2764 Pleasant Rd, #10255
Fort Mill, South Carolina 29708
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2764 Pleasant Rd, #10255 Fort Mill, South Carolina 29708
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PROTECT YOUR COMPUTER How to avoid viruses, spyware, malware, adware, hijacking, hacking... January 2006 - Greg Smith I have been in the Information Technology field for more years than I care to admit and I have run multiple hobbyist and affiliation email lists and websites. This experience has taught me many valuable lessons. Following will be an explanation of several technologies and methods that you can employ to protect your data and help slow the spread of nasty viruses and scams. Some are obvious, but others may be new information for you. So grab some coffee or a bottle of Jolt and try to hang in there...
ANTI-VIRUS (AV) SOFTWARE:
Simply having an antivirus program installed
on your computer is NOT ENOUGH! The virus definitions must be
updated regularly. Most AV software can be set to automatically
get updates via the Internet. If you have a high speed internet
connection (DSL or cable), then you should set this feature to look for
new definitions daily. If you have a dial-up internet
connection, you should learn how to tell the software to look for an
update and do it whenever you reconnect to the internet. An
anti-virus an antivirus program that is not updated regularly is
worthless and only serves to give you a very false sense of
security. Tip: NEVER attempt to install more than one brand of AV
software on a computer. If you want to change brands, you must
uninstall the old before installing the new.
What I do: The computer used to send the neighborhood broadcast messages is configured to scan files for viruses as they are accessed and it checks for anti-virus updates daily. A full virus scan of the computer is performed weekly.
OTHER ANTI-INVASIVE SOFTWARE:
"Spyware", "Malware", "Adware",
and "Browser Hijackers" are technically different than viruses.
These are very small programs that can install themselves by visiting
otherwise "legit" websites. They are employed to do everything
from track where you go on the internet and pop up obnoxious
advertisements, to the more devious tasks of stealing passwords, email
addresses, and other data on your computer. Basic, but good anti-spyware
software is available FREE that will remove most of these bad programs,
but just like AV software, they must be regularly updated to catch the
latest versions of this type of garbage. Ad-Aware and Spybot are two
anti-spyware products that both offer completely FREE versions available
for download. They also sell versions that have more features.
What I do: The computer used to send the broadcast messages is checked at least weekly for spyware. I use the free version of Ad-Aware http://www.lavasoft.de/ I have used other products as well and have found that none will remove some vicious forms of malware or adware. For this, I use a free product called "hijackthis". It is an incredible program that can remove nearly any invasive software, but it is important to note that hijackthis should only be used by an experienced "techie". Inexperienced users can easily do more harm than good with this tool. I recommend sticking with Ad-Aware or similar product.
FIREWALL:
Firewalls can be in the form of hardware
or software and one or both can be employed. I won't get into how
they technically work (NAT, port blocking, etc.) for fear of putting
you to sleep. So a general overview of their function follows.
For the home market, hardware firewalls are generally built into
small devices called a "router" or "router switch" that go between
your high speed internet modem (cable or DSL) and your computer(s).
A router switch allows multiple computers to share the same high
speed internet connection. However, even if you don't have
multiple computers I HIGHLY recommend installing a router if you
have a high speed internet connection. If you have your computer
directly plugged into a cable or DSL modem, and you don't employ a
firewall, you are a big target screaming, "HEY HACKERS, PLEASE
INFECT MY COMPUTER AND STEAL MY DATA!" ZoneAlarm makes a free
software firewall product available for download. In my opinion, a
hardware firewall (router) is a more attractive solution because it
is inexpensive, effective, and more transparent to you, the user.
Some common brands of hardware router switches geared to the home
market are Linksys, Netgear, and D-Link.
What I do: I employ a hardware firewall that helps hide my computers from the unscrupulous people on the Internet. If you use a "router switch" to connect multiple computers to the internet, a firewall is generally built in and enabled by default. |
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Ashford on the Water Homeowners Association, Inc.
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