide open to attacks. In essence you open up a highway that connects you to it and it to you. Thus anyone onrepparttar 150916 Net can come directly to your computer.

With some trickery and exploitation ofrepparttar 150917 trade, vulnerabilities that exist in Microsoft Windows can let outsiders access your data and cause havoc right inrepparttar 150918 privacy of your own computer.

Such malicious things as viruses, worms and Trojan horses are rapidly increasing and rendering millions of computers easy prey to hackers looking for credit card information, banking passwords and other personal identifications, or to blatant vandals looking to delete files, trash hard drives and do any damage they can – just forrepparttar 150919 fun of it.

The scary thing is that many of these invaders don’t even leave a trace. You don’t even know they’re there or they’ve come to your station!

For your computer to be “attacked”, intruders first need to locate your IP address. Using some specialized software programs – readily available onrepparttar 150920 Web -- they can scan and find and invade your computer.

Hackers can get to your computer through a variety of ways, including eMail, chat/messaging services, HTML-based emails with hidden image tags, etc., etc.

Dealing with Digital Disease

Written by Dechen Lau


You may publish this article in your newsletter, on your website, or other publication as long asrepparttar article content is not altered andrepparttar 150318 resource box is included. Add byline with active link. Notification ofrepparttar 150319 use of this article is appreciated, but not required. Total word count including resource box: 671 -------------------------------------------

A virus is a program that replicates itself. It cannot exist on its own so it attaches to another program, usually an executable one. A worm is like a virus—it also replicates itself. However, it can stand on its own and does not need another program to run. It usually infects your computer’s networking features, which includes its internet connection.

Spyware and adware go hand-in-hand. Spyware is a kind of program which gathers information, specifically browsing habits. It tracks down what kind of sites you visit, andrepparttar 150320 adware will generate ads that fit with your interest whichrepparttar 150321 spyware based on information it gathered inrepparttar 150322 first place.

Malware is malicious software. It’s any program that is useless, or worse, destructive. A Trojan a program pretending to be good but once it’s deep in your system it proves to be quiterepparttar 150323 opposite.

In spite of all their differences, they have one thing in common: they are out to give you headaches by rendering your computer unusable.

To protect your computer as much as possible from being infected, here are four dangerous activities that you should avoid, or at least minimize:

• Opening email attachments

Do not open any email attachments if they aren’t scanned by antivirus software. Worms can spread through email, so even a friend can unwittingly send you one by way of an attachment.

• Internet File-sharing

In file-sharing viarepparttar 150324 internet, your computer is exposed and open to others it is communicating with. If other computers’ files can be transferred to yours,repparttar 150325 same thing can be said about a virus, ifrepparttar 150326 others are infected.

• Downloading free software of questionable origins

Free software is free for a reason. If you bothered to readrepparttar 150327 End User License Agreement (EULA) of a software you are installing—which you probably didn’t—you most likely will come upon a short and tiny clause saying that if you agree torepparttar 150328 terms, you are allowing advertisements to pop up on your screen, or other software to be installed in your system. So be careful with what you download. Read product reviews and find out if other people got headaches from using it.

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