Introduction
You can’t access the media and go many days without hearing or reading something about computer security and particularly security when accessing the internet. You may get frustrated, bored or even down right frightened by people constantly banging on about viruses, scams, fraud and the like.
The truth is there have always been shysters, fraudsters and opportunist ne’er-do-wells who prey on the careless, unwary and unworldly amongst us. Most people, either in their own lives or in those of people they are close to, will have experienced the stolen credit card, the snatched bag, the dodgy goods or services or any number of scams.
What makes computer security issues so different? Well, for many of us, we are already sailing barely charted waters and aren’t ready to deal with sharks or other horrors of the deep. Security breaches in computer technology can have far-reaching effects. We can be scammed by someone across the other side of the world as easily as someone in our neighbourhood. If our computer is compromised we could have criminals infiltrating our lives in numerous ways including bank accounts and credit card fraud. Somehow the effects are more devastating and global than falling foul of a fast talker at the local market. And yet most of the issues can be approached and dealt with in the same way that you would deal with security in the rest of your life.
Nothing in life is a hundred percent safe and you expect to take sensible precautions. You need to do the same with your computer and the internet.
Your house, no doubt, has locks and bolts, perhaps security lights and intruder alarm and maybe a large dog. All of these things will help to keep you and your possessions – including your computer, safe.
Back-ups and Passwords
In your home you may have a special place where you keep important documents – a tin box, a safe, a locked drawer. There is probably a lot of important information on your computer that a) you would not want to lose and b) wouldn’t want anyone else to get hold of – so… Back-ups – you’ve heard of them and if you’re not making one regularly, find out how. And strong passwords – they’re what stop people getting at your stuff even if they manage to get hold of your computer. What is a strong password? One that includes letters, numbers and other characters and you are advised to change it often. But a password is only any good if you can remember what it is so it will possibly have to be some kind of compromise between being strong and being something that you can remember.
Anti-virus
Unlike your home, your computer can come under attack just when it’s sitting on a table in the corner of your lounge. I am, of course, talking about threats that come via the internet rather than through a door or window. There are folks who for some reason – not necessarily for any financial gain – like to write pieces of code called viruses that are designed to get into computers and generally do stuff we’d rather they didn’t. Some viruses might be written to order so that their purpose is to directly benefit some criminal.
There are thousands of these things running around the internet looking for unprotected computers. Your computer will be under attack within seconds of connecting to the internet. You’ve seen those scenes in the police dramas where the car thief goes down the row of cars trying all the doors until he finds one that isn’t locked – well, viruses are a bit like that and if your computer is unprotected they will literally get in and not so literally, drive it away.
So how do you protect your computer from viruses? With an Anti-virus program. This is a piece of software that you install on your computer that checks everything coming into your computer to make sure it’s virus free. Any place that sells computers will almost certainly sell you an anti-virus package.
You can also buy and download them from the internet – the trick is to get one installed without connecting to the internet. The answer is to get someone else to download it put it on a clean thumb-drive and install it from there. I say a clean thumb-drive, meaning one that you are pretty sure isn’t carrying a virus itself. Any memory device like a CD, DVD or thumb drive may potentially have a virus on it that someone else has picked up from the internet. They are called viruses because they are contagious and computers can catch them. By installing antivirus software you are vaccinating your computer against viruses.
Updates
However, just like you may need boosters for vaccinations, so your anti-virus needs to be updated. This is because new viruses are being developed and let loose on the internet all the time. The updates to your anti-virus give it the information to deal with these latest threats.
If you have purchased anti-virus software you will also have an annual subscription – you have to pay to keep your software updated. There are free anti-virus programmes on the internet which you can download and these are generally updated automatically. Free programmes do not have all the features and facilities of paid programmes, but you may find that they will do the necessary work for you.
Virus Removal
Inevitably, your computer will get infected at some stage – no system is perfect – we all catch colds from time to time. If this happens, most computer repair guys will carry out virus removal for you. How do you know if you’ve got a virus? That is difficult to say as the symptoms will vary depending on the type of virus. If your computer is behaving differently from the way it normally functions it could be sign of an infection. If the infection is bad you will definitely know about it because viruses can make your computer unusable.
Firewalls
What about firewalls, I hear you say; is a firewall like a smoke detector or a fire blanket? Well, not quite. It acts like a barrier so you could consider it as a blanket that stops threats getting through. Unfortunately the analogy falls down a bit here. Your computer firewall actually lets some stuff through – a bit like your front door – you want to be able to get in and out of it and to let in friends and relatives. What you don’t want is for it to let in the bad guys and that is what the firewall is like. It knows that your computer needs to be able to send and receive stuff from the internet but it tries to limit where that stuff is coming from. Then the antivirus checks out what it lets through – that’s you with the chain on the door or checking through the spy-hole to see if the visitor is someone you want to open the door to.
Malware
Malware or spyware – something else you can pick up from the internet. This sits on your computer and may not interfere with the functioning. These things are like insidious viruses. They are bugs sitting under the coffee table in your lounge – listening to conversations – finding out about you and your family. On your computer they can be recording key presses – for instance, when you enter a credit card number or password.
To deal with this you need anti-spyware/malware. Most anti-virus packages that you pay for will also include anti spyware/malware. Otherwise, again there are freebies available on the net.
Scanning
Imagine you are a spook in the security services. Every week you may “sweep” your home or office for bugs. You need to do this for your computer. You should set up your anti-virus to run at a regular time every week and if you have separate anti spyware, remember to run this from time to time – particularly if you think you have clicked on a dodgy link or feel your machine may have been compromised.
If I’m always checking who comes in through the door, why do I have to run a scan- you may ask? The answer is, just in case someone has sneaked in somehow – or someone you thought was just an encyclopaedia salesman turns out to be a con man after your life’s savings. Any viruses that have slipped through the check on the door will hopefully be picked up by the scan.
Conclusion
Well, after all that I’m too scared to use the internet, I hear you say. You’re certainly never going to let any personal or financial details loose on the internet. But if you read of the crime figures, the muggings, the break-ins and so on, you might decide never to go outside your front door. However, most of us do – because we know how to avoid trouble – or at least not go looking for it. We don’t walk dark streets alone at night. We remember to lock our front doors when we go off to work in the morning. A lot of the things we do to keep safe are second nature to us – but don’t forget we learned them – at our mother’s knee. Children are very vulnerable for the very reason that they haven’t yet learned how to avoid danger or how not to be preyed on by the criminal minority. Those of us new to computers can be vulnerable and we have to learn to be safe.
Those of us who are familiar with computers know by instinct when a link is a bit dodgy or when surfing a particular site is probably not wise. When an email is obviously not genuine and when that phone call from Microsoft is just another scam. This awareness is something that you develop as you become immersed in the cyber-world but there are many things you can do to help keep yourself safe. The main ones being your locks, bolts and chains and your regular checks for sneak-thieves and spies i.e. up to date firewall, antivirus and anti-spyware.
Don’t let the criminals on the street make you too scared to step outside your front door. Don’t let criminals on the internet make you too scared to venture onto into the fantastic, mind-bogglingly big, exciting world of the internet and make full use of it.
If you have any security concerns don’t hesitate to give us a call or drop us a mail. Telephone 4261 7737 Email
info@abcomputertraining.com
