DDos Green Flag

Internet Security

2011-12-10T02:54:00.000-08:00

To survive in today's highly competitive business environment, which is rapidly transmuting into a cyber village, businesses have to participate in the virtual world by using Internet for not only emailing and chatting but also to tap the vast e-commerce market. However, on one hand, Internet offers limitless opportunities for the entrepreneurs. On the other hand, Internet security and risk management pose monumental challenges for the corporate world today. However, countermeasures can be and must be taken in order to address the issue.
Before plunging into the sea of security issues that surround the use of Internet, let us first look into the commonly followed definition of the umbrella term Internet Security.

Defining Internet Security

Internet security as defined "is the practice of protecting and preserving private resources and information on the Internet" (Internet Security). Hence, Internet security is the fundamental to prevent breach of e-commerce clients' trust and the resultant violation of privacy policies in order to avoid defamation of the companies' hard earned corporate image. This leads us to the next section of our research assignment that discusses the scope of the issue under discussion.

Why Discuss Internet Security? Scope of the Problem

Information is exchanged via Internet use in the corporate world where people can communicate with each other and sell and buy products online using credit cards. Even confidential company data and many other secrets are shared via Internet. However, this paves way for security issues, which make the "circuitous route" of the information being exchanged prone to deception, unauthenticated interruption and other security risks. On the same account, Internet security has transformed into a major concern for all Internet users (Definitions of Internet Security on the web). Therefore, Internet security issues and risk management tips need to be discussed and highlighted for the benefit of the readers and the users alike.

Security-related Risks Associated with Internet Use and Management Strategies

Internet doubtless ameliorates corporate communication, "information sharing, market effectiveness and productivity" (Paliouras). Nonetheless, Internet use has often resulted in "security breaches with known or unknown undesirable consequences ranging from a crippled or hacked corporate network to a ruined reputation and costly litigation". Consequently, content of the emails must be filtered to prevent the above mentioned organizational issues. (Paliouras).

Risk Management via Content Filtering

"Klez worm" including other viruses that can seriously damage the computer system, "junk mail", shopping online using Internet and visiting obscene sites at the organizational cost augment security risks (Paliouras). These risks can be reduced by making sure that employees avoid using company Internet services for irrelevant tasks. However, emails are highly important for business communication and "content filtering" is the best solution to manage security risks. "Advanced text analysis is necessary to prevent users from sending sexually explicit text and racial epithets or sensitive information to unauthorized parties. Lexical analysis is one way to cut down leak of confidential information as most of these files include special words or phrases" (Paliouras). Moreover, "keyword searching and inspection" as well as "advanced image analysis" are some of the really effective weapons to reduce security risks associated with Internet use.

This is where the significance of information systems comes into play. With the aid of constructing appropriate systems and using adequate content filtering software, companies can block unnecessary and potentially harmful and insecure attachments from entering and infecting the computers.

A three-step approach inclusive of conceiving, constructing and consolidating been recommended by information systems companies in order to efficiently with security risks associated with the use of Internet (Internet security challenges). However, the extent to which Internet use is secured primarily depends upon the company's "security awareness" (Katos). When electronically operating firms believe in cherishing their clientele's trust and therefore make every attempt to secure their operations via security checks, secured systems and well-planned security policies, security risks tremendously plummet and the firm's reputation improves. Also, with security awareness, firms tend to be better equipped with latest advancements in the field of information systems.

Conclusion

Hence from the above discussion it is evident that Internet security and risk management pose monumental challenges for the corporate world today. However, countermeasures can be and must be taken in order to address the issue. Those computer organizations that take help and make the most out of Information Systems are the ones that benefit the most in the long run. This is because Information systems offer a vast variety of security software, with the aid of which, organizations can reduce the risk of Internet use. Managing Internet security related risks is no long an out-of-this-word task if adequate knowledge and timely application of Information systems is made available. Therefore, to address Internet security issues, the basic knowledge of Information Systems Fundamentals is essential. Moreover, extensive research and progress is demanded in the field of information systems in order to create "new defense mechanisms"

Tim Johnson Junior is a freelance writer, CRWA certified resume writer and career coach. Has written over 2000 articles and essays on the subject of Social Issues. Has worked for Essaymart's custom writing department from 2003 to 2005. Currently, Tim is busy helping professionals and executives optimize their careers at a certified Resume Writing firm, ResumeAid.

Effectiveness of a Bank Identification Number Database

2011-11-27T21:07:00.000-08:00

In today's electronic world, a lot of transactions are performed online over the Internet platform which poses a great risk on fraud transactions. Effective preventive measures are required to ensure a safe online transaction. One currently available effective measure is the use of the bank identification number on the credit card number. It is the first 6 digits of the 16 digits on any credit card.

BIN details

This BIN information is updated daily to keep track on the information that is necessary in combating credit card frauds. You can identify the country of origin and the bank which issued the credit card using the bank identification number on the card. You can determine the type of card which is represented by the bank identification number such as credit, debit, prepaid, charge or secured card.

The bank can also determine the card subtypes such as classic, electron or business as well as validate the card brand like Visa, MasterCard or American Express.

There is additional information stored in the bank such as the city, chip availability and telephone number.

Advantages

A BIN can be easily customized to your business needs; it is possible to integrate any credit card's BIN checker to your business demands and requirements so that you can block off even the poor performing banks.

You can also set the restriction preference on merchants and countries to reduce your online transaction frauds.

Bank identification numbers can be used to charge different fees for different types. This may be necessary for cards which are issued outside your country; an extra fee is usually imposed on non-resident credit cards for the exchange rates.

Some merchants tend to charge more on business cards than personal cards. As a merchant with active transactions, both online and offline, it is advisable to use a BIN database service which allows you to confirm your business transactions securely without the worry of frauds and scams.

BIN Conditions

For a identification number to be effective, it has to be user friendly. This is where a professionally handled BIN database is essential. It ensures that your BIN database will always be up-to-date with the necessary information for an accurate check on card used on the transaction.

The BIN database must also be accurate. This is where the latest state-of-the-art technology must be engaged to ensure its high accuracy. However, these BIN databases must be monitored closely with regular updates as there are constantly new merchants and banks setting up with many retailers and banks under receivership.

Dependability is another important criterion of identification number databases where accuracy in spelling will increase the search quality. It would be an added plus point if the BIN database achieves the ISO certification to assure the users of standard conformity.

Bin Database provides the most comprehensive and complete database of Bank Identification Number on the internet. Online Bank Identification Number Bin Lookup helps to Prevent Fraud Attempts and Reduce Chargebacks.

Security Solutions For Businesses

2011-10-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

With the internet becoming a primary way in which businesses interact and communicate with their clients or customers it is important to note the real threat that is prevalent to business's online security. Businesses internet security is vital in their everyday operations and ensuring the effective management and security of their online assets is vital. By using certain security it will provide a safe computing environment that will stay fast, connected and available to businesses and their consumers to ensure regular business operation is maintained.

Cloud Computing Cloud computing provides businesses the ability to reduce capital and operating expenses. It also enables a business to increase its reliability and agility of its critical information systems. Private cloud computing allows a business to control the internal and external cloud resources used. However using cloud computing is risky without trust. In addition the correct development of a cloud can be difficult and without satisfactory security information can be viewed by those who you don't wish to see it.

Secure Internet Gateway A secure internet gateway is essential for a business in regards to the critical information, assets and data that a business utilises. Leaking private business information could be detrimental to a business's position in the market and their reputation. If information is leaked to the public competitors gain a business advantage if the information is relevant. It's these potential risks that enforces the requirement of a secure internet gateway for a business.

Managed Security Services There are many services that can be implemented to assist in the negation of security attacks. Some include managed firewall, managed network and host intrusion detection and prevention; manage IPSec and SSL VPN, real-time threat analysis and incident response and managed mail gateway. These services and others of the like are vital in preventing threats to businesses internet security and can be identified and solved in real-time. This allows the business to focus on their own business objectives whilst having an input and understanding in the way the security solutions are implemented.

These are just a few examples of types of internet security that businesses can use to protect themselves and their assets from potential threats. This will help avoid leaked information to the public and competitors, and will ensure that the business maintains its information over these competitors. There is an abundance of security types and packages that vary in nature and can be effective for different types of business requirements.

Computer Internet Security - 10 Key Questions to Ask Before Buying Internet Security Software

2011-09-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

Congratulations on making a very wise decision regarding your personal computer internet security with respect to buying antivirus software. Now that you are ready to take the plunge and spend some money on internet security products such as antivirus software, it is important to understand exactly what this protective software does. Basically antivirus software has three goals:

To prevent a virus infection from reaching your computer/network system before any damage can be done. The antivirus software has a database containing the virus identification (called signatures) of all known viruses (at the time the software was created), and this can run into thousands of signatures. When you download information to your computer or network from an outside source, be it the Internet or a disk, the antivirus program scans the incoming information for any of the virus signatures that are in its database. If a virus is identified, you are notified, before the downloaded information is allowed entry into your computer or network.
Provides a first line of defence against incoming virus threats, if the software is installed on a computer network, so that the network administrator has time to take action to stop the virus from entering the system, or if already there, keep it from spreading and then disinfect (clean) any parts of the network that have been corrupted by the virus.
To take the necessary steps to clean and repair your computer and/or network by either eliminating the infection and repairing damaged files or moving the corrupted files to a safe or quarantine area so that no further damage can be done by the virus.

Understanding what an internet security system should do is only one part of the journey. It is also very important to be able to make an informed decision as to the best internet security software that will meet your requirements from the many security products currently available.

Here are 10 key questions to ask about any computer internet security you may be planning to purchase.

Given the fact that the computer industry experts claim that there are between 1 to 500 new viruses appearing daily, you need to ask how many different viruses the internet security software can detect.
As noted in the first question, with the huge number of viruses appearing, ask how often you will be sent updates to the antivirus program database to ensure that your protection is up to date.
Ask how easy it is to get the updated information about new viruses.
Does the antivirus software have the ability to detect unusual or suspicious activity in your computer or network that may be the work of an unidentified virus?
If purchasing the internet security system for use on a server, then can the antivirus program detect virus threats in compressed files?
How stable is the virus alarm system, as you do not want to be flooded with virus alerts that turn out to be false?
Ask how the internet security system notifies you of an impending virus threat.
Are there any custom settings available in the computer internet security program that would allow you to quickly scan certain parts of your hard drive files and directories which may be more prone to virus infections?
Is there a scanning log to inform you what was detected, what was done to the infected files and what if anything more you need to do?
What effect does installing and running the computer internet security software have on your computer and/or network operating speeds? (Some brands of security software may not be advisable for slower Internet connection speeds or even allowed by the Internet Service Provider due to their drain on the system.)

I sincerely hope that using the questions provided above as your buying guide will help you to make an informed decision about the best security for your computing needs when looking at the many different internet security software reviews and products.

In addition to his job as a computer teacher, Barry has earned several awards for his article writing efforts on a variety of topics. Visit his website Computer Internet Security.Com to learn more about computer internet security or to discover his recommended best internet security software.

Internet Information Safety: Your First Steps in Protection and Awareness

2011-08-19T03:20:00.000-07:00

Today's article focuses on a few quick, but simple techniques that I use to remain a little less vulnerable while surfing the web. Some you already use and others you may not but they are simple and easily integrated.

Quickly glance up to your address bar when entering information and see if it is a secure page by looking for the https:// indicator, a website address can be http or https, and the added 's' after 'http' is a very good indicator of how safe you are filling out a form or giving information on that site.

If you find yourself clicking on a link taking you to one of your major sites, such as Google, eBay, amazon, or other frequently visited sites, make sure the page feels right to you and that your information is being asked in a familiar manner. If not, there are times I will close out my browser and type in the site name itself to know that it isn't a ghost site or phishing site. Then you can always search the site for the information you were looking for.

Add a special character to your password: I know it is easier to have 1234 be a password but it offers very little resistance to thieves online and they are always looking for the easiest way in. A special character could simply be password0# or changing letters to a symbol like pa$$word08, adding a number and a character is much harder to power through with a password cracker.

Be sure to change your passwords periodically as the more you enter a password around the internet the more likely it is to be discovered. By changing your passwords you leave those that have obtained your information at a loss when they go to enter your information finding out that the password no longer works.

To take your safety to a higher level you can always "hire" someone to monitor and keep your information safe. You may be aware of companies designed to monitor and track your credit card score and activities to warn you of odd charges or a change in your score. There are also companies that will keep your password and log-in information safe and organized effectively doing for your internet safety what these other companies do for your financial security. Please check out the resource box below for more information on one of the best of these password and information protectors.

These are very simple yet effective methods that help you be more aware of your activity and vulnerability on the internet.

Thank you,

David Roman

http://www.techwizdom.com

2011 Computer Security Incidents Have Made Headlines

2011-06-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

2011 is turning out to be busy for those involved in information security, so far there have been the following information security related incidents in the headlines during the first 5 months of the year:

February 2011 HB Gary hack attack by the group known as Anonymous.
March 2011 RSA hack stole token data, (attackers were reportedly advanced persistent threats).
April 2011 Sony hack data theft reportedly involving information related to 77 million accounts and 2.2M credit cards.
April 2011 Epsilon victimized by a hack attack, email addresses stolen.
WikiLeaks related attacks perpetrated by the group known as Anonymous.
April 2011 Ritz-Carlton Hotel customers data stolen in a hack attack.
April 2011 Amazon Web Services cloud outage (non-availability).
May 2011 Lockheed Martin (details were not disclosed).
May 2011 Woodside Petroleum (Australia's largest oil company said attacks were coming from everywhere).
May 2011 Public Broadcasting (a phony news story and lists of reporters accounts and passwords were posted to a PBS site.)
May 2011 A New York Congressman reported a lewd photo had been mailed when his Twitter account was hacked.

Hacking is a type of directed attack typically executed by an external human using tradecraft methods to exploit accessible vulnerabilities and inflict damage. Protection methods are usually applied to limit the damage inflicted during an attack, limit the duration of an attack or deter an attacker. The effectiveness of any protection measures in use is clearly at issue when a successful attack occurs. Forensic tools and methods are used to analyze attacks allowing lessons learned to be captured and documented. Data theft is often motivated by financial gain, focused on credit card data for sale to fraudsters or email addresses for sale to spammers.

Non-availability incidents occur for any number of reasons, often not involving malicious activity. Such incidents can grow as related resources cascade into failure, a phenomena with potentially wide spread impact.

The Internet is often used to deliver the attack. The nature of giant public networks facilitate anonymity while being reliable and predictable.

The list does not include a huge number of incidents based on malicious code that have become common events or the large number of incidents involving sensitive, typically government, sites that never make it into the press.

The rapidly evolving sophistication of hacking attacks is a cause for concern. State sponsored activity involving "Advanced Persistent Threats" is emerging from behind the curtains as a valid concern for enterprises worldwide. The press in not likely to suffer from a shortage of material for their headlines for the remainder of 2011.

The incidents mentioned are from press articles that can usually be found in the publisher's archives. A search using the name of the victim and "hack" can often find a no cost article.

Important Reasons To Use Web Security

2011-05-05T18:05:00.000-07:00

If you work or shop online it will be essential for you to have plenty of protection. Having some good internet security will be a must for anyone who uses the web for business, shopping and other reasons as well. There are many people who use various types of antivirus protection, but unfortunately it is not enough. Here is more valuable information in regard to this matter and some reasons to use web security.

The term internet security refers to methods that are being used to help provide some protection for any data or information for the computer from an unauthorized person. Today this is becoming more and more of a serious matter. Anyone who uses the internet for whatever reason should always take this into consideration. People who use the internet should be fully aware of all the problems that come from this issue.

One of the more common ways that most people use for protection of important information is encryption of data. This encryption of data is something that deals with wrapping up any and all original information that is to becoming an unintelligible form which can then be decoded with the use of various methods. This encrypted form is known as a cipher text.

A password is commonly used as so to provide some protection from any illegal access of any data, securing the entire system. The construction of these passwords should always be created in a way so to prevent others from ever being able to guess it. There are quite a lot of methods that are used as internet protection.

One is the firewalls, which is a software that can filter any illegal access to a network. This should always have some proper configuration and will be combined with the proxy firewall for added security.

All computers will need to be protected from the many viruses that exist. There are several of them, such as worms, Trojan horse, and several others that can infect your computer from any files that are downloaded over the internet. The viruses are nothing more than programs which are installed alone and will run whenever host program runs and will then cause an attack.

One popular method is with the use of ScanSafe. ScanSafe is a provider that has a great track record and is proven to be quite effective for identifying any and all threats as this is very important to protect and also manage any web access. The company offer one of the best means of protection for your computer anytime you are on the internet, as it offers you very effective web security than most other existing solutions that are available.

For more information about Scansafe or Cloud Computing visit Ancoris who are are a authorised Google Apps Reseller.

How to Get Paid for Translation Work

2011-03-30T05:37:00.000-07:00

You found your translation customer, you got your translation job, you work hard, but then when it comes time to get paid you get the silent treatment from your new customer. Or perhaps you worked for them for a longer period of time, always getting smaller jobs, but you got the silent treatment after you completed a rather large project.

This is the dread of every translator and what you too will experience if you are not careful. But there are ways you can avoid this.

First of all you should always check the reputation of a new translation customer before accepting any work from them. The best place to check this is on Proz.com's BlueBoard. Without a membership you can see the company's overall score, but not the comments submitted by other translators. If you have no membership and want to see the comments from other translators, you can invest 20$ into your "wallet", where each $1 investment entitles you to permanent access to the comments concerning one customer. Translatorscafe.com is another good site, although also restricted to non-members, and translationpayments.com is fully and freely accessible.

If you place your hopes on a contract it will only work if properly formulated and applicable in the country where the customer is registered. Since the translation industry has become so globalised this can be a rare luxury. And even if you do write up a solid contract with a customer in its own country, if they do not want to pay you will probably find it very difficult to exact payment from them. You will need to prove that your translation was not faulty, that they assigned you the work, there will be legal fees, and generally the entire headache might not be worth it. Not to mention that there are some sharks out there who have a very fancy looking website but who are in the habit of transferring it to a new name and changing the company name in the header every time they decide to press the reset button and run away from those they owe payment to.

If you do get stuck in the trap, the best response is to remain polite but keep calling them, plead them, and perhaps make up some story how you have mouths to feed, etc. Appealing to their sympathy should generally yield better results than hostile threats over the phone. If the first approach fails, then you can resort to the latter.

If you do get burned make sure to report it on all the translation payment reputation forums to protect others and make it more difficult for such companies to operate.

If you are fortunate to work for a reliable translation company and it looks like payment is in the bag, there are many ways you can receive the payment. One obvious one is by bank transfer, but the fees for such payment can be rather high - not only for the sender but also for you, the recipient. Furthermore, sometimes an intermediary bank is required, and although they are not supposed to charge anything, often they do.

Very common in the translation industry now is to get paid by PayPal.com or Moneybookers.com. These fees are generally low (unless the payment is made from different continents) and the transfer is immediate. It is easy to set up these online accounts and they can be hooked up to your bank account and/or you can order a credit card and withdraw your money through any bank machine. But be aware that these are not actual banks, with a physical headquarters you can come complain to, so make sure to remember your password and secret security questions. If you forget the latter you may have a problem accessing your account. With PayPal you can also arrange for payment by credit card. The system designs a fancy "Buy Now" button for you and your customer is directed from your website to PayPal's secure online payment system - at no cost to you!

These are the most common forms of payment, but such services are not necessarily available in all countries. In which case you might try WesternUnion, although Unistream charges significantly lower fees - so check them out first. But most customers will not want to pay by these means. You will probably need to offer an exotic language combination for them to accept such forms of payment.

Further details:
Getting paid for translation work
Email to 16,000 translation companies

Tracking IP Addresses With A Reliable IP Geolocation Database

2011-03-04T00:32:00.000-08:00

The number of people showing interests in tracking IP addresses has really has really increased since the past few months. This is expected considering the millions of people who use the internet for one thing or the other. As a matter of fact, over a billion people use the internet for various online ventures; and that is why it is difficult to ignore the benefits of owning a credible IP geolocation database. We all already understand how internet protocol addresses are attached to cities by an ISP; essentially, this is to make the process of identification very easy. However, a lot of mistakes have been made recently by people who lack adequate knowledge on the importance of a reliable database.

However, internet protocol addresses are no longer attached to a particular location these days; and is indeed a big challenge for those who want to want to locate people by internet protocol. For various reasons, a lot of proxies are now being used to make it difficult to locate the exact location of a visitor to a website. This is not only seen as a concern; but a situation that may lead to a lot of confusion when it comes to tracking IP addresses. Accessibility to quality and consistent data is also affected by this development, and the only way out is to own a reliable IP country database.

One issue that must not be compromised when considering an IP city database is reliability. Anyone serious about tracking IP addresses should know that he/she requires more than generalized information. Although a reliable database may not be able to provide some personal information of an internet protocol address; it should at least be able to pin-point the exact location of the address. Any effort not capable of providing adequate information relevant to your search should be treated as inconsequential; and should be discontinued as soon as possible.

Business and profit are inseparable; that is why you need accurate data of people who visit your website always. The importance of this kind of information can be better appreciated from the perspective of meeting the tastes of customers. The customer base will definitely improve when their needs are treated with top-most priority; and this requires owning a quality IP country database. When this is taken care of, you can design your website to meet their needs.

Remarkably, no business can succeed without satisfying the needs of customers; this is one reason tracking IP addresses will benefit you in the long run!

A good site to actually see how accurate IP Geolocation works is at http://www.trackipaddresses.com/. Check out their features and learn more how precise position profiling of online visitors could help businesses and other online ventures. For more information, Visit Track IP Addresses!

A Smart Way to Secure Multiple Websites

2011-02-13T03:55:00.001-08:00

Since the very beginning of online ecommerce transactions website security has been a victim of cyber attacks. Cyber Security is in high demand. Protecting websites with guaranteed SSL Certificates will ensure that all data sent by site users to the server will be encrypted and cannot be viewed by hackers. This encryption ensures that the user's data cannot be misused or tampered with.

Extended validation certificate were designed to increase the magnitude of ecommerce security and for increased protection against phishing attacks. The address bar displays a green color bar and your website is visibly guaranteed and more trusted than with other certificates. By taking these steps, ecommerce merchants can increase the trust and purchase conversion rate with their customers and create long-term income.

If you are looking for an executable online security solution involving several websites, EV Multi Domain SSL Certificates (MDCs) are a reputable choice. A single EV Multi-Domain SSL can secure multiple websites. And the best part is that the green address bar displayed for visitors of all websites secured with one certificate, creating their trust in your websites and assuring trusted and secure transactions of the highest levels.

Multi Domain EV SSL Certificates (EV MDCs) allow you to secure up to 2500 different domains or sub-domains with a one certificate. EV technology adds an additional layer of trust to your online transactions by changing the address bar to green every time a customer enters the certified region of your web position.

Some of the key benefits of EV MDCs:

SGC enabled - tough coding
128-bit to 256-bit cryptography
Full enterprise marker
$250,000 warranty
Site Accolade
Express livery
Installation draw
99.9% browser identification rank
Supports wandering devices
Includes 30-day issuance shelter

A multi domain certificate is important for organizations that feature multiple unique domains hosted on a single server. This saves you time and money by providing a high level of trust, reliance and guarantee.

Comodo SSL Certificates

Comodo provides the maximum level of protection at unmatched prices. As the second largest provider of business-validated certificates, Comodo ensures that millions of transactions are safely performed every day.

ComodoSSLStore.com is one of the largest global SSL certificate providers. We buy SSL certificates in large quantities and pass the savings on to you. To learn more about Comodo SSL Certificates visit http://comodosslstore.com/

Cost-Effective Firewall Solutions For Small Business

2011-02-01T17:40:00.000-08:00

Whenever firewalls and network security come into play, there is a surprising amount of oversight and lack of attention in the small business world. Many shops are running just the regular router they get from their ISP, with NAT being their sole defense against the outside world, and even that, arguably, is not a defense at all. When asked about this setup, they smile sheepishly and say: "We can't afford a good firewall solution! We'll have to make do with this until we can."

This is a cringe-worthy response: I'm a big believer in proactive IT, and security is one of those areas, along with backups, that get neglected because of cost. Because there is no immediate value-add to security (indeed, the effect of good security is invisible), many companies choose to invest that money elsewhere, reasoning that they can't afford an effective firewall appliance like a Sonicwall or an ASA.

Given today's recession, many small businesses have to cut operating costs, and sadly firewalls are an area that may not be as immediately necessary as others. The saddest part, however, is that there are open-source solutions out there that make perfectly serviceable firewalls for nothing but the cost of an outdated PC or virtual machine.

IPCop - Cost Effective Firewall
IPCop, the example we'll use in this article, is an open-source OS based on Linux that is designed to act as a firewall and router. Unlike a vanilla Linux distro running iptables, IPCop goes far beyond simple add and drop rules; it has features one might expect from a more advanced firewall appliance, including intrusion detection, VPN services, and traffic shaping capability. IPCop was designed for this very application (cost-effective firewall solution) and as such it is made for the small business network admin in mind: The entire OS is run through a stylish web interface, allowing easy administration of the IPCop firewall from any web-accessible machine, and the installation is straightforward and full of easy-to-understand directions.

IPCop is one of a number of distros, like Smoothwall, which aim to be full-featured firewalls for small business. Unlike Smoothwall and others, however, IPCop is completely free, thus making the insertion of an IPCop instance in your network both a painless and extremely cost-effective solution, especially where a dedicated hardware firewall appliance is an expense your business simply cannot afford.

IPCop Disadvantages
IPCop does have its disadvantages, of course, especially when compared to a more robust appliance like a Cisco ASA. It lacks the fine granularity of IOS, for example, and some of the more advanced ACLs and command-line magic the IOS performs is beyond the scope of the IPCop instances. That said, however, IPCop comes very close to the performance of an entry-level ASA, and many of the functions an ASA provides are duplicated effectively in IPCop's web interface.

Linux Distro
The title of this article, however, is not "Best firewall appliance". We're here to talk about cost-effective firewall solutions, and in that regard a Linux-based distro is unbeatable. While it does require some spare hardware, the system requirements are quite sparse, and so the implementation cost is minimal at best (and the software is, of course, open-source and free). In fact, even disregarding the price, I am willing to put forth the semi-controversial idea that IPCop may be as good as a dedicated firewall device in a small business setting; many of the functions it provides are more than suitable for a small business network.

That said, no network should be without security; the cost of a firewall appliance, though prohibitive, need not stop a small business from implementing security solutions. With open-source, free solutions like IPCop, a network admin can insert a firewall into his network infrastructure at little to no cost, immediately making his network more secure and giving him the power and functionality of a dedicated firewall appliance at a fraction of the price.

LearnComputer! (learncomputer.com) offers instructor-led local, online and onsite Networking courses for companies and individuals. Sign up for an upcoming Networking course with LearnComputer! today and learn the skills you need to succeed in your career!

Information Security Awareness Crucial to Combat Cybercrime in European Union

2011-01-17T20:38:00.000-08:00

Over the recent years, countries across the world have witnessed major advancements in information technology. European Union has been one of the major regions, which has witnessed tremendous advancements in Internet infrastructure. The region has high Internet adoption rates and broadband connections. The Union plans to implement e-governance between Brussels based EU parliament and 27 member-countries. However, high Internet usage makes EU susceptible to cybercrime and cyber-attacks.

Recently, Europol, EU's law enforcement agency released a report highlighting the threats posed by cybercrime. According to the report, the dynamic nature of cybercrime makes it inevitable for all stakeholders such as law enforcement agencies, academic institutions, Internet service providers, financial institutions and Internet security firms to collaborate with each other and enhance information security awareness among the people. The collaboration may facilitate information sharing, development of technical tools and promote research and development to counter cybercrime.

Crime has evolved as an organized activity and criminals are using a combination of online and offline channels to perpetuate crime. The growth of crime has led to the creation of illicit markets for selling stolen information such as social security numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, names, date of birth and contact details. European Union countries must make efforts to create awareness among Internet users against sophisticated crime mechanisms such as social engineering techniques, data breaches, online solicitation, installation of botnets, and abuse of unsecured wireless connections. Internet users must be made aware of the risks involved in online payment transactions and downloads from suspicious sites and unsolicited e-mails.

The organized cybercrime syndicates have clearly defined specialists for code writing, Internet hosting, launching phishing attacks, pharming and hacking among many others. Countries need to create a strong force of information security professionals to deal with the constantly evolving crime in the Internet environment. The all-pervasive nature of Internet facilitates criminals in initiating crime from any part of the world. Businesses worldwide are forced to spend considerable resources to deal with cybercrime. Organizations can streamline Internet infrastructure by availing services such as penetration testing, security auditing, ethical hacking, and vulnerability assessment. Such services may help in proactive protection against dynamic threats in the IT environment.

information security,
information security professionals

Remove HDD Rescue - How To Get Rid Of HDD Rescue In Minutes

2010-12-15T06:28:00.000-08:00

Long load times. Slow internet access. Sluggish performance on even the most basic tasks. If your PC has been suffering from these symptoms, then it's highly probable that you've been infected by HDD Rescue, a virus that turns your computer's resources against itself as it goes through all of your files and data in order to steal precious private and financial information. No effort to remove HDD Rescue will be truly effective without first understanding how exactly you acquired it. The internet is your prime suspect, especially if you've recently done any of the risky behavior below:

Using P2P networks to download music files and video clips. This has become a popular way to spread viruses, with the virus acquisition being masked by a file the accesses the internet to download a codec.
Indiscriminate use of apps on social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. These sites are full of fake applications with enticing names hoping to fool you into using them and inadvertently downloading various malware.
Downloading free software that come from uncertified publishers. Software that promises too much for nothing is usually packaged with all sorts of viruses and spyware.

The ultimate warning sign that a virus is infecting your computer is when you are suddenly besieged by pop-up advertisements that get in your face about how great their free software is at doing something for your computer. This is a sign for you to get out of whatever website is spawning them.

Thankfully, there are a series of steps you can follow to manually get rid of HDD Rescue. It does entail some time and effort to find and delete HDD Rescue related files, processes, and entries, but to not do so will only put your computer at grave risk. Here's a walkthrough on how to uninstall HDD Rescue:

Find and delete every process related to the virus. These are the binary.exe and.bat files that are responsible for spawning the virus in the first place.
The trickier part is when you go through your system files, including the hidden ones, to search for all of the.dll and.lnk files the virus uses to coerce your operating system into turning on itself. Delete all of these corrupted items
Finally, there remains the task of cleaning your system registry. Access it with the run command, typing in 'regedit'. Go to the directories marked HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CURRENT_USER and get rid of any infected entries that the virus made.

As you can imagine, the act of manually removing HDD Rescue or any other virus is tedious, time-consuming, and risky. One false move could cripple your computer or leave the virus still running. For situations like this, a virus removal tool is your best option. These automated programs shield you from adware, malware, and viruses, while getting rid of those that do get through in mere seconds. Discover the type of protection that computer experts and engineers enjoy and avail of a free scan today.

Tired of viruses infecting your computer? Want to surf the web with the peace of mind that your computer is safe and secure? Get your free scan from the top virus protection and remove HDD Rescue.

Jim Marshall is an expert computer technician with fifteen years of experience in the industry. Since his own computer was destroyed by malicious software, he has been studying antispyware, adware, and malware systems for years. His website details the comprehensive results of this research, ranking the best antispyware and antivirus programs available.

http://www.spyware-fix.net

How Anti Virus Software Will Keep Your Computer Happy

2010-11-25T10:11:00.000-08:00

For most people, they do not care how the inner workings of their computer works, as long as it gets the job done. They do not want to know about the memory, or how many bits and bytes is in something. They just want to be able to email their mother pictures of her grandchildren. So when it comes to securing the computer from outside threats, they tend to shy away from overly complicated solutions. They want a quick and easy fix or they will ignore the problem until it starts to affect the computer from doing its normal everyday operations. But making sure your computer is secure from black hat hackers does not have to be complicated. With a few software installations, you can have your computer run safe and secure in no time.

The first thing that you should know, is what you are securing your computer from. This is pretty easy. In laymen terms, you are securing your computer from viruses and other malware that will seek to corrupt it. When we say corrupt it, what that means is that it will put some kind of program onto your system that will make your computer do things that you do not want it to do. Things such as read the data that you put into it and then send it to someone else. Or it might have data that the program comes with and turn your computer into a delivery system. The deliveries will be things such as spam or maybe even other viruses. They could also use your computer to attack other computers on the internet in what is called a DDOS attack. So for these reasons, you want to make sure that your computer is protected in the latest anti virus security.

You can download anti virus from several different venues. You can use a name brand such as Norton or Macaffe. Or you can use a free version such as AVG. No matter which one you pick, make sure that you get it from a reputable web site. There are a lot of web sites that will try to get you to download fake anti virus software. Make sure the site that you get it from is legitimate. Download.com is a good resource but there are others. So once you download the software, install it on your computer. After you finish the install, run a scan on your computer. You want to make sure that any malware that was on there before you installed the software is now gone. Now that is taken care of, just let the software run every time you turn on the computer. This will mean that you are pretty well protected.

Once you have the anti virus running on your computer, make sure that it is always updated. If you do not run an update on a regular basis then your protection will be incomplete. The software will not be ale to protect you from new infections. If you do keep it updated, then you will have years of happy computing.

Nathaly Dedeyan is co-owner and author at PC Security, a free online computer security resource. Visitors ill benefit from unique quality researched guides and articles and become better informed to avoid any security compromise on their computer.

Fully Remove The Network Control Malware Trojan

2010-10-19T07:08:00.000-07:00

Trojans are a type of malware that enter the user's computer under the pretext of being a useful program only to end up making many harmful changes to the computer. Network Control is one such Trojan that gets downloaded and installed on to user systems from malicious websites which the user makes the mistake of visiting. Once installed, it displays a message stating that a remote administrator named Adam1 changed some system files on Windows. Then, proceeds to warn the user falsely that the firewall has been compromised and that any malware could enter the computer. To overcome this problem, Network Control suggests that the user purchase and install such software as Advanced Net Firewall, Shield EC, Personal Network Protect, IP Blockader and Network Defender which are in fact malicious software that will not help the user in any way. Therefore instead of falling for this trick, you should immediately take steps to remove this malware.

As soon as you find an instance of this malware on your computer, you should take steps to initiate removal. In order to delete it, you need to stop its processes, unregister its DLL files, delete its files and folders and remove its registry entries.

File Removal Procedures

The first step you need to take for full removal is to stop the following processes from executing:

nc.exe
checker.exe

Next, it is necessary to unregister the following DLL file:

tmp.dll

The next step in removal is to delete the following files and folders:

C:\NetworkControl\
C:\NetworkControl\checker.exe
C:\NetworkControl\list
C:\NetworkControl\nc.exe
C:\NetworkControl\tmp.dll
C:\NetworkControl\tpm.dll
C:\WINDOWS\Fonts\segoeui.ttf
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Temp\abc
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Temp\i.bat

After these steps have been completed, it no longer resides on your hard disk. While in most cases following the manual removal procedures is sufficient, due to the prevalent nature of NC malicious software it is recommended to scan the entire computer using genuine antivirus software such as Spyware Doctor with Antivirus. In this way, not only that other hidden or yet unknown NC malicious components can be discovered but also other infections, if any, may be revealed and dealt with.

Registry Removal Procedures

The deletion of files and folders alone is not sufficient to completely remove NC. You need to remove the following keys and settings from the Windows Registry for complete the removal:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings "WarnonBadCertRecving" = "0″
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings "WarnOnPostRedirect" = "0″
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "NetworkControl"

Now your computer is safe from this harmful Trojan. For more useful malware removal tips, visit spywareremovalguides.com.

Properly Protect Your Computer From Viruses

2010-08-26T05:55:00.000-07:00

You can't avoid the fact that hackers and virus programmers are constantly working to hone and innovate their art. Now that more and more people are becoming educated about how viruses get onto their computers, they have to find new ways to fool firewalls, security suites and users. Because of this it is your responsibility to be aware of your actions online and to keep yourself from becoming the victim of potentially vicious viruses.

One of the first things to realize is that not all viruses are the same. There are many viruses that do no more harm than be really annoying, whether popping up ads you aren't interested in, sending spam to your email address or many other little things. On the other hand, there are a lot of types of viruses that are more dangerous, both to the safety of your computer and your personal information.

There are some viruses designed to wipe the information off your hard drive. Others can steal your personal information, such as logins, passwords and bank numbers. There are even some that can give a hacker access to your computer so they can use your IP address for themselves. Even more dangerous, some types of malware can remain dormant on your computer for a long time, becoming active later on to do their damage when you aren't thinking about it.

Thankfully, you are not without recourse to protection against malicious coders. You can take any number of simple measures to help protect your computer from malware such as spyware, trojans, spyware and root kits.

The most essential, and therefore the first, step in properly protecting your computer from a virus is to have a good anti-virus program installed prior to connecting to the internet. The internet is constantly being crawled by 'bots.' Some bots are used for indexing websites and other good things. Other bots are on the lookout for unprotected computers. It can take as few as one or two minutes of unprotected internet use for an unprotected computer to contract a harmful computer virus. Many of these malicious programs can be avoided with a properly installed security suite, including anti-virus, firewall and spam protection.

Having a security suite installed is not enough, however. Remember that hackers are constantly writing new programs to infect your computer with, so you need to update your security software regularly. Each program gives you the option to adjust how often it looks for profile updates. You can set it anywhere between once a week to every start-up. Going more than a week without updating is very inadvisable. Luckily these updates are usually quick and can be scheduled automatically. Automatic security updates are the best way to make sure your computer is continually protected against the most current threats.

Not only can you schedule automatic profile updates, you can also program your anti-virus to run its scans automatically. This is a good idea to make sure that your system is regularly swept for malware. Most people schedule the automatic scans for a time when they are not using the computer, like late at night. There are a number of reasons running scans when no one is using the computer is a good idea. There are a number of conflicts which can occur with the operation of the anti-virus software and other programs. Security suites can give you false positives with some programs if the are running concomitantly. The scans can also be CPU intensive and cause your computer to run slow if you are running any large programs.

Antivirus software providers do their best to make protecting your computer from viruses easy, but you need to remember the importance of leaving your malware protection updated, armed and run regularly.

Virus removal is simple when you have the right tools, like comprehensive online technical support from support squad. You can have a professional specialist by your side as you troubleshoot and root out those pesky and dangerous viruses.

Do Not Show Your SSID in Your Router For Complete WiFi Security

2010-08-05T05:58:00.000-07:00

There are some rules in WiFi networks world that help other Internet users to connect to a particular WiFi network to get Internet connection or to share the data among connected PCs.

One of these rules - the name of the WiFi net called SSID (service set identifier) that helps to identify necessary WiFi network. It is all good when we know who is trying to connect to our network. But we should always remember that crackers know this rule too.

So, if you show your network name or SSID, a hacker can get into your network and try to rob a personal information on any PC connected to your WiFi network, especially if these PCs are not secured in a proper manner.

To remove your visibility for everyone, you need to disable the setting "Wireless SSID Broadcast" in your router Wireless settings.

Follow eight easy steps to disable "Wireless SSID Broadcast" (useful for most routers):

1. Run your WiFi network. (just start up your WiFi router or modem and make sure that everything is OK)

2. Launch IE, Firefox or any other browser and input the following address http ://192.168.1.1

3. Proceed to the showed web address by pressing Enter button

4. Login to your network

5. Press OK button

6. Go to Wireless text tab

7. Find the setting "Wireless SSID Broadcast" and make sure that you have selected "Disable" radio button

8. Save Settings

As soon as you have disabled "Wireless SSID Broadcast", you can be sure that no one will find your WiFi network without your permission. Here you have a control over the users who want use your WiFi and its resources. That is very useful if you care about WiFi Security.

Stephen Ward is writing in the Internet for more than 4 years and would like to suggest you to try out brand new WiFi Security software that can help you to be sure online 24 hours a day.

Avoiding Online Security Risks That Lead to Accounts Being Hacked

2010-07-16T10:40:00.001-07:00

I don't know if you've heard about the news about people who had their cards charged against their will by Apple's iTunes Store, but it's been all over the news, at least in the tech world.

A lot of people have been blaming Apple and saying the iTunes App Store was hacked, but it looks like a problem with passwords.

In this article I'll help you understand what happened, and give you a few tips to avoid similar problems.

First off, if you're not familiar with it, the App Store is part of Apple's iTunes Store, and is an online market where you can get free or paid "Apps" for mobile devices such as the iPod Touch, iPhone, and the iPad.

Apps are basically programs (also called applications) just like you would find on your computer, but designed to run on a mobile device like a smartphone.

Apple's App Store lets you browse through thousands of these apps which let you do a wide variety of things from keeping up with news, to reading a book, to working with photos, to playing games, and a lot more.

Again, the same basic idea as an application or program for a computer, just the "pocket sized" edition, so to speak.

The App Store can be found within the iTunes program on your computer, or by using the App Store icon on an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. Other companies also provide app stores for their devices.

So what happened with these unauthorized charges everyone is talking about?

Well, basically what happened is, people noticed that 40 out of 50 of the top-ranked apps (ranked in terms of copies sold) in the books category were all from the same person!

This seemed a little suspicious that one person would have managed to pull this off without being up to something. The next piece of the puzzle turned up when people started reporting unwanted charges on their accounts for hundreds or even in some cases over a thousand dollars, all orders for Apple Apps.

It seems that somehow criminals had gained access to at least a few hundred accounts people had on iTunes, they'd been used to place orders for dozens of apps, racking up big bills for each person who had been victimized.

Some people thought the Apple App Store itself had been hacked, but most likely the each account had been broken into individually, probably by one of two means.

The first is known as a "brute force password crack", and it's where a program is used to try one password after another, starting with common ones, until the right one is guessed.

This may sound like a time-consuming process that no one would ever bother with, but remember it's a program that does it automatically, and it starts with the easy to guess common passwords that so many people make the mistake of using.

The other possibility is that the passwords were stolen via a "phishing scam", which is were people are tricked into entering their passwords into a website designed to look legit, but which is not.

Who is to blame?

At this point, the people behind it are unknown, but seem to be based in Asia. It is most likely an organized criminal organization instead of just one person acting alone.

Here's what to do if you have an iTunes Store account

If you're concerned your account may have been compromised, you can find out by opening iTunes on your computer, then clicking the iTunes Store on the left side.

Then click your email address where it appears in the upper right of the window and you'll be asked for your password. It's OK to enter it there.

Once you log in, you'll see a list of account-related items, including a "Purchase History" button you can click to look over any orders. You should be able to spot if there are items listed which you never ordered.

On the accounts screen you can also click the button "Edit Account Info" to change your password as a precaution.

If you find fraudulent charges, you can call Apple at: 1-800-275-2273 (to talk to a real person, press 0 at each prompt)

Here are a few tips for being safe with passwords:

1) Avoid using a simple word as your password, especially easy to guess things such as your name, your child or pet's name, your phone number, the word 'password', etc. Basically avoid anything you'd find in the dictionary to start with.

2) Don't use the same password for everything - passwords are like keys, and I don't think you'd hire a locksmith who used the same lock & key for every door and every customer. Don't make the same mistake with your passwords!

3) Longer and more complicated passwords are safer: as I mentioned above, brute force cracking methods will basically run through the dictionary when trying to break in -- the longer the password is, and the more you mix in numbers with letters, UPPER and lower case letters (liKe THis), and even punctuation, the better.

4) Be careful about where you enter in your username and password information, and especially be wary of emails that come out of the blue asking you to "reset your account", "update your information", etc. And make sure that you look at the address bar on the top of your web browser window and read the address to make sure you're on an official site when you sign in.

Hopefully if you follow these computer tips you'll stay safer online and feel a little more comfortable shopping on the web, which overall is very safe to do.

Worth Godwin is a computer coach with over 15 years' experience helping computer users of all levels, and has also worked for many years "in the trenches" as a hardware and software tech, solving real-world computer problems.

Worth has also been studying the human mind, and how people learn, since the early 1990s. He draws upon all of this experience, as well as his English and writing degrees, to teach people in a unique way with computer training that really makes sense.

In 2006, Worth began putting his easy lessons together on computer training CDs, carefully designed to make it easy to learn computer basics at your own pace, for an affordable price, with a system that really works.

Understanding Confidentiality Attacks

2010-06-22T06:37:00.001-07:00

A confidentiality attack tries to capture confidential data (such as username, password, credit card numbers and data in emails) so an attacker can use that data for malicious intent. Confidentiality attacks often go undetected because the attacker makes a copy of the data, rather than trying to change the data or take down the system. There are several different types or methods to a confidentiality attack:

Packet Capture: A packet capture utility can capture data that is sent across the network or from a PC's NIC card. The packets can contain username and password, credit card numbers, social security card numbers or anything that is in plain text. An attacker can read this data from a packet capture utility and use it for malicious intent.

Ping sweep and port scan: Some attacks start with a scan of the network to identify devices to target on the network. A ping sweep will ping a range of IP addresses and wait for a reply. A ping reply might indicate that there is a network resource at those IP addresses. Once a collection of IP addresses is identified, a port scan can be ran to see what services are available on the host. Port scans can also help gather more information about the target system such as what operating system it's running.

Dumpster Diving: Many companies throw away confidential data without properly shredding it. An attacker can rummage through a company's trash in hopes of discovering data that could be used to compromise network resources.

Wiretapping: If an attacker gains access to a network wiring closet, they can then physically tap into a telephone line and eavesdrop on the conversation. They could also insert a hub inline with the network cable and receive copies of the data.

Social Engineering: Phone techniques can be used to obtain information from end users. For example someone could pose as a member of the IT department and ask for the end users login information.

Electromagnetic interfaces interception: Data is often transmitted over a wire, often called a network cable. Attackers can copy data traveling over the wire by intercepting the EMI being emitted by the wire. The EMI emissions are sometimes called emanations.

Visit Matt's latest website Event Log Monitoring for listing of Event Log Monitoring Software. Also check out Order Management Software for a list of Order Management Software and inventory software.

3 Common Social Media Network 'Threats' to Avoid

2010-05-27T06:58:00.000-07:00

Online social media network sites have experienced an extraordinary growth in popularity over the last few years. The growth in social media use has captured the attention of not only enthusiastic users but also cyber criminals as well. It was inevitable that internet predators would gravitate towards social sites due to the sheer number of users these sites attract. This criminal element commonly targets innocent site participants with various types' of scams looking for money, personal ID information or to even install spyware or malware.

Here are 3 of the most common scams people using social media sites need to be aware of to better protect themselves against these internet predators.

Shortening (Hiding) Links

Shortening links is an acceptable, expected and encouraged practice on most social sites to 'dress up' rather long links being sent in short messages. This is well and good however shortened links also actually 'hide' the ultimate destination to where you are being redirected. By inadvertently landing on a 'forbidden' site you could easily have unwanted malware installed on your computer. Treat these links like you would suspicious email and only open those that come from a source with which you are already familiar.

'Fun' Questionnaires

How many times have you come across short quizzes sent to you that will tell you things about yourself, friends, or even love life? All you need to do is to 'register' by leaving your contact information including your cell phone number in order to receive your answers and even a prize. Well many times the 'prize' is really a 'surprise' when you have a billing for a subscription you had unknowingly signed up for on your phone. The best approach with these questionnaires is to simply ignore them!

Personal ID Theft

Information 'trawling' or phishing has been around for a while online. Most of us are use to seeing it come through in suspicious emails that require sensitive information in order to complete a transaction. Well those damn cyber criminals have now taken their methods and adapted them to online social media sites. Ever seen a message that says 'someone is looking for you' and then instructs you to click on a link to see who it may be? When the link takes you to one of the login pages of a popular social network you are then required to sign in, DO NOT! By doing so you may be giving a stranger complete access to your account and no telling what they will do with that!

Online social media network sites have grown in popularity and as a result have also become the targets for cyber criminals as well. With the tremendous increase in social media use the online criminal element has spotted an opportunity to target large masses fairly easily. They tend to favor the use of scams which work quite efficiently for them when dealing with large masses of people. 3 of the most commonly used scams to which people using social media sites are exposed are mentioned above. The danger such schemes like these pose to the innocent is magnified when people are unaware of their existence until it is too late. In this case however to be fore-warned is to be fore-armed! It is therefore hoped that this 'heads-up' will help neutralize any efforts and all intentions of this rather creepy online element.

TJ Philpott is an author and Internet entrepreneur based out of North Carolina. To learn more about safely using social media network sites and to also receive a free instructional manual that teaches valuable niche research techniques simply visit: http://blogbrawn.com/

Remove Data Protection - Easiest Data Protection Removal Out There

2010-05-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

If you're taking the time to read this, it's probably because you are having some second thoughts about data protection. The truth is you are right to be a bit concerned, because it isn't a real antivirus program, it is actually malware. If you have already loaded it on to your computer, you are in a bit of trouble. It is actually quite difficult to remove this virus. With legitimate software, removal would be easy, but since it is a virus, you won't be able to just uninstall it. It digs in too deep for that.

The malicious code burrows deep into your system and infects important system files. It seeks out credit card information, email addresses and other personal information you might have on your computer that can be sold. All this activity slows down your pc and congests your internet bandwidth. Because it digs in so deep, data protection removal can be a labor intensive task.

The ideal situation is to never be infected, it you aren't infected by it, you won't have to delete data protection. The difficult thing about that is that so many routine activities on the internet can lead to an attack. Browsing infected websites could result in your browser getting hijacked, using Adobe software without data protection protection could also get you in trouble, as Adobe utilities seem to have an inherent vulnerability, p2p software is also quite dangerous, as it exposes you to several unprotected users.

When you are first infected, you'll be hit by an endless stream of pop-ups that alert you to a supposed data protection infection, they will tell you that you need to install a certain utility to correct the problem. The utility is the real malware, and when you install it, your real problems will begin.

If you're pretty handy with a computer, you might try to get rid of data protection by deleting it from your pc one file at time. There will be some.Exe,.Bat,.Dll, and.Lnk files associated with it, they should be removed, be careful not to delete something that you aren't sure is related to the data protection. You also need to remove any entries associated to the data protection in the registry, particularly in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE AND HKEY_CURRENT_USER folder.

A much more user friendly, less time consuming and yes, more effective way to remove data protection is to use a virus removal tool. It can do in minutes what a man would take hours to do. It is faster and more thorough. It will also keep you protected from other problems of the same nature after.

Tired of viruses infecting your computer? Want to surf the web with the peace of mind that your computer is safe and secure? Get your free scan from the top Data Protection removal.

http://www.spyware-fix.net

Internet Security and Its Enemies

2010-04-24T08:49:00.001-07:00

The internet may be the savviest innovation that has ever been created in that it has surely provided comfort and ease in the lives of many. Yet as great of an innovation as this may be, this might actually be a good source for crimes especially for unsuspecting people who just merely want to enjoy the benefits of internet use. That is why it is important to have internet security. Whenever you open the internet, you have to secure it. With the internet security, it protects your computer with its files being accessed by unauthorized people, especially those who have bad intentions such as stealing identities. One of the fundamental ways for you to protect your computer is by using very good passwords that would make it hard for an intruder to identify, backing up your files and using permissions before anyone can access it.

Many businesses now are even more aware of updating and securing their computers as they are aware that many identity thefts are attempting to access their computers via the internet with the knowledge that by having access on those business files and using it in one way or another, they can make huge profits of it. These thieves will always try to find a way how to outwit the company's internet security because of that. That is why companies are more watchful and that whenever there is a need to enhance the system, the first and foremost concern is how to further secure the sensitive data stored.

Unfortunately, some programs are considered to be very helpful in protecting the computer such as Malware, virus, Trojan, Worms, Bots and Spyware. So, internet security authorities should be experts in four major areas concerning these six:

• Malware: it is the common name used to identify a software program that has a malicious intent to either spy, breach or destroy the computer's contents. It is not just limited to infiltrating computers but cell phones, PDA's and other technical devices as well.

• Viruses: they infiltrate the computer maliciously and give the computer user a very hard time. The virus can delete, hide, or make the data stored in the computer inaccessible. It can also make other applications not run anymore.

• Trojan: it is a program that pretends to be helpful when in reality it just seeks to destroy files, steal or change something in the system which could cause major problems to the user.

• Worms: they replicate themselves and swarm through the internet system and could destroy a whole community of computer users, even to the extent of destroying a country's economy.

• Bots: takes over the system and may communicate the computers' contents to others.

All six may be used simultaneously by an internet criminal and continue to develop sophistically. That is why there is now the use of the Antivirus programs, which protect your computers from such malicious attacks. Anti-virus software can freely be downloaded online, but still one should be cautious in downloading software even if it is antivirus ones that may represent themselves to be effective but aren't.

Tina L. Douglas is a skilled writer from California. With numerous experiences in the field of writing for several financial institutions, she is greatly qualified across a variety of economic issues. Her notable pieces of writing involve internet security software.

How to Tell If Your Site Has Been Hacked

2010-04-07T08:08:00.000-07:00

How do you know if your site has been hacked? Sometimes you will know because the site has dropped precipitously in the search engine rankings for no apparent reason. Or many of your pages are no longer being indexed by the search engines. Or visitors send you emails complaining that their anti-virus software warns them away from your site. These are not good things to have happen, because by then the damage has been done.

A better approach to to proactively scan your site for hacked pages. What you are looking for are unauthorized links to external sites, because most hackers use those links to boost the search engine rankings of their own sites. That makes most hacked pages easy to find with a few simple search engine queries.

The key is to combine the "site:" command with one or more commonly used hacker ranking terms like "viagra" or "cialis". The "site:" command restricts search engine results to pages from the given domain. For example, the query:

site:about.com

restricts the search to the "about.com" domain. All you need to do is add one or two hacker-targeted keywords to the query, as in:

site:whitehouse.gov viagra

That query will return all indexed pages on the "whitehouse.gov" domain that include the word "viagra". (As I write this, there are in fact two pages on the official White House site that have been hacked in this manner. Oops!)

While "viagra" is the most obvious term to search for, there are other possibilities. Any erectile dysfunction drug is a candidate: "levitra", "cialis", etc. Generic version of the brand names are also popular: "sildenafil", "vardenafil", etc. Really, any kind of high-demand pharmaceutical product is a good candidate, though you can also look for money-making schemes (think "forex" or "online gambling") and other things that a spam catcher would normally isolate in your incoming email.

Of course, you will not actually see these links on the pages in question. Hackers do their best to hide the links from human visitors. But they do not hide them from search engines, because the point is to get the search engines to find those links and count them as "votes" to getting their own "money sites" to rank highly for sought-after, highly commercial and extremely competitive terms. That is why a simple search query exposes hacked pages.

What do you do once you have found a hacked page on one of your sites? It depends on how the links were added to your pages and how your pages are generated. You will find lots of help online on how to get rid of link spam from a website and how to "harden" your site against future attacks.

Just remember to run this check on each of your sites every few days. It is a very quick and simple way to detect potential link spam before it becomes a real problem.

Be sure to check out Eric Giguere's privacy policy plugin, useful for anyone running WordPress. Eric is a co-founder of Synclastic Media and has written extensively about all aspects of Internet marketing, website and blog development, and software programming.

Safeguard Yourself From Fraud When Buying Online

2010-03-18T11:25:00.001-07:00

Most people are comfortable enough to shop online, but be wary, there are identity theft and fraud at any corner you turn. Here are five easy tips for your online payment and shopping that can keep your online shopping experience a happy one.

Five Tips For Online Payment

1. Make sure you choose the best available account with your credit card company. A good credit card company that allows you to shop online will usually have encryption software to protect against identity theft, as well as auto log out once you've been inactive for a period of time online, usually about 10 minutes.

If you have any questions regarding payment and security, always talk to the company's representative directly, better to be safe than sorry.

2. If you have a standing instruction or recurring billing with a company's program, you'll most likely receive and invoice or email every month notifying you about the payment. Safeguard yourself by not signing in from the email link, and instead take the effort to go to the said company website and sign in from there.

Also watch out for emails from your credit card company, if they have asked you to verify certain account, make sure you call your credit card company to confirm the validation, this way you can keep yourself at arm's length from any bogus emails.

3. When you do sign in with a username and password to a company website, make sure you're always clearing your cache and history on your own computer. Finish what you've set out to do as quickly as possible, this is especially important if you're using a dial up modem.

Alongside with our advancing technology, it has made it possible for online identity theft to monitor your online activity. Therefore always take precaution and make it quick when doing online transaction, so to speak, to safeguard your own interest and money!

4. Whenever a transaction is successful, you'll always receive an email with the date stated, whether immediately or a couple of days later. Be sure that you've receive it and do call your credit card company if you do not! Also, check your online account to make sure the said payment was sent our or posted.

5. This is one of the most important tips you can use when shopping online, always change your password monthly, because this way frauds will have a hard time to keep up. Sometimes your credit provider will offer you a security check, which you'll have to answer every time you attempt to log on. Check with your credit companies to see if they offer such services.

The worst part about online payment is frauds and theft, therefore any precaution and safety steps you take to protect yourself can make a tremendous difference in buying online. It is worth it to have some of the best security software, and changing passwords works.

Only thing worst than not getting secured is not doing anything about it! Always take the extra preventive measure against theft and keep your hard earned money doing things you like instead!

The author is also currently working on his website on wireless surround sound speakers, as well as why he have chosen definitive technology speakers over the rest in the marketplace.

I Want to Change My IP Address - Using IP Hiding Tools to Protect Your Identity Online

2010-03-03T10:18:00.001-08:00

Shopping online is one of the many conveniences created by the internet. Instead of spending hours outside just to buy a few things, the internet has allowed everyone to shop for the products they want and have them delivered. It's a win-win solution for the business owner and buyer as the owner is no longer limited in some areas while the buyer get's what he or she wants without wasting time traveling.

But the convenience of online shopping has also caused a few problems. While it's easy to shop online, the information entered can be stolen and used without any permission. Attacks are made on innocent online shoppers. Their credit card information is stolen and eventually sold for others to use. The real credit card owner will just be surprised with the unknown charges made on his or her credit card. Before they become aware of the situation, they are already victims of identity theft.

These attacks are possible because of the exposed IP address. Everyone is provided with this unique number by their ISP (Internet Service Provide) and this data is shared to every website visited. This is used for business reasons - websites want to know the location of their visitors. Unfortunately, some abuse this free information by using it as a bridge to monitor the user's activity. Without any warning, the credit card data is stolen.

The exposed IP address can be easily hidden through simple tools. Users can consider proxy server websites so that they can surf anonymously and even shop online. There are hundreds of proxy server websites to choose from and although they are a bit slow, they can easily hide your IP address from websites and hackers. The second option is to use an application that automatically hides the user information in any browser. Although IP hiding applications are not free, it is faster and can be used in more websites.

For a reliable tool to change your IP address, surf anonymously and protect your identity online from hackers, CLICK HERE!

For reliable and affordable tools to surf anonymously and protect yourself from identity theft, visit http://anonymousinternetbrowsing.com

Guide to Internet Security

2010-02-10T10:19:00.000-08:00

In the earlier days of the internet, user security wasn't as tight. There were fewer threats to users and those that existed tended to target businesses instead of individuals. Now, however, threats seem to be looming around each and every corner. As computer and internet use has proliferated in the past decade, so has the variety of viruses, malware, spyware, and other security threats. Understanding your computer's security risk, and actively working to protect it, has become a key element in responsible computing.

The Threats

Malware typically presents itself in several forms.

- Viruses - These are small programs that attach to other code and infect it. Viruses can change certain computer settings, corrupt files, or even crash your computer entirely.

- Spyware - This type of software is typically installed on your computer without your knowledge. Its intent is to gather personal information about you. Sometimes spyware may include a key-logger, which transcribes every key you type and compromises passwords, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, and anything else you might type out on your computer.

- Phishing scams - Scams are typically e-mails or websites, made to look legit, that ask you for your personal information or credit card information. The goal of these scams is obvious--to gain access to your personal information.

- Spam - Another threat that comes via e-mail, spam can contain spyware hidden in messages that will install itself on your computer.

How to Protect Yourself

Your first line of defense against malware is a firewall. Firewalls monitor all in and out computer traffic and prevent unauthorized communications. While computers typically come with firewalls installed, they are sometimes not as effective as commercial firewalls.

Another crucial defense is to install anti-virus software on your computer. While some anti-virus software is free, this is one area that you don't want to skimp on. If you install a free anti-virus program and your computer is attacked by something that slipped through the cracks, you will end up paying to fix or replace your computer anyway. It is always better to avoid the headache and ensure that your computer is receiving the best security from the get-go. Anti-key-logging and anti-spyware software are also excellent tools to use in conjunction with an anti-virus.

Spam blockers are useful for preventing spam, malicious or not, from entering your inbox. The only down side to spam blockers is that they can sometimes mistake normal e-mails for spam and filter them accordingly. If you are using a spam blocker, it is helpful to check in the box on occasion to be sure that everything is sorted correctly.

Also, on shared computers, always make sure your data is password protected. People often underestimate the security threat posed by others that have direct access to your computer. If you have information that you would not want to make readily available to other users, be sure to password-protect it with a strong password.

Useful Tips

Ensure that every computer you own that accesses the internet has a virus protection program installed and running.
Don't open attachments from unknown sources.
Make your passwords complicated and difficult for others to figure out. Strong passwords make use of numbers, letters, and symbols.
Avoid sending too much personal information, particularly credit card numbers and bank account numbers, over the internet. If you use a credit card to pay for something online, be sure that the payment system is trustworthy and secure.

Imaging Network Technology is a computer support service that specializes in computer security, 24/7 tech support, and network infrastructure. Visit Imaging Network Technology.

Website Security - Should You Really Protect Your Website With Expensive Software?

2010-01-26T10:26:00.000-08:00

You hear it all the time "it will not happen to me" or "they can not get past my software". People online are becoming more and more lazy and with laziness comes a price. Imagine your sole income was your dating website for example, what would happen if it got hacked and your site was nothing?

That is right you would lose your income and if you have not got some other source of income...probably your house. I think having the right security is a must for any serious website, do you think websites like Facebook and Google spend $10 on the black market for security...I do not think so.

They invest in thousands of dollars worth of security programs and this is for a good reason. Not only do people trust a website that has top notch stability, they will be more comfortable visiting it over and over again. It is a win win situation really, your website is safe and so are your potential customers. Trust is always a key element in this type of business.

Having a safe site always shows your customers that you care about your business and in turn this means you care about your clients. This is great for your reputation and a lot better than all these sites that are just out to scam people. Like in the fashion world, the online world is all about first impressions and image. If you can get this right, people will pay attention and so will their wallet. Have a great day.

Cloak a Link - Stop Losing Your Hard Earned Money!

2010-01-12T08:12:00.000-08:00

Cloak a link -- Are you familiar with this term? Have you been taught how to cloak a link? If not, there is a very good chance that some devious marketers may be stealing your hard earned revenue. This article will explain to you how to protect your affiliate identification and why it is important. It is significant to note that the cloak a link I am referring to is different from the black hat search engine optimization technique that some webmasters use called "cloaking". The black hat method is a technique used to deceive the search engines while increasing the page rank. If caught this technique will result in the de-listing of your page and a possible charge by google to register your site again. I strongly recommend against using any kind of black hat techniques.

The primary reason to cloak a link is to protect your earnings. Each person selling a product or service is given website address. At the end of the URL there is a unique identification code which lets the company know which affiliate has made a sale. There are some extremely unethical marketers that will steal your commissions by replacing your affiliate identification.

Another reason to cloak a link is for presentation. These URLS are often very long and are not aesthetically pleasing. When you advertise it is important to project a professional image. Some linker tools provide shorter, cleaner looking links. You can also cloak a link and track sales. This is one area of marketing that separates the players from the novices. By tracking where sales are coming from more effort can be channeled into the successful parts of the campaign saving time and increasing profits.

The next question becomes how to cloak a link? You can do this with several kinds of programs. First, do a search for cloak a link or a similar phrase. There will be a wide range of information to choose from. Be careful with the free programs as there is usually a catch somewhere or the performance is not up to the same standards as the paid service. This has been my experience in general over the last couple years. The paid programs should be better but be careful to do your due diligence. How long have they been around? What kind of reputation do they have? Are the services commiserate with the price being charged?

There are also a few services where you can cloak a link and they will teach you how to market your business using various techniques. These programs have a monthly fee but are usually well worth it because of the value provided.

Whatever method you choose, it will be well worth your time and effort to learn how to properly cloak a link so that you will get 100% credit for all the sales you make. I wish you all the best for success with your business.

Devan Persaud is an affiliate marketer who learned the fundamentals of marketing online at Wealthy Affiliate University. He feels extremely fortunate to have found this supportive community of affiliate marketers so early in his career, many of which are web success stories.

Click cloak a link to check out the cloaking tool Devan loves to use. Just navigate to the tools tab, click and scroll down to the bottom where it says My Linker.

It is his wish to introduce this learning facility to as many people as possible so that they can start learning what they really need to know to be successful on-line. It certainly is not a secret but then again new marketers are rarely ever taught it. Learn more at http://www.DevanPersaud.com

Online Shopping Blog - Security Tips to Keep in Mind

2009-12-17T04:48:00.000-08:00

The best part about shopping through an online shopping blog is that today almost anything can be bought on the net. From groceries to vacation packages, everything is available on the net at the moment.

However, as with everything there are risks associated with purchasing goods on the net. A smart shopper always takes precautions while buying goods at a regular retail store. Similarly a shopper should always keep certain things in mind while purchasing goods on an e-commerce website.

Shop On Secured Site

When purchasing goods on an e-commerce site, you must first ensure that the site is secure or not. A secured site ensures that any information that you enter on the site will not be seen by a third party.

A secured online shopping blog will show https:// in its website address. Moreover, its transaction page will show a closed padlock symbol at the bottom of the page. The closed padlock symbol is a sign of a secured site. Some secured sites carry an unbroken key symbol to indicate their secured status. Shoppers must check for these symbols before doing any transaction.

When it comes to purchasing goods through an e-commerce website, one must not shop at the first site that you come across. It is always best to buy goods from sites that are reliable or well known.

Shop On Reliable Sites

To find out whether an online shopping blog is reliable or not, the shopper should first check the physical address provided on the site. A legitimate business will always provide an address that is reachable. Plus the company will also provide a contact number for its customers.

Shoppers can check with the Better Business Bureau to further ensure that they are doing business with a legitimate site.

Use Credit Cards

When purchasing goods on an e-commerce site, it is best to use a credit card. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, a shopper has a right to dispute a charge that he/she thinks has been fraudulently put on the account. Moreover, the shopper can put a stop to payments till the investigation is completed.

It is never advisable to use a debit card or check when buying goods on an online shopping blog. The information on the debit card and checks can always be used by thieves to rob shoppers of their money.

Do Not Disclose Social Security Number

When purchasing goods on an e-commerce website, one must never give out their social security number. First of all, social security number is never required for purchasing goods on the net. If the site is asking for one, you must skip it.

With these tips in mind, you can have a safe and hassle free experience on e-commerce websites. These are very simple tips to follow and one that will benefit the shoppers.

You can buy anything and everything from an online shopping blog using credit cards and visiting reliable sites.

Worms - The Most Dominant Security Problem

2009-12-05T04:21:00.000-08:00

According to Microsoft's latest version of the semi-annual Security Intelligence Report (SIR), Conficker worm is still one of the most dominant threats of PCs using Windows. Five million computers were found to be infected with Conficker. It can be spread either by exploiting a vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows Server service, through infected removable media or brute-forcing weak passwords on other PCs. Microsoft was alarmed with Conficker's continuous circulation mainly in enterprises. Conficker has a password-cracking ability that can spread fast if one PC in the company is already infected.

Another worm named is Taterf. It took the second spot when it comes to the most infections, specifically 4.9 million. Taterf is known for stealing authentication and account information for popular online games like World of Warcraft, Lineage, Maple Story and more. It can be spread through infected drives such as a USB stick or an infected network drive.

Next in the line is the Zlob. It is a Trojan horse spreading while making people believe that it is a media codec than a virus. A media codec is software used to encode and decode audio or video. Zlob can be removed using Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT).

Microsoft mentioned the growing numbers of security problems including the fake antivirus programs. These programs seems to be a legitimate software but do not actually work. They just annoy people with pop-up menus displaying that their computer is infected and will only stop after purchasing the software for as much as $60. Microsoft has added new antivirus software such as Windows Defender and the MSRT to detect more worms and viruses.

Different countries encounter different threats. Trojan horse programs, known for downloading other malicious software, are the biggest threat in countries like United States, United Kingdom, France and Italy. In Brazil, malicious software intended for online banking is the problem. Worms are still dominant in South Korea and Spain.

Microsoft has proven that worms are the most dominant security problem for PCs. With the blink of an eye, a Conficker, Taterf or Zlob can easily infect your computer. The right thing to do is protect your PC right away with an antivirus software. If you need help with antivirus software or virus removal, Techie Now is here to give the fast and safe services that you need. With Techie Now, we will keep your PC clean and protected.

If you want your PC to be protected, Techie Now is ready to provide you flexible, quick and safe services when it comes to virus and spyware removal, performance optimization, software installation and configuration, and other general repair. Feel free to visit us, http://www.techienow.com

Anonymous Surfing Can Protect Your Privacy

2009-11-19T09:13:00.000-08:00

Anytime you surf the Internet or chat with your friends, or even when you try to do your shopping and banking online, your actions will be logged on your browser and personal surfing history. That means that as your browse around, website owners will be able to monitor and track your surfing habits, which can lead to spam and other, more serious, problems.

The fact is that as you browse the Internet, your activities will be tracked in different ways. Others, like marketers or government entities will be able to see your actions and act on them accordingly. Is this something you feel comfortable about? Are you totally sure that this information will only be used in positive ways?

One solution that many people are turning to these days is anonymous surfing programs. These applications will protect you from sites that collect this information, which make them a great way to protect your privacy.

There two basic types of anonymous surfing programs, one is web-based and the other is downloaded right onto your computer. The better option is probably the software that you install on your own machine because web-based solutions don't provide any SSL or SSH encryption to protect your personal information that may be required on a site. An application on your own computer, however, will be able to do this.

A web-based anonymity is a good option for more casual Internet users. It is free and will cover you if you only use it a couple hours a day, but if you need something a little more serious, the online option isn't going to work for you.

For the more serious users, a program that you install is going to be a better choice. This will allow you to do your anonymous surfing with full privacy and security. The simplest way to do this is to buy a program and install it on your computer yourself, and then you won't have to rely on web-based solutions.

There are a lot of valid concerns when it comes to doing business on the Internet. If you're looking for a way to protect yourself and your personal information safe, anonymous surfing is the way to go. If you get a good program installed on the system, you'll be able to protect yourself from unethical marketers and the threat of identity theft.

Anonymous surfing solutions that you install on your computer will be more useful, in the long run, than the free website services. There are a lot of threats on the Internet, and you probably already have protection against viruses and spyware, so why not go the extra step and protect yourself even more from people who would use your information to get gain?

A VPN (or Virtual Private Network) can be a great way to get a private connection. Mitch Stenson is an experienced copywriter who can help you minimize risk by using anonymous surfing with a VPN. Looking for more? Find more articles for this and other related topics by Mr. Stenson on the internet.

Issues of Revealing Personal Information in Social Network Websites

2009-11-04T09:32:00.001-08:00

Social network is an advanced form of communication binding people having specific values, ideas, friendship, visions, and so on. This network revolves around categories such as friendship, professional links and love relations.

The relations of social network are built based on the user`s everyday life, and gets expanded with every new contact. Entering a social network involves building a personal profile by giving email address, personal interests, work experiences, hobbies, and so on. This is the point which the contact network widens and helps in building thematic virtual communities. Some of the online social networks are Friendster, LinkedIn, Orkut, Kibop, MySpace and Facebook.

Speaking about the security of social networks, there is a threat of divulging the personal information and the theft of identity is a matter of growing concern. Personal information stored in the social network sites includes intimate details such as religion, relationship, personal hobbies, views on politics and many others. The security issue is that the combination of details makes it compelling and interesting, besides being potentially dangerous. It is easy to locate theoretically the place you live and the hour you are available, and this may lead to some personal problems.

Excessive blabbing can lead to unwanted gossip and in this process there are chances of revealing more than essential information. Hence, be safe by paying attention to the revealed information, and being discreet by taking time to understand the privacy policy published in these sites is a must. It should be a rule of thumb not trust anybody immediately and also not to share personal information. Even, if various social networks come together because of security issues, considering them individually is a must for specific security weaknesses.

Privacy is the main concern and hence adhering to some simple advice such as thinking twice before sharing your password, and after typing the email address and password to login, and ensuring that the `Remember me box` is turned off, is a must. Similarly, log out after using the social network sites are simple recommendations assisting to keep the data safe. Above all, avoid putting sensitive information on social networks by restricting the kind of information to be shared. If you are referring to hobbies, do not enhance it with work information, as privacy settings should be customized and even then if something undesired crops up, block the access and report violations.

Hiding specific areas of the profile such as contact information from certain people is also one of the best ways of maintaining security. However, to employ this technique, make sure that only few preferred contacts will have access to the concealed information. This can be done by choosing the privacy settings that allows you to decide viewing and also in blocking applications, if undesired. Preventing network users of knowing about your presence on the site can also be done, so that you are not interrupted every time you log in.

Facebook and MySpace are two of largest the social networking sites and are hence a main target for hackers, spammers and online predators. As a result, it is always recommended to be conservative and controlled in exposing your personal information.

Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for Polomercantil

Secure Email For Confidential Sending of Documents

2009-10-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

Among the most significant key for any business in order to keep a client is confidentiality. It can be quite infuriating to know that your privacy is being invaded other individuals. In order to keep the confidentiality between business owners and clients, companies that provide secure email services have emerged.

The data sent through secure mail services using the internet as a medium will only be read the person whom the sender sent it to. Among the best features of secure email is that they are easy to use. And since there is no need for software installation, sending secure mail can be started quickly.

The first step is by logging to an account at a web site that provides these email services. In cases where a person does not yet have an account, he needs to find a company that offers such services and sign up.

The speed of the computer and internet connection usually contributes to the duration of the account creation. If you have no existing account, all you can do is to look for a company that provides secure electronic mail services and create an account.

It may take several minutes to create an account at websites that offers these services since the user will need to type in different data such as his birthday, name, address etc. The clients will also need to pick a user name and password. Signing up an account may take a while, however, with the protection it provides is all worth it.

Regular email programs may look a lot like secure email services; however, their processes are quite different. Regular email services let users send messages directly to the recipient; whereas secure email services allow your message to be sent over a secure socket layer connection, also known as SLL connection and then, it will be sent to a secure email server.

After the message has been sent, the server will create a notification and send it to the recipient informing him that there is a message for him. Inside the email, there will be a link which the recipient can use in order to download the message.

If in case someone other than the recipient managed to get a hold of the link, they will still run into some troubles downloading the message. It is necessary for the sender to send an unlocking code to the recipient. No one can download the message unless they have the unlocking code.

This type of system assures people that their important documents such as business plans, resumes and etc. will not be downloaded or read by anyone other than the recipient.

A secure email can be a great way to get a private connection while sending messages. Mitch Stenson is an experienced copywriter who can help you minimize risk by using anonymous surfing with a VPN. Looking for more? Find more articles for this and other related topics by Mr. Stenson on the internet.

Professional Computer Virus Removal Program Review

2009-10-12T10:55:00.000-07:00

Are you looking to download a piece of professional computer virus removal program? This type of protection software is commonly searched for on the Internet, but there are many factors that need to be addressed first before choosing a suitable protection software for your PC.

For example, most people focus too much on the effectiveness without considering the amount of system resources that the program will take up. Some can affect the system's performance speed and cause it to drop drastically. Of course, detecting and removing virus and malware should be the top priority that all protection programs should have in the first place.

1. How to Find the Best and Most Effective Professional Computer Virus Removal Program?

There are many different brands and types of anti-virus and anti-spyware software on the Internet. Some of the best protection programs are able to detect and get rid of many various types of malicious files. My own personal malware and virus removal software has worked very effectively to clean up my system registry and hard disks while requiring very little RAM memory to work.

2. Do You Really Need to Download a Professional Computer Virus Removal Program?

I would only recommend computer users to download only software that do not use up too much memory space since that would defeat the purpose of speeding up your PC system. There are some malware removal software that can take ages to load, and I would not recommend anyone to use them. If your computer is regularly connected to the Internet, you will most definitely want to download a computer virus removal program.

In most cases, you should be able to download a trial version of the computer virus removal program that provides a full and comprehensive in the system to detect any malware and corrupted files. You can download high quality virus and spyware removal software at my website link below.

Are you looking for Virus Removal Program? Don't do it yet, because the author has found many bad spyware and virus cleaning software on the web. Read the author's review of the Top 5 Spyware & Virus Removal Software on the market now at http://www.review-best.com/spyware-virus-removal-software.htm first!

Learn to completely get rid of all the spyware and viruses on your computer in less than 5 minutes with a FREE PC Scan!

How do smaller businesses choose the right MSSP to look after their data?

2009-09-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

Smaller businesses will often turn to MSSPs to look after their data, but how do they choose the right one? By Jessica Twentyman.

How many IT security professionals does it take to ensure that a company's core IT systems and network stay safe from hackers and malware? The answer is five, according to Bruce Schneier, chief security technology officer at BT – but only if those five people all work on a full-time basis, arranging their shifts so that those systems and networks are monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Add to the costs of recruiting and training those staff, the need to equip them with the latest security technologies to adequately monitor and mitigate threats, and it's no wonder that business leaders at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are often overwhelmed by the resources they are expected to devote to IT security.

Few, however, can be in any doubt that the expectation is there: among the customers whose data resides in the company's systems; among the larger companies it partners; and among a host of regulators and law-makers who expect to see certain standards in information security upheld.

For some SMEs, that pressure creates panic-stricken inertia. For others, it's a clear indication that they need to seek the expert advice and help of a specialist third party that can take those problems out of their hands. “SMEs will often outsource IT in general, so it is no surprise that they should outsource IT security in particular. However, there are a number of characteristics specific to IT security – notably that it requires certain expertise that is far less likely to be available in-house than general IT skills. Also, security requires a timeliness of response that can be difficult to provide in-house,” explains Jon Collins, who is the managing director of IT market research company Freeform Dynamics.

In recent years, that impetus has led to a thriving managed security service provider (MSSP) market. Research conducted by Gartner estimates the worldwide market for managed security services reached sales of over $165 million in 2007, set to grow to $596 million in 2014.

More importantly, it's a relatively buoyant market, at a time when IT spending is generally down, and unsurprisingly, it is one that has attracted a flood of new entrants in recent years.

That has led to a wide range of options, often of varying quality. Most security software companies have either built or acquired a managed services arm in recent years, while a host of security-as-a-service suppliers have built their entire businesses on the back of the managed security proposition. ISPs often have a long track record in providing corporate customers with managed perimeter services. And some security technology vendors specifically target their products at value added resellers and consultants that want to get a foothold in the lucrative MSSP business. The website of security technology company Secure Resolutions, for example, claims its technology is “the perfect platform on which MSSPs can build and sustain a profitable security services business without investing in an expensive back-end infrastructure or technical staff”.

All this means that, for many SMEs, the process of choosing an MSSP can be a fraught process. In each of these categories, some providers are qualified, competent and equipped to host and run security systems on their behalf, others are not.

“We recently looked at an MSSP that was very confidently explaining how ISPs can't do security,” says Aydin Kurt-Elli, CEO of hosting company Lumison. “When I drilled down into what that company did, I found it was no more sophisticated than us – firewalls, virtual private networks and so on. But worse than that, there was no proactive monitoring, management, firmware, updates and so on and certainly no centralised network operations centre or systems management across its client base, and no 24/7 capability,” he says.

Lumison offers all these, he adds, and has the necessary skills in-house to tackle sophisticated distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on behalf of customers, a promise that was recently put into practice when a major media client fell victim to such an attack.

So how should prospective SME customers for managed security services navigate the complex supplier selection process? First, they'll need a thorough audit of their existing IT assets and an assessment of the internal and external risks to which they are exposed. “This should also take into account the regulatory environment that SME works in and its general appetite for risk, which is pretty individual from company to company,” says Jason Humphreys, director of managed security services and development at Integralis. Many MSSPs provide such services as part of the planning stage of the engagement, he adds.

Then it's a case of defining and installing the security capabilities required to support that environment – that's a job for the MSSP itself, of course, but the customer will need to select the services it requires from a menu of choices. That menu will commonly include firewall management, anti-virus management, intrusion detection and prevention, content filtering, virtual private networks and workstation, server and network device configuration and management.

Most customers choose to start small when it comes to engaging an MSSP, says Richard Lewis, chief operations officer at security solutions provider, Dns. “In our experience, the relationship is initially based on one requirement that typically focuses on the perimeter, and then grows from there, often as the customer becomes more informed about security issues in general and threats to their business in particular,” he says.

The popularity of managed firewall services seems to be the case worldwide: Gartner estimates that, in 2008, 60 per cent of Fortune 500 enterprises had engaged in some level of use of an MSSP, representing about 25 per cent of enterprise firewalls under remote monitoring or management.

That's not surprising, because managing firewalls can be a time consuming and tedious process. And given that daily administration requires a fair amount of training and domain knowledge, it's a task that many SMEs will want to hand to third party professionals. In addition, Requirement 1.1 of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) stresses the need for compliant organisations to “install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data”.

But Gartner's Kelly Kavanagh has a word of warning for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs): “MSS providers generally offer monitoring and management for SMB multifunction firewalls that encompass firewall, intrusion protection, email anti-virus and URL filtering capabilities in one device. These services typically target SMB enterprises and offer minimal security analyst interaction and limited configuration changes and reporting.”

SMEs exploring outsourcing monitoring and management of multifunction devices, he says, should assess the ability of MSSPs to deploy devices with standard configurations that address the vertical industry or compliance requirements to which they are subject, as well as update those configurations as part of the standard service offering, based on changes in those requirements.

Even where just one basic function is handed to an MSSP, the onus is on the customer to ensure that it's happy that the MSSP is living up to its promises in terms of service levels. How quickly does the MSSP respond to security incidents? Are staff prompt at applying security patches and performing software upgrades, when required? What administrative access rights are given to MSSP staff and the customer's employees – and do the personnel controls (such as criminal records and credit checks) applied by each organisation match up?

Penetration testing is a useful indicator of how the MSSP is performing on the customer's behalf – but is a task that should be handed to an independent third party, says Ben Rexworthy, managing director of MSSP, Securinet. “Customers often ask us to do this, but we do so only as a precursor to providing our managed security services – it would be unethical and a conflict of interests to vet ourselves once we have provided a solution.” At that stage in the relationship, he adds, Securinet will point them in the direction of reputable specialists to perform the tests.

Only once an SME is satisfied that service levels are being met should its bosses start to think about handing over further security services to that MSSP. And cost-conscious SMEs should be looking for a provider that can offer granular, menu-driven pricing that they can change on a month-by-month basis to suit their evolving needs, says Rexworthy.

“For a company of 25 people, I might recommend they use firewall, content filtering, anti-virus and anti-spam services – but the costs associated with each service will be clearly broken down on a per user, per month basis. For example, for anti-virus services, we charge £2 per user, per month. Add three new staff members, and your bill goes up by £6 per month. There's no question of a customer having to buy our services in batches of, say, 25 users, which some providers insist upon,” he says.

In the end, the whole debate comes back to cost – not just the costs associated with security services, but the potential costs of not using an MSSP, in terms of the likely drain on an SME's precious time and resources.

Computer security, according to Schneier at BT, is “complex, important and distasteful”. Its distastefulness, he says, comes from “the difficulty, the drudgery and the 3am alarms”. Its complexity comes out of the intricacies of modern networks, the rate at which threats change and attacks improve, and the ever evolving presence of network services. And its importance comes from this fact of business today, he concludes: companies have no choice but to open their networks to the internet, whatever their size.

An independent third party may be the only way for SMEs to get adequate security for their systems and networks – but they should choose that third party with care.

Case study: ESco Business Services

For most of the first 20 years of its existence, ESco Business Services was based in a barn conversion at the managing director's home in Finchingfield, Essex – a common scenario for many small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

In 2006, when the company, which provides mailing, database and payment processing services to clients in the publishing industry, relocated to purpose-built offices two miles away, the realisation struck that the move from a residential environment to a corporate one would demand a more concerted approach to IT security.

“It was time to get serious,” recalls ESco technical director Lee Turbard. “We needed to think about data security and how we were going to tackle it, to our satisfaction and that of our customers. At that point, our perception of IT security was based on self-preservation: what could we be attacked by? Were we vulnerable to viruses?” In response, it spoke to three MSSPs before settling on Securinet to provide ESco with managed firewall and anti-virus services.

Since then, the relationship has matured – as has ESco's awareness of security issues. “Once we got started working with Securinet, it really opened our eyes to the world of IT security. I saw it's more than just technology, it's an approach. That got us thinking about other security issues.”

For example, Turbard and his team started thinking not only in terms of how data might be compromised, but also how it could be lost or stolen. It turned again to Securinet, which installed a secure VPN to the managing director's home. Around the same time, ESco also started using web content filtering and monitoring services in order to have better control over how employees were using the internet.

Today, Securinet also provides ESco's 50-strong workforce with managed email services, including spam filtering, and handles regular back-ups of its data to a secure offsite location.

That enables Turbard and his team of four IT staff to focus on other issues. “My team would be perfectly capable of handling IT security issues if we could provide them with the necessary training – but realistically, that's just not going to happen. The team is too busy working on day-to-day IT management jobs that directly create revenue for the business,” he says.

Using an MSSP also enables ESco to adapt to changing customer demands. Turbard and his team are working with Securinet to install a terminal services server, so customers can gain authorised access to ESco's back office systems. “After three years of focusing on battening down the hatches so data is secure, we're now opening up the hatches again – but only in a way that's entirely safe for us and our customers,” he says.

Selecting an MSSP: Questions to ask

According to Infonetics Research's ‘World User Plans for Security Products and Services' study, there are five top provider selection criteria for organisations choosing managed security services. These are listed below, along with questions that SMEs might wish to direct at any managed security services provider (MSSP) hoping to win their business:

1. Security expertise and reputation
What customers do you currently manage in my industry? Can I speak to them? How long have your oldest customers been with you? What do independent industry analysts say about your services? What's your approach to security intelligence – how do you monitor and analyse emerging vulnerabilities and threats?

2. Compatibility with existing equipment
Are you able to manage the technologies we have in place or may be planning to implement? What platforms are your staff certified to manage? Do the security technologies and approaches that your staff favour, fit with our IT environment?

3. Service and support
What are your policies and average adherence rates for service level agreements (SLAs)? What are the hours of your security operations centre and are you sufficiently staffed to manage my network? What can you (and your customers) tell us about your recent responses to security incidents – were well defined policies, procedures and time periods adhered to? Will you provide us with reports on the status of our systems and network and how regularly will we see them? What are your own disaster recovery plans in the event of an emergency at your security operations centre(s)?

4. Financial stability
What evidence can you provide that your firm has the financial resources to continue investing in improving your service offerings and capabilities? What resources are you able to devote to attracting the most experienced, qualified IT security professionals capable of developing sophisticated protection strategies to your workforce?

5. Range of security services
What other security services do you offer? Will you be able to meet our needs as they evolve? What can you tell us about your track record for innovation and developing fresh services?

Source http://www.scmagazineuk.com/How-do-smaller-businesses-choose-the-right-MSSP-to-look-after-their-data/article/149400/

How to Get Burned by Your Internet History

2009-08-20T09:10:00.001-07:00

Burned by your Internet history? What do you mean? Perhaps you are not aware but your personal computer is one big, powerful recorder of all your computer activity. Whether you are searching the Internet, browsing the Internet, having chat sessions, sending or receiving files or doing whatever your computer is capturing every keystroke and recording your tracks about where you have been, what you have viewed and what you have done.

Oh, you say that is no big deal. I'll just delete my Internet history and temporary files with the tools offered by my favorite browser. Well, think again. Are you aware that there are numerous visible and hidden files where all this information is written and stored? Unfortunately, the tools offered by your favorite browser do not erase or eliminate all these files and it's not all your Internet browser's fault.

Did you know standard Windows file deletion options utilized by your browser do not physically delete the files? What are deleted are the index records detailing the file's location and physical properties. The physical or actual file is still there and ready to be recovered by data recovery software that can be successfully used by both novice and experienced users. Until the original deleted physical file has been overwritten by another physical file, the original physical file is recoverable.

So what does all this mean to me? Absolutely nothing if you have not been visiting websites or doing activities that could create a compromising situation if discovered by your employer, spouse or significant other. Now, if you have been to websites, sent questionable emails or had off-color chat sessions that you shouldn't have then you are in position to be placed in an embarrassing and compromising situation if discovered by the wrong individual. Perhaps, you are in this last situation and don't want to get burned by your Internet history and tracks?

If so, then protect your privacy by using a privacy control software solution that insures the elimination of Internet and computer activity history on your personal computer. Don't rely on the deletion tools provided by your Internet browser or Windows! Their shortcomings may be your downfall as you get burned by your Internet history creating personal anguish or employment troubles.

Don't get burned by your Internet history. Get your privacy control software tool today and insure your privacy and confidentiality!

Would you like to learn more about protecting your Internet privacy and erasing your Internet or web activities? Check out http://www.InternetErasers.net now! Internet Erasers is an independent review site helping you make informed decisions about Internet privacy and security software. Our trusted reviews are created with knowledge and passion for the subject. Each product featured on our website is compared with its competitors for functionality, performance and value providing you with the knowledge to make an informed selection and buying decision. In addition to our in-depth product reviews we offer other helpful tips and advice to improve your computer's performance, privacy and security.

Chet Childers is the author of this article and the publisher of http://www.InternetErasers.net Internet Erasers mission is to eliminate the hype and confusion for Internet privacy and security software and permit you to make an informed and intelligent purchase decision that will accomplish your privacy and security objectives without fear or worry about selecting the wrong product.

Beating Customer Distrust With Web Security Seals

2009-08-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

Most websites are owned by small businesses who expect to keep more profit simply because there's only 1-3 people running their website, and that it can reach customers worldwide. Online marketing has become a growing industry. This is the same kind of marketing that welcomes scammers and hackers too. Because buying and selling online has become so simple, anyone can setup a basic storefront.

The ease of which scammers can "phish" for personal information for illegal use, is simple. It is not difficult for scammers to create a storefront and ask for a visitor's email address, (which is a normal requirement at most websites), which they can then sell to email spammers which will make your inbox a pain to deal with. And this is only a mild example of stolen information - this means customers have no choice but to distrust your website upon first inspection - they don't want to be scammed or have information stolen.

You see, no one can blame consumers for being careful. They are on the losing end. It doesn't matter if you are an honest salesman. What matters is, can the customer detect it? Feel it? The website must show some proof that the seller is really what they claim to be and that the items they want to order will be received in perfect condition. Success stories and comments can be seen on every merchant website. But anyone can be paid to write a good comment and a heart-warming success story, and fake testimonials are all the more common. Many, perhaps you, state a 30 day money-back guarantee. So what? Maybe it's just a false promise - in the buyers eyes.

This is where security seals can make a big difference. Not just bought, but earned, it's a credibility boosting endorsement that decreases customer hesitation in a big way. Before being awarded a good-working security seal from an online certification company, your website has to be scanned for spyware, security holes, and more. It has to pass brutal security checks to prevent would-be hackers from stealing customer info. Any sign of technical SQL injection vulnerabilities or other issues are reported to you to be fixed.

Sellers need to think like buyers. Would you buy from someone you felt was suspicious? Of course not! Having a security seal is an excellent maneuver to avoid buyers feeling like this about you - you might just make many of them long standing customers in the future.

Everything in the internet is a click away. Your website is already there in front of a potential customer. He sees an item of yours that he likes and blank fields for credit card or PayPal details - without a reliable security seal visible. He is far more likely to click the back button and leave if you cannot prove you have been "checked". You may know you are honest, but your buyers don't.

You may even have a unique product, but it's seldom for buyers to risk their hard-earned money. So the question is, what are you doing about trust on your website?

Want the best site seals on the Market - Proven to boost sales? Start your 14 day FREE Website Seal trial today!

Learn How to Remove A360 - Conduct a Removal Immediately

2009-07-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

As you probably know, the A360 virus is something that is easy to get and hard to get rid of. There are specific techniques that you can perform to get rid of it today, quickly and efficiently. There are tools out there that are designed to turn the average person into a virus expert without even trying.

You've probably had the horrors of the A360 virus, otherwise you'd probably not be here! It is also called antivirus 360 as well, and can definitely ruin your computer experience, leave it on there long enough and your computer could be toast; the great thing is that we can get rid of this using specific tools or techniques.

First of all, many people first off get these virus through a variety of ways including visiting websites that are hijacked or have hijacked information on them, downloading specific files, most notably mp3 or video files, or visiting malicious websites that are meant to harm your computer.

Antivirus will usually do things like run obviously phone virus scans and claim that you have threats. It's so dumb because you know you'll never pay for the thing that's constantly disturbing your computer experience, so it's important that you get rid of this for once and for good.

You can try using something that is known as a registry cleaner. These clean out the registry of the computer - the part that holds all the settings and all other types of important information such as installed programs. This can accumulate all kinds of things and eventually attract viruses the same way a table attracts dust - it's inevitable unless you are using top-notch fully updated software to get rid of the viruses and malware.

Try putting one of these registry cleaner to use and watch the ridiculous results that you'll see in a short amount of time!

Are you experiencing Repair DLL Error Messages, EXE error messages, general slow downs of your computer, Sychost, System 32, Fix General Protection Fault, General Shutdown, Javascript, Activex, Adware, Spyware, Viruses, or a huge variety of errors for your computer? You can fix this with a very easy to use registry fix tool that is available for a free trial. For More Information, Visit: http://registrycleanpro.blogspot.com/

Online Predators - The Hidden Danger in Your Home

2009-07-16T07:04:00.000-07:00

There are many dangers outside the safety of your home environment. However it is the hidden ones inside your home that may be even more risky for your family. This insidious threat comes in the form of the Internet. Online predators are prevalent and you do not want to become yet another one of their victims. This is why it is important to talk to your children and try to protect them from this insidious threat.

Obviously the police can protect you in an outside environment but inside your home protection of yourself and your family becomes your responsibility. Part of this protection is getting to know all about the Internet. This will enable you to learn about other people, meet new friends and get to know how to use online tools.

Instant messaging and chat rooms are popular. Of course they have their entertainment value and can relieve boredom. However the key point to using these tools is to know how to do it safely. Here are some tips:

Information: personal information should never be given out to a stranger. Never give your full name or street address to anyone. This can get you into a lot of trouble. Many people just use a handle or nickname when they use the instant messaging or chat rooms.

Always give limited information: Of course you can give limited information in many ways and still stay safe. Just do not be too specific when you answer questions. There are in fact a variety of ways to make friends and not become involved with predators.

Do not trust anyone: it is important not to trust anyone no matter how nice they may seem. Predators are good at what they do and always put on a sweet face. Never let yourself get taken in and always remain alert. As soon as you start to trust someone and give out your personal information you will be at risk of a predator being able to find you and even harm you.

Keep open communication: You need to have an "open door" policy with your children and let them know they can talk with you anytime. Try to keep a good relationship with your children which will encourage open communication. If you do not do this they can seek support from others. It is very important not to make your children vulnerable. Develop good listening habits and be prepared to take time out and allow your child to talk frankly to you and bring any problems they have to you. When you do this you will find they are less likely to look for support online and be victimized by online predators.

Cathy is a professional writer and mother of 3 boys. Safety on the Internet is a prime concern for her. For more information on protecting your kids from online predators please pick up your free report here http://a1-fraud-protection.com

Online Predators - How to Protect Your Children on the Internet

2009-07-08T01:52:00.001-07:00

Online communication is an important aspect of the Internet.

Online communication can be established on the web by various tools, all falling under the generic name - social software.

Social software covers a range of software and technologies used by Internet users to interact with each other. It covers different means of online communication techniques such as text messaging, voice communication and video in diverse Internet environments. Social software includes: email, IM (=Instant Message), P2P (=Peer-to-Peer networks), newsgroups, chatrooms, forums, blogs, social network services, virtual worlds etc.

When you use online communication you have the ability to choose how you want to present yourself in a specific situation. Online communication allows you to be open about who you are, be anonymous or make up a new persona. This aspect has a major affect on the authenticity of online relationships.

Anonymous online communication holds serious risk factors for children. They can easily become victims of abuse by individuals communicating with them due to lack of mature judgment skills. Sometimes they are not able to interpret the nature of the relationship correctly and can be misled, bullied, abused or fall victim to scams and ploys.

Child predators take advantage of the anonymity in online communication and target unsuspecting children usually for sexual or other abusive purposes.

In order for parents to protect their children from such predators, they should become involved in their children's web activities and learn how to recognize a problematic online relationship.

How Do Child Predators Work?

Child predators use the anonymous nature of online communication in order to contact children and gradually seduce them into an online relationship. This relationship might end in sexual abuse.

They use various forms of online communication, such as, IM, chatrooms, forums, newsgroups, and virtual worlds to target potential victims.

Child predators invest a lot of effort in targeting and seducing children into a relationship. They often pose as children. They are knowledgeable in children's popular hobbies and interests. They seduce children by giving them attention, affection, understanding, kindness and sometimes gifts. They try to target vulnerable kids who crave for attention and affection.

Who Is Vulnerable?

All children that use the Internet are at risk. It is more likely that children will be exposed to unsuitable material than encounter an online predator, but the outcome of such encounters is so severe that parents can not be indifferent to this issue. Although all children are at risk, young adolescents are the most vulnerable age group due to the specific characteristics of this age group. Children in this age group usually have good technological and language abilities that allow them to surf freely without adult help. They are frequent users of social software such as, IM (=Instant Message) , P2P (=Peer-to-Peer networks), social network services and newsgroups.

On the other hand, they lack the maturity and experience to help them understand the content that they encounter when surfing. They can easily misinterpret an online relationship, especially one which engages an adult with ulterior motives.

-They want to be free of their parents' control and to gain respect as grown-ups.
-They explore their sexuality and have the desire to socialize.
-They are in the rebellious phase of their lives and try to establish relationships outside the family. Child predators are well aware of these facts and exploit them.

Victims of child predators might be:

Seeking attention and affection.
New on the Internet scene and unaware of web ethics.
Lacking in social skills in the real world.
Unpopular in their social circle.
Rebellious.
Confused regarding their sexual identity.
Naïve and unsophisticated in comparison to their age group.

What Can Parents Do to Protect Their Children?

Show an interest in your children's Internet activities. Nothing can be as effective as good communication when discussing means to protect them in the cyber world. Don't be judgmental. Try to understand their experiences and understand their frustration expressed against your efforts to manage their Internet use.
Be a role model. Direct your children to appropriate websites that could be of interest to them. Teach your children web ethics and explain to them about the threats exist on the Internet.
Become Internet savvy. If you have knowledge about services and applications that are available on the Internet, you will be more effective when guiding your children.
Supervise your children when they use the Internet. If you have young children, make sure that the PC they are using is in a family space.
Define clear guidelines for your children for Internet use. You can define an Internet use policy. Place the use policy near the PC that they use to keep the rules visible at all times.
Much in the same way you educate your children not to talk to strangers in the real world, educate them not to communicate with strangers online. Instruct your children not to answer IM or emails from people they don't know.
Young children should not use social software such as: chatrooms, IM, newsgroups, forums and so on. The risks far outweigh the benefits. As for young adolescents and adolescents, make sure that they only use monitored children's chatrooms, newsgroups or forums. Instruct your children never to leave the public chatroom area. (Chatrooms usually offer the option of a private chat were the conversation is not monitored and can not be seen by others).
Don't allow your children to meet with Internet friends in person without your approval and supervision.
Don't allow your children to use a private email account. Let them use the family account or an alias you have created for them in order for you to monitor the incoming and outgoing emails.
Help your children to create a safe username or nickname in the social software tools that they use. A safe username/nickname should not reveal personal information, gender or age.
If your children use the Internet in unsupervised places such as, libraries, school or friends' houses, check the security measures that are enforced at these places.
Instruct your children never to give away personal information online without your approval.
Instruct your children not to upload personal photos to the web without your approval.
Instruct your children not to accept photos or files from strangers without your approval.
Encourage your children to let you know if they encounter any strange behavior or behavior that caused them an uncomfortable feeling. Instruct them on what to do if they encounter such behavior. For example, turning off the PC and notifying a parent.

How Can You Recognize If Your Child Was Targeted By an Online Predator?

Your child may:

Withdraw from family and friends.
Seem depressed and moody.
Be aggressive towards members of the family. Child predators try to emphasize problems that the child has at home which can cause an aggressive behavior.
Spend a lot of time online, especially in chatrooms.
Have pornography on the computer. Child predators often send pornography to children.
Try to hide his/her Internet activities from you. For example, Opens a private email account, hides the computer screen or shuts down the PC when adult approaches.
Spend a lot of time on the Internet at friends' houses in order to avoid your supervision.
Receive presents from people you don't know.
Receive emails from people you don't know.
Receive phone calls from people you don't know. Child predators sometimes try to seduce children to engage in phone sex.

If you have suspicions, don't hesitate to confront your child about it.

Emphasize again the guidelines for safe web surfing to your child.

You can also monitor your child Internet activities by using Internet Parental Control software.

If you choose to do so without the child's knowledge, be aware that it can result in a loss of trust between you and your child.

If all the safety measures you have tried don't work and you find out that your child is a victim of a child predator or in initial contact with one, the most important thing is not to blame the child. Always remember that the blame is on the offender.

Immediately contact -

Your local law-enforcement agency.
CyberTipline 1-800-843-5678 - This tipline is managed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which has representatives from the FBI, the U.S. Customs Service (USCS), and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at its headquarters. You can report incidents of child sexual exploitation, including child pornography, online enticement of children for sexual acts, child prostitution, child-sex tourism, and child sexual molestation.

For more information on how to protect your children in the cyber world see - http://www.in3go.com - Internet Security Information

Getting a Secure Grip on Handheld Devices

2009-06-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

Companies today do not have a firm grasp of the security vulnerabilities associated with their handheld devices. Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs), Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), email and paging devices (such as the Blackberry), and other hybrid handheld communication devices are found in the hands of most every business manager these days but their inherent vulnerabilities are largely overlooked.

Perhaps this is because of their size, mobility or relatively inexpensive costs. Either way, these devices do not register on the radar of most systems administrators and are wrongly perceived as not as vulnerable as end user terminals connecting via hardwire to a LAN, WAN or the Internet. The popularity, proliferation and rapidly evolving technology associated with the devices make them extremely susceptible to security vulnerabilities.

There are several general classes of hand held device operating systems: the Palm Operating System (OS) (Palm Pilots, Handspring Visor, etc.); Apple IPhone OS; Symbian; and those running Windows CE and Pocket PC (Compaq, HP Jornada, Casio, etc.). Hand held devices are equipped with a wide variety of accessories from cameras, modems and synchronization cables to Bluetooth and wireless connections and flash memory storage. All of the operating systems have software libraries with applications, widgets and plugins developed and distributed throughout both the commercial and freeware shareware channels and as with any software developed by non-trusted sources, freeware programs may possibly contain hidden code - be it adware or malware.

Given their size and portability, the primary security concern associated with hand held devices is their ability to store large amounts of information. Add to this the breadth of communication options available and you have a device that introduces formidable risks. Since the devices are relatively inexpensive, users buy their own or receive them as gifts and they tend to come into use in an organization regardless of whether they are approved or not. As such, companies have little or no control over data leaving the organization.

A wide variety of vulnerabilities exist when these devices are attached to PCs or other network-connected automated information systems (AIS): Trojan horse and malware programs can easily be installed thus creating a backdoor on host networks to permit exploitation since antivirus products for hand held devices are not as evolved as PC antivirus software and operating systems currently do not limit malicious codes from modifying system files. Wireless device connections can be intercepted and data captured without the knowledge or permission of the user as recently demonstrated in well-publicised incidents of drive-by hacking, blue snarfing and blue jacking. Hand held devices using infrared data transport technology might also be intercepted as well. Finally, hand held devices by their very nature are small and therefore easily stolen or lost resulting in sensitive information being disclosed to unauthorized individuals.

The first and best step to getting a grip on hand held devices, is to ensure that your company includes them in their written security policies. Companies must issue clear and concise guideline on what devices may and MAY NOT be used and for what specific purposes.

How the devices are used and the type of information that is allowed to be stored on the devices will directly impact the overall risk to the organization. Good policies will specify the approved configuration of the devices and modes of operation including whether wireless radio frequency and/or infrared transmission is permitted and whether the user is allowed System Administrator rights to the base PC with which the device synchronizes. Clearly define the purpose and acceptable use conditions of the devices. Corporate provided devices should be used only for work related activities. Users should sign an agreement to abide by the acceptable use policy. Devices should not be used to enter or store passwords, safe/door combinations, personal identification numbers, or classified, sensitive or proprietary information.

Effective policies should delineate approved connectivity requirements, prohibiting up and downloads via wireless or infrared while connected to desktop PCs and stating approved methods for infrared data transfers. Users should be given precise instructions regarding requirements to sync their devices to receive patches, fixes and updates. It's imperative that your policies spell out device-specific build and configuration requirements to include: firewall, VPN, encryption, biometric, authentication and anti-virus software needs.

Physical security requirements should be simple and achievable but at a minimum should state that devices shall not be left unattended when attached to a computer, secured with password protection when not in use and reported immediately if lost or stolen and insured against theft, loss or breakage.

Your organization should have a mechanism to manage the policies for hand held devices from a central location and establish a registry of all devices in use. This registry should include: serial number, configuration, make and model and to whom the device has been issued. Each device owned by the organization should be marked as such with an asset tag or other permanent marking.

While handheld devices may currently be a lesser target than networks, end user terminals or laptops for virus and hacker attacks, that won't always be the case. The applications and functionality we see on PDAs today is what we saw on a laptops five years ago. What we'll find on PDAs five years from now is what we find on laptops today. The increased power and flexibility in the operating systems will bring greater security risk. The sooner you get a grip on this risk the better.

Last but not least: don't forget that handheld devices are subject to PCI requirements too!

Richard Hollis is Chief Executive Officer of Orthus limited (http://www.orthus.com). Orthus is a leading provider of information risk professional services, helping orgnisations globally to measure, minimise and manage the information risks they face.

Orthus provide end to end services for clients to comprehensivly address risk in their environments including Insider Threats addressing issues including data leakage, sabotage and fraud; External Threats (http://www.orthus.com/dr_overview.htm) including penetration testing, virtualisation security, vulnerability management and Secure Software Development Life-Cycle; Supply Chain Threats including securing cloud services and data processed by third parties; and Legal and Regulatory challenges including Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS).

Website Privacy Seals - Do They Work?

2009-06-06T01:32:00.001-07:00

It is already been proven, time and time again, that website privacy seals work effectively and always produce concrete results. As opposed to a website with no displayed seal on their website, companies who do use website seals generally do get a dramatic increase in their email signups or sales (unless there is something very wrong with their website) simply because a third party has "approved" their website and allowed them to display certified seal.

How and why do website privacy seals work to improve your general conversions? It really is quite simple. It offers a solution to the undying problem that crops up for businesses that sell goods or services online - cautious customers. A useful purpose for privacy seals is adding them to a page where you want users to sign up to your newsletter, or hand over private information. A Privacy seal immediately tells them you aren't out to scam them and do not intend on ever handing over their information to anyone. In other words - instant credibility.

In the online world, customers find it harder to spend their money on a transaction than when in a physical shop. Why? They don't see the business proprietor, or even just a smiling and assuring cashier manning the store. What they see is a very impersonal and unresponsive webpage chockfull of sales pitches. It can even be oppressive and discouraging for some to read. Whenever you try and direct visitors to an order page or a page where they need to enter in private details, there's always that fear that their money or information is going somewhere where they can't see and might be spread around the Internet or lost forever. They fear that the website they are dealing with might be nothing more than a fraudulent website that won't keep their end of the deal. And with loads of scammers out and about online, buyer cannot really be too sure about their own online buying security.

Statistically, many businesses lose their customers right before they are about to sell something. It's that blank email field or order button that invites them to hand over their information which strikes a bad chord. Customers are inputting very sensitive information after all, and on an order page for example, that key "I want to buy" decision can change even at the last minute. This problem of security and privacy is certainly a big cause of concern for online shoppers.

The solution to get these buyers on your team is to build up buyer confidence in your website. If they believe that you will keep your end of your deal and that you will not give their personal information to other corporations or agencies, then there will be a bigger chance that they will do business with you or hand over their information. That is the simple solution offered by companies that award web privacy and security seals.

But how do you go about it getting one?

Firstly, you have to apply for certification. Now caution is required here. There are only a few good certified seal providers - the rest are ignored by knowledgeable customers and can even have a detrimental affect on your sales or signups because it can look like you using a cheap knock off that does no certification but is "good enough" for your customers. Once you find a good certified seal provider (one provided below), they'll test your site for any kinks or holes in security if you are applying for security seal, or for any indiscretions in how you handle user data, if applying for a privacy seal. A good, reputable web seal company will do a thorough scan of your website and award you with the seal you applied for generally within two days.

People generally want feedback from others who have tried a product they themselves are considering to buy in order to know if it's worth their money. Testimonials exist for this reason, but web certification seals are a step above from commonly faked testimonials - which buyers have caught onto. Website seals come from neutral third-party companies that have the sole goal of providing web users assurances of which web site they should trust and buy from. Your business, in turn, benefits from their credibility boosting endorsement as they don't offer it to anyone, hence it builds trust and will help make your website become a success!

Want the best website seal on the Market for your website? Proven to boost sales? Start your 14 day FREE Website Seal trial today!

Spyware Removal Made Easy - Use an Online Spyware Scanner to Clean Your PC

2009-05-25T07:17:00.000-07:00

If you think that you currently have spyware on your PC, this article can help...

These days there is a lot of talk about different kinds of spyware that can attack your computer. And it is just the unwanted attack that defines a virus. It does things to your computer without you knowing that its there until it is too late. A virus can be devastating for your files and programs if it is not removed or blocked fast. spyware in a malicious software that installs it self on your computer without your permission. It sneaks in to it in the form of for example worms, spy ware or viruses. Another example of that is Trojans, that breaks down your computers security. spyware can also delete important system files that can be hard to restore. But it is possible to get rid of it and to get back what the spyware stole from you!

You do that in the form of a spyware removal tool, a kind of superman for your computer! The program searches your computer thoroughly through every file, checks it against its own database and makes a list of all the spyware applications that it finds. When the process is done the list allows you to delete the infected files and decide what to do with the rest of them. It separates your healthy files from your infected files so that you can see exactly what is going on and what you have to do about it.

New spyware threats will try to attack your computer ever day, so you need to scan your computer daily, weakly or as often as you think is necessary, to make sure that you have the chance to stop it or get rid of it before it makes to much damage. With this removal tool you don't have to worry about your computer crashing as long as you keep doing scheduled scans. Just install it, let the removal tool do the work, and you can check, remove and relax!

The best software I have found for removing spyware manually is:

NoSpyware-NoAdware!

Cyber Criminals Or Friends

2009-04-27T04:45:00.000-07:00

Criminals are using the internet more and more. The statistics tell us that one in four will become a victim of internet criminals. This article speaks of one type of internet criminal in particular. It is the one who wants to steal your identity.

Business and banking records have account numbers and social security numbers. These must be guarded. When you receive your bank statement in the mail, check it carefully. Change the PIN number often. This is the personal identification number your debit card requires. If you find an error, close out that account or change the pin number.

Hackers are persons who can obtain your passwords and private information from another computer. These computers are sometimes stolen or the old ones thrown in the trash. The hard drive is a disk that tells what ever information has been on that computer. Go to a reputable computer dealer to get your cleared or destroyed. Some criminals sell your personal information. Shared and wireless computers are most vulnerable to criminal attack. Home computers are safer.

Do not give out passwords to anyone. If some one asks you to call them, go to a public telephone and verify the number.They own scanners that copy your credit card information. Some will use it to take out a small amount of money to see how much you have in your account, then wipe it out later. These criminals are in chat rooms and social networking sites. Do not give out your drivers license number or social security number to them ever. Even the social security administration will not let you post your number on their site.

E-mail is electronic mail that comes to your computer mail. Get another e-mail account name for using the internet. Google, MSN and Yahoo offer e-mail accounts and your internet service provider gives you your main one. You may have to close out your account with your ISP if this e-mail is stolen. False web addresses and e-mails are all over the internet. They may tell you they are your place of employment and direct you to another site.

Do not open any e-mail if you are not sure who it is from. It may contain a virus that will ruin your computer, called crashing it, or slow it down. Hackers are criminals that can watch what you are doing on line. They follow your activity and hack into personal information. Firewalls protect you from hackers. Software purchased can block spam and viruses. Web addresses may be typed wrongly to look like a real site but they are not. Google, yahoo and MSN hotmail have excellent spam blocking filters. Use them.

They are not 100 per cent accurate though. So report spam which is an unwanted e-mail or one that asks for money to spam@uce.gov. Turn off your computer when not in use. It helps stop hackers and saves electricity. If you have become a victim of internet crime or suspect it, report it to http://www.ic3.gov

Laziness Can Cost You - Save Yourself the Heartache by Creating an Online Backup

2009-04-15T04:29:00.000-07:00

What are online backups?

Online backup is one of the smartest things you can do. You're in trouble if you're not backing up. If you've worked so hard to build so much, you'll feel like a family member has died the day your computer crashes and you have lost everything. Nothing screams stress more than when you've lost everything you've worked on.

You might think that online backup isn't necessary. You may think that if you have something wrong with your computer and lose any files, you can always go to an information technology professional and have them try and retrieve what's been lost. But that's the thing ... all they can do is try. And if you're computer is stolen and completely damaged, they can't even begin to try.

So start backing up your computer online now.

Wonder where you can get a good deal on online backup? For less than $10 a month, you can get 10 gigabytes of storage at ibackup.com. Shop around all you want, it is the best out there.

The site offers many other resources you can utilize for backup. You can even do a local backup where you can swap discs and hard drives.

You don't want to roll your eyes...

You might be rolling your eyes right now. But say your computer crashes (and it will crash), you'll be thankful that you were responsible and backed up everything on your computer online. Check out ibackup.com or another online backup resource; it'll keep you from crying, kicking and screaming later.

And we'd like to invite you watch and listen to FREE additional online marketing tips and powerful strategies by going to http://www.SpectacularOnlineSecrets.com

To find out more about Pat and Lorna Shanks (The Coolest Couple) please visit our blog at http://www.ToPatAndLorna.com

Shared Web Hosting - What to Go For

2009-03-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

There's a colossal flood of data out there on the Internet concerning how to choose the best web hosting. The nice thing is that there's really only a small number of completely vital elements that you will really have to fully grasp. In this piece I'm going to promptly outline some of the critical elements that you will need to contend with.

Please don't pay to much attention to the dramatic headlines. A lot of the adverts you are going to see about web hosting will contain attractive headline numbers. What you're hunting for is a realistic and well rounded web-host. These striking headlines are really not going to show you a thorough overview of what's on offer. You're going to need to dig a little bit deeper to uncover the dependable info you're going to need before committing to anything.

Confirming the good reputation of the web hosting company is a vitally important topic to attempt to consider. Trading on the Net is pretty simple. Almost anybody could have a go. In the context of these realities it is quite easy to realize why there are a few shady operations out there on the Net. A really first class technique for verifying the dependability of the hosting service provider is to see how long their company has been doing business.

Please be clear that the thing you're really in need of is excellent value. The cheapest price will probably not provide you with the best value. The thing you're really in need of from a web hosting firm is a first-rate blend of a variety of components that will give proper value.

As I mentioned in the opening section of this piece, this has only been a basic outline of a few of the key items with regard to the topic of how to choose the best web hosting. There are just a tiny number of other absolutely crucial factors that you will have to be aware of.

To learn about those other things right now please go to web hosting advice now. For the best tips http://info.answertrain.com/WebHostingAdvice.html

Computer Security in a Down Economy

2009-03-03T07:34:00.000-08:00

Cybercrime is on the rise as the economy falls deeper into recession. Recent reports have highlighted the increased threat to business IT systems as well as home computer users as more and more people look for ways to illegally gain access to cash. It is estimated that the number of scams and mal-ware programs has tripled in the last six months since the stock market drop in September 2008

There are a number of different ways that you can become a victim of cybercrime these days. Below are the most commonly used attacks and recommendations for keeping your computer safe.

Phishing

Phishing quickly became the most popular form of cyberhacking geared toward individual users. We become the victims of phishing attacks when we follow false warnings supposedly released by familiar institutions. These false warning come in the form of pop-ups on websites but are most often embedded as links inside spam email that comes to our inbox.

Safeguard: The best way to avoid being the victim of phishing is to be very discerning as you surf the web. Do not click on anything that you are not certain is what you are looking for. When receiving emails, hover your mouse over the link and read the URL. The text may say "Confirm your Bank of America user name and password here" but the URL may go to a 100 character address that is clearly not an authorized bank URL. Delete these messages immediately.

Cyberhijacks

Cyberhijacks occur when criminals access username and password information and then use it to enter accounts traditionally. These 'hijackers' can get this information in a variety of ways including social engineering attacks, system theft and phishing emails. Your information thus becomes hijacked and out of your control when this happens. This is a cybercrime often targeted at government agencies and law enforcement.

Safeguard: Avoid sharing your personal information, including usernames and passwords verbally, even if you are at work and seemingly in a safe environment. Don't safe your passwords and other vital information in your email or other programs that can be easily hacked or accessed by others. Never write down passwords and change your passwords regularly.

Trojans

Trojans are a type of cyberhijack where programs 'steal' your system, typically without the user knowing, and access personal information. Trojans infect a computer through tainted email, bad websites and even online banner ads.

Safeguard: Common sense is your friend. Be selective and aware of sites you are going to and banners you are clicking. If it doesn't look like a trusted service or banner, then assume it isn't and avoid clicking. Don't assume emails from your bank are real. Access your online account directly from the web address you know to be correct rather than through a recent email. Also, always make sure your system security features are up-to-date with the latest version and set appropriately to allow you freedom to work without compromising your laptop or system.

Social Network Scams

Social networks like Facebook and MySpace are becoming common areas for online criminals to create fake identities and networks in which to springboard phishing emails and other attacks to thousands of people. Others are simply scoping out online profiles for information they can use to gain access to you or your information. These sites try to cut out false IDs but that is a daunting and difficult task that does not keep up with the growing number of cyber criminals.

Safeguard: Only become friends with people you truly know and trust. Do not forward emails or requests to others unless you know the individual personally. Do not post sensitive information on your social network profile and do not upload sensitive documents to an online source. That information can be used in against you in court. It can also be used to gain access to your life. Be smart about what you say about yourself online.

This may sound paranoid. It may even sound cynical. But in these difficult times, people are pushed to do desperate things. It is better to be careful and concerned then be careless and cyberhacked.

~Colleen Welch, 2009

Colleen Welch is a frequent writer for Ascensha of Beaverton.

Protect your computer systems and boost your IT security by contacting Ascensha, a Oregon tech support company.

Printer Security is Not Worth Worrying About - Right?

2009-02-24T07:20:00.000-08:00

When looking at enterprise security, we commonly refer to and consider firewalls, Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), Virtual Private Networks (VPN), encryption and authentication. When we think of securing our data, we think of securing critical servers and databases. Rarely do we think of printers. Billions of dollars are spent worldwide on security each year, but how much did your organization spend on securing their printers this last 12 months? If you answered zero, you would be in the vast majority.

Printers have come a long way since their widespread adoption in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Back in the day, each printer was connected to an individual system and could only process a single print job at a time. Today, printers have matured into multi-functional devices that bare little resemblance to their distant origins. Printers in the 21st century perform dozens of tasks including, but not limited to, printing, scanning, photocopying, faxing and even emailing documents. What most users, and even system, network and security administrators do not realize is what really goes on inside a printer and what functionality they truly have. Most users still think of the printers of 30 years ago; unintelligent devices that only possess the ability to print documents. This view is far removed from the truth.

When discussing printers in this article, we are not only talking about the behemoths you see in most large enterprises, but also your low-end multifunctional printers you now find common in regular households. Rare is it to find a printer, no matter how small, that only performs the single task of printing. Most, at a very minimum, provide faxing or scanning and with these come increased memory requirements. Scanning a full document in preparation to print, scanning a document to be saved as a PDF or similar file, or scanning a document to allow faxing all require the ability to buffer the data within the device. A buffer is basically a region of memory that allows the storing of temporary data. Printers use this buffer to store a digital version of the document you are printing, scanning or faxing. Depending on the device, this buffer can range from a small piece of Random Access Memory (RAM) to a Hard Disk Drive like the type found in your desktop or laptop computer. In larger enterprise printers, this buffer is not the only memory store found within the printer. A larger, non-volatile memory area is provided to store semi-permanent or permanent information. For example, some printers allow scanning of a document and saving it within the printer as a PDF. The user may then connect to the printer as if it were a network drive, or via a web page, and download their document.

So where are we going with all this? The leakage or theft of sensitive and confidential corporate information. Large enterprises may have developed and implemented data retention and destruction policies but rarely do these include, or even mention, printers. Companies look at hardcopies of documents, CD's, DVD's and workstation, laptop and server hard drives when developing their data destruction policies. While it is clear they identify hard drives as a source of sensitive information, rarely do they consider the hard drives contained within their printers, if they even know of their existence. Printers are also commonly overlooked when security policies, procedures and guidelines are developed and implemented. Little time, if any, is spent looking at printer security or the implications of not securing the corporate printers. All the more disturbing this becomes when you contemplate the common types of documents that pass through printers in a corporate environment. Depending on the industry or the department within the organization, documents can vary from sensitive financial records, personal customer data or detailed network diagrams, to name a few.

To understand how sensitive data is leaked via a simple printer to the outside world, it requires an understanding of the corporate environment, security controls within that environment, and the general flow of information between users, printers and file systems that house restricted data.

In the ideal, secure corporate environment, a user has restricted access to files that pertain to his or her job function. The files reside on a secure server within the corporate network and are protected by strong access control policies requiring a user to authenticate before being allowed access to files. In our example, a user requires a sensitive financial document for a meeting he is about to attend. The user authenticates to the server, access to the file is authorized by the access control policies set on the file and the user opens the file in Microsoft Word. He clicks on the print icon and sends the document as a print job to his nearest printer. With this simple act, we have taken a secure document that very limited users have access to, and have created two copies that are no longer protected by any form of access control. The first is the obvious; the paper copy our user requires for their meeting. The second is a copy housed in the buffer on the printer. In the ideal world, our user will keep the printed copy safe at all times and follow the organization's data destruction policy and destroy the copy of the document when they no longer require it. As for the virtual copy created on the printer, the user has no real control over this, nor probably knows it even exists. If we are lucky, the document is overwritten when the next print job comes through, but this is very dependent on the brand and model of printer and how the printer was initially set up by the administrator.

Slightly different to the straight printing of documents, scanning of documents or receiving faxes on a multifunctional printer writes documents to non-volatile areas of memory, usually a hard disk drive. If documents are not manually removed, they will remain there indefinitely, often long forgotten by the original user that scanned the document or received the fax.

In either of these scenarios, improper disposal of a decommissioned printer could have catastrophic consequences for a company. Leased printers may be returned to the leasing company for resale. Purchased printers are discarded in the trash or sold at auction or online via auction sites such as eBay. Either way, countless sensitive documents could pass into the hands of nefarious individuals. While the leaking of some documents could financially affect organizations, leaking personal information pertaining to hundreds or thousands of customers or clients could have reputation ramifications that could destroy a company.

Most organizations do not realize the full potential of their printers or the functionality they have available. While much functionality is non-security related, these functions have considerable impact on the security of the data within an organization and need to be understood and addressed. These include, but are not limited to:

1. The ability to copy files to Windows or Unix SMB file servers
2. The ability to email scanned files to a user
3. Functionality that allows printers to receive faxes and then forward the fax onto predefined users via multiple methods, such as email or as another fax, and
4. The ability to store files which have been scanned, printed, emailed or uploaded locally on the printer

While the previous data leakage scenarios have been accidental in nature, data remaining on printers could be the target of an educated attacker, one that understands the value of data residing on printers and who has the ability to compromise that data. While organizations invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to secure their network, dividing networks and systems into zones of trust with firewalls, Intrusion Prevention Systems and other network access control points, have they rarely considered where printers are logically placed within the network. In most cases, they are located amongst the users, or in some organizations, even on the server networks. Some organizations do not even have zones of trust and the printers exist amongst users, servers and even Internet accessible systems. In the worst case scenarios, the printers may even be Internet accessible themselves. Printers are not seen as critical devices, and as such, are not secured in their own zone of trust where access to management interfaces is not accessible except to trusted printer administrators. By limiting access to these interfaces, compromise of the data housed on these printers becomes exceedingly difficult.

While most printers have the capability to authenticate both printer administrators or normal printer users, the majority of the time, this functionality is disabled or left in its default state; disabled. Five minutes on Google and an attacker will be able to find the default password to almost any printer. Once administrator access is gained to a printer, it takes little time and even less ability to make changes to settings that could be catastrophic to an organization. While it would be little but annoying to find yourself locked out of your printer, or the interface changed to another language so no-one could control the printer, if the attacker was to redirect your printing or copy documents to a location outside the internal network, depending on the contents of the file, it could be the ruin of an organization.

So how does an organization protect itself against attacks against printers and leakage of sensitive data?

A few simple steps:
1. Disable unnecessary functionality. If any function within the printer is not required within your business, disable it. The less services or functions a printer has running, the less avenues of attack or leakage the printer has.
2. Add printers to your data retention and disposal policies. Make sure all memory inside printers is disposed of via secure destruction or secure wiping when printers are decommissioned.
3. Ensure data is overwritten immediately after printing. This requires the printer in use to support this functionality, but if your data is highly sensitive, this should be a priority when looking at new printers.
4. Print from memory rather than hard disk drive if available.
5. Use the secure printing option, if available, so printouts do not start before you reach the printer and enter your password. How often have you hit print, walked to the printer and your printout is no-where to be seen, only to turn up lying on a table days or even weeks later?
6. Examine where printers are logically located within the network. Printer management interfaces should be restricted and only accessible from defined management IP's. Ensure printers are never accessible from the Internet. Assess whether some or all printers should be located within their own zone of trust.
7. Use the inbuilt security within the printer to restrict who has access, what access they have and where they may access from.

Securing printers should be an integral part of securing your data. Security policies should exist that address the risks and define how printers should be secured. Develop printer security guidelines and procedures for implementation of new printers and follow these standards to ensure all printers are secured and do not become a high risk to your organization. By securing your printers, you are contributing to your overall layered security model and protecting your organization's critical data along with its reputation.

David Morrison is a security consultant with Sense of Security. Sense of Security is the premier provider of IT Security and Risk Management Solutions in Australia, and is the trusted provider to many of Australia's leading organizations.

Personal Fraud Continues to Strike Many Unsuspecting Victims - Know How to Spot a Risky Situation

2009-02-07T03:52:00.001-08:00

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1 in 4 people are targeted by internet fraud each year and a whopping 800,000 people fall victim to these scams.

It is becoming increasingly important for consumers to be aware of the many ways that they can be defrauded. Fraudsters are becoming ever more cunning as they continue to find new ways to prey on and catch out innocent and unsuspecting customers.

Some of the most common types of personal fraud to be aware of include:

* Credit or bank card fraud - the unauthorised use of a credit or bank card.
* Identity theft - the theft and fraudulent use of personal details or documents such as passports, tax file numbers and drivers' licences, all of which can be used to conduct business or open new accounts in another person's name.
* Lottery - usually a scam by which a person is told that they have won a lottery that they didn't enter. The "winner" is then asked to provide personal information in order to prove their identity and/or send a fee or bank account details in order to get the prize.
* Phishing and related scams - a fraudulent request whereby the fraudster pretends to be from a business or a bank and asks the consumer to confirm various personal details such as bank account numbers and credit card details. This can be done through a variety of mediums such as post, in person, calling your landline or mobile telephone, with email and instant messaging usually the most common.
* Financial advice - unsolicited fraudulent financial advice can include offers such as investment seminars, real estate scams, share promotion or telemarketing or other similar tactics.
* Advance fee fraud - an unwelcome request to transfer money into a person's bank account. It is usually accompanied by an elaborate or dramatic story which concludes with requesting the respondent's assistance and account details in order to facilitate the transfer of a large sum of money. This request is normally coupled with a promise of a commission or fee for the respondent's assistance with the transaction but instead funds are illegally withdrawn from the respondent's account.

There are some simple practices that you can employ that will help to keep your personal details safe and minimise the risk of falling victim to personal fraud. Some such practices include:

1. Use a locked mailbox to send and receive all mail
2. Purchase and use a shredder when throwing away documentation such as financial statements, pre-approved credit applications and any tax related forms of correspondence.
3. When using popular public networking sites like Facebook and MySpace limit your personal information disclosure as your details can be easily extracted from these platforms and used to steal your identity for criminal purposes.
4. If and when you receive credit cards from your financial institution sign them as soon as you receive them.
5. Regularly monitor your bank and credit card statements for any incorrect transactions or any irregular debits and promptly report these to the relevant organisation.
6. Avoid using public computers, especially for accessing financial information, as they may contain viruses that can capture your personal banking details.
7. Install and regularly update security software on your personal and work computer such as personal firewalls, virus and anti-spy protection.
8. Generally speaking, it is best to ignore any spam email that is generated from unfamiliar addresses.
9. Change your various electronic passwords regularly. This includes PINs, online banking logins and email account passwords.
10. Keep your wits about you and logically assess the details of the request or offer before providing your details to any unfamiliar third parties. If necessary, seek professional advice.

As the world moves to using the computer and the internet for more and more aspects of life - from communicating and banking to shopping and searching - fraudsters are constantly developing more sinister and devious ways to capture unsuspecting targets along with still utilising the more traditional methods. Subscribing to the common adage of "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is" could serve you well here. Ask yourself seriously, if it is actually probable that you are the sole heir to a $33 million African fortune, for example.

If you suspect that you may have unfortunately fallen victim to an act of personal fraud please contact us on 1300 QUINNS or click here to submit an online enquiry. Additionally, please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like more information on how to better protect yourself from becoming a victim of personal fraud. We can help you to ensure that you have the correct procedures in place to protect you and your family's hard earned money.

The Quinn Group is an integrated, accounting, legal, and financial planning practice offering expert advice to help you achieve your business and personal goals. With more than 15 years' professional experience, we are committed to building long-lasting relationships with our clients by providing superior service in a timely and cost-effective manner. For more free advice please visit Tax Lawyers.

How to Monitor Children's Internet Activity

2009-01-29T07:14:00.000-08:00

Now days it can be very important to learn how to monitor children's internet activity. There are so many areas on the internet where children can meander, many times by accident, and they can be exposed to graphics, text, or video imagery which can be disturbing. Another red flag are chat rooms that children can stumble onto. With the amount of sickening predatory behavior that exists, it's very important learning how to monitor children's internet activity in order to keep kids safe.

1. Computer in the family room.

One relatively easy way to monitor activity is placing the computer in the family room, where usage can be observed. Many times parents will place computers in bedrooms or dens, isolated areas where there can be little observation. By keeping at least one computer in the main room, children are forced to be more careful and parents can keep an occasional eye on usage.

2. Internet History.

You can bring up your "cookies" function, or internet history tab, to reveal the websites which have been visited by your children. The downside of this, is that other people in the family - their internet history will get mixed in and it could be unclear which sites your children have visited. Another thing is that internet history can be cleared or erased. It's pretty easy, even children can figure out how to clear cookies.

3. Online Child Monitoring Software.

Perhaps the best way on how to monitor children's internet activity is by simply downloading monitoring software off the net. Here's how this works: You basically turn the software "on", when you know child use is going to occur. The software acts invisible and tracks all the activity that goes on. Messages, chat rooms visited, pictures downloaded, and so forth. You can turn the software off after child use and later backtrack to see if any disturbing areas of the internet have been visited by your child.

Here is the BEST child monitoring software that you can download immediately. Check it out at - http://spyhead.blogspot.com/

This is the best way on how to monitor childrens internet activity, safely and invisibly. Keep your child safe with this monitoring software - http://spyhead.blogspot.com/

What is Cyber Terrorism?

2009-01-19T05:55:00.001-08:00

The Government and the specialist of IT security have affirmed a substantial increase in the cyber crimes in the current situation. There is growing need amongst the officials concerning the intrusions which are conducted by the cyber terrorists or other terrorist organizations. This happens due to the potential loopholes in the security system as a whole.

But, what is Cyber Terrorism? Cyber terrorism is defined as the terrorist acts which are committed with using computer resources and cyberspace. A cyber terrorist is a person who frightens or compels the Government for fulfilling his or her social or political intentions. This is done by launching an attack through the computer networks. A common method of such attacks is the spreading of false propaganda on the internet about a possible terror attack at the time of holidays or some festivals. Sometimes this attack is actually carried out.

The e-commerce statistics show that if the internet is down for a single day the losses rise to billions of dollars. Not only is e-commerce affected but, the banking sector, authorizations of credit cards and other communication avenues are also affected. The list is endless. The amount of unfathomable information which is hampered is immeasurable. But, the amount of cyber terrorism correspondingly gets increased with the rise in the value of computer infrastructure. Leave aside the fiscal implications; the psychological impingement caused due to the turmoil is more damaging to the economy. The augmented reliance of the business houses, society and even the government on the internet, makes it the prime target for the terrorists for creating nuisance in the economy and the overall lives of the people.

There are some other methods too which are used by the cyber terrorists such as hacking which is channelized towards certain individuals or families. This is done by network groups which have the intention of troubling people and demonstrate their power. The primary intention of all such crimes is ruining the daily lives of the people, robberies and blackmailing etc. Cyber Terrorism is a big stigma on the society and hence, urgent measures are required for preventing it.

Sparsh MIC is one of the leading IT companies in India. We specialize in web design and development, IT solutions, web hosting, IT offshoring and custom software solutions. Visit us to see our profile at http://www.sparshmic.com.

Why You Won't Find a High Anonymity Proxy on the Free Proxy Lists

2009-01-05T03:34:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for a high anonymity proxy to allow you to surf in private and protect your identity online then it can be tempting to just latch on to one of the many free proxy lists and simply use one of them. In practice this is often a very frustrating experience as these free proxies are often completely overloaded and extremely slow. Now I don't know about you but I have no real yearning for the days of surfing the web down a 28.8k modem but the reality can be very similar using one of these free proxies.

The reason is not very difficult to see, bandwidth is expensive and running a fast secure proxy server is an extremely costly business. To offer this service for free obviously will quickly use up lots of badnwidth and server resources.

Have you ever wondered why these people supply free proxy servers ?

I mean it's very generous of them to supply a valuable resource like this but you must wonder why they are incurring this expense for no gain. Well the answer is surprisingly simple - the vast majority of these so called anonymous proxies are either hacked or misconfigured servers and the real owners have no idea that they are being used like this. In fact often the first time the administrators realise their mistake is when they see their network statistics or bandwidth charges - ouch !

Now of course it is possible that you are willing to overlook this fact and still happily use the free proxy servers but don't expect speed and certainly don't expect any level of anonymity. These servers are usually inheritently insecure and in fact often the proxy service is actually installed by hackers or identity thieves in order to intercept passwords and logins. Just remember all your data is going through one place with a proxy server, the administrator has potentially complete access to everything that goes down that connection.

In fact the problem is far from being a high anonymity proxy server these free proxies are just about the most insecure way of surfing the web. Sure, you'll protect your identity from the web server you visit but not from anyone else and maybe you are really unlucky and pick one of the free hacked proxies run by Eastern European Hacking groups !

To see which software I use to protect my web browsing - you can read about Identity Cloaker here.

If you want to read about some of my thoughts on using anonymous proxies and general privacy issues on free speech please visit my new blog here Anonymous Surfing Proxies

Surf safely, protect your privacy,

Jim

Are Anonymous Proxy Lists the Key to Anonymous Web Browsing?

2008-12-25T06:26:00.000-08:00

Well they sure sound like it don't they - pick a server from the anonymous proxy list and direct all your surfing through it. It does give the impression of security but I'm afraid it doesn't quite tell the whole picture and in fact if you're unlucky using this method may effectively give away your identity online.

The key to understanding the role of the anonymous proxy is really understanding what a proxy actually does. You've almost certainly used one at work or school if you have access to the internet. Very basically all your web requests are sent to this server and then directed out at the target site, the proxy server then forwards all the received information to your browser. The advantage is that your work or school can control what goes in and out of their network and has a list of every web page surfed.

When you use one of the free anonymous proxies from these lists that is what you are doing, sending all your information via this one server to forward all requests. The advantage and the reason people use them is that your own IP address is not logged on the server you visit (it logs the proxies address instead)

The disadvantage is that you basically hand all your web traffic to the owner of one server to control, the system administrator of the proxy server can access ALL your web traffic if they wish, as well as log all your activity as well. One of the other disadvantages is that you will almost certainly slow down your browsing substantially, these proxies almost inevitably get overused and it adds another hop to your browsing.

The other significant problem is that these anonymous proxy servers are usually hacked or misconfigured servers, they are often full of spyware and the real owners often have no idea t hey are being used as a proxy! If you use an anonymous proxy make sure you know who runs and administrates this server and that you are not using one owned by a European Hacking Crew!

To be anonymous on the internet you need to do much more than use an anonymous proxy server in any case. All your web traffic and your IP address are accessible across the wire and everything is logged at your ISP (for two years in Europe). HTML traffic is mostly sent in clear text, it's perfectly readable as you'll see if you ever start a sniffer at a wireless cafe or hotel.

I use a solution which combines a network of secure and private proxies (so I can change my location when I need) that is I can appear as a US surfer one minute, then use a German proxy a few minutes later. It also encrypts my connection completely using a military grade cipher called AES so nobody not even my ISP can view my connection. Obviously I have to pay a small charge for this but I would rather stay secure and anonymous and my browsing speed is not affected.

If you want to read about some of my thoughts on using anonymous proxies and how you can surf without being spied on, try the link below.

Anonymous Surfing Proxies

Jim

Email Spam Scams and Variations of 419 Scams

2008-12-16T08:29:00.000-08:00

With the horrific stories of successful scammers making millions from fraudulent activities online, efforts are now in full force to crack down the 419 scammers. An ABC documentary on the subject traced a scam to its origins in Nigeria.

The ABC documentary was just one of many efforts, now getting more concerted, to crack down on the fraudsters perpetuating this activity on a massive scale. The Nigerian police has created the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a special division specifically to enforce the section of the Nigerian Criminal Code, 419. The code makes it illegal to obtain money by false pretenses. It was not enforced until recently.

The scams happen worldwide. The old, traditional post mail scams have now escalated to million-dollar, worldwide fraud business because of the availability and accessibility of internet facilities. What authorities find out though, is that a lot of these scammers are not part of an organization. While there may be highly organized master scammers, many are small scale schemes looking to make an easy buck.

A lot of the scams have been traced back to parts of Western Africa. Nigeria is a hot spot. The decline in Nigeria's oil-drive economy has left millions desperately poor. But instead of looking for decent jobs, thousands of computer-savvy Nigerians are making a living off of thousands of gullible people from the West, many of whom are Americans.

Spam emails are the most widely used method of fraud. Spammers send varied types of fraudulent emails. It begins with the use of email extraction programs that scour internet websites for email addresses. In some instances, fraudsters obtain a list of email addresses from the black market.

The scammer would usually pose as a widow or heir of a corrupt government official who has left his family with embezzled money stashed away in some hidden account. The widow would ask help to get their money on the funds and in exchange, promise millions of dollars in reward money.

Sometimes, a scammer will pose as a diplomat or a corrupt government official looking to make for a partner-investor in a business. The proposal is usually to ask help to funnel dirty money and "cleanse" it. The money is supposedly stashed somewhere inaccessible. If one helps release the funds that would require advancing a small sum of money, the victim will supposedly receive a million-dollar reward and business deal.

Scammers will sometimes notify a victim of winning a lottery online. The amounts would be anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars purportedly held in trust somewhere pending your accomplishment of some paper work. Typically, the victim will be asked to pay a small sum to cover facilitation and processing fees before the money could be released.

Some scammers will identify themselves as a bank officer knowing of a deceased depositor who has died without a next of kin. He would ask the victim to help them get the funds before others do by posing as next of kin and filing a claim. The victim will then be promised a commission, a reward for the help.

More recent forms now involve romance angles and a lot of them now operate in dating sites and online communities. They pose as desperate women wanting to fall in love and scam lonely, gullible men for cash.

For more information on Anti-Spam Forum and Charitable Fraud and Religious Scams please visit our website.

Screwing With the System - The Most Dangerous Computer Viruses Ever

2008-11-22T05:01:00.001-08:00

The worldwide web is actually very much like our world in several aspects, it's just a little weirder at times. Like the everyday waking world, there are a of ways to have fun, to socialize, to engage in artistic endeavors or to establish a good business strategy among other things. And as much as there are a lot of good things about the web, there are also a lot of dangers to look out for. Hackers (or crackers for that matter) are like thieves and trespassers that use dexterity and careful planning to steal information or money. Cyber-stalkers are much like real life stalkers except that they have the advantage of anonymity and fading into the shadows much thanks to all the advantages the Internet offers. And then much like in the real world, we or our computers can and do get sick-from threats like computer viruses.

What makes these viruses unique from the vicious strains found in nature is that they are man-made. And instead of killing and crippling individual people, they have the capacity to cripple and kill entire industries, organizations and services. Many call the creators of these deadly strains criminals although some have created cult fanbases for themselves, which believe them to be modern day heroes. Whatever you may think of them, here is a list of the most deadly viruses that have been released to damage sectors of society, as a form of protest, or even as some say, by accident:

Melissa Virus: The Melissa virus was one of the most dangerous viruses and one of the fastest spreading ones in recent memory. It infected about 20% of computers worldwide, including the networks of Microsoft, Intel and other companies that relied on MS Outlook to be their default email client. Countless email servers around the world were forced to shut down just to halt the spread of this virus. The email came with an MS Word attachment that, when opened emailed itself to the first 50 people in your contact list. It also overwrote the document files in the infected computer with quotes from the famous TV show, 'The Simpsons'.

Blaster: This was a virulent strain of malware that spread itself not through email but through the vulnerability of both the Windows 2000 and Windows XP machines. Once a computer was infected, it displayed a message box indicating that the system would shut down in a couple of minutes. Discovered in the code was a message to Microsoft owner, Bill Gates saying: "Billy Gates, why do you make this possible? Stop making money, and fix your software!"

MyDoom: When the list of very damaging mass-mailing viruses is compiled, MyDoom will definitely be on the list. Though primarily written to spread through email, its growth became almost impossible to check with the emergence of the P2P software KaZaA. The MyDoom virus slowed down Internet access by 10% and caused some website access to be reduced by 50%. It was said that during its heyday, one it ten email messages sent contained the virus.

These are just a few of the many notorious viruses that have had computer owners and companies shaking their heads and pulling their hairs out in frustration. If you want more of the best instances of cyber-terrorism just visit: http://crunkish.com/top-ten-worst-computer-viruses/ .

Why I Use an Anonymous Web Proxy Service

2008-11-13T04:10:00.000-08:00

I've been using an anonymous web proxy service for some time now and I don't think I would ever go back to ordinary surfing. It's not that I am some sort of shadowy cyber criminal with some secret online life, no I pretty much surf the same web sites as everyone else, I certainly don't go to illegal or criminal sites.

If you want to know why, it's simply because I value my privacy and I know what data is stored in the average organisation and how it is protected. Take your ISP for example, they logs pretty much everything that passes through them - every single request, every web page, every email and even every image is logged. The vast majority of this traffic is in cleartext so the majority of it is instantly readable and can be matched to your address.

It's amazing what these logs can tell about people you can build up a lot of information about someone from what they do on the web. So do you know who has access to these logs at your ISP, what controls are in place, how is this information stored ?

If you don't know your not alone but after 25 years working in IT, I'll pretty much bet you wouldn't like to know the answer anyway. This is the problem with much internet communication, it's so completely open - occasionally you'll obviously use a secure site to type in your credit card details. Yet up to the point all your information is flying across the internet ether completely unprotected and accessible to anyone who has the will and the knowledge to intercept it.

Believe me there are plenty of people who do have an interest in your information

Why do you think a European Directive was recently passed - Directive on Mandatory Retention of Communications Traffic Data. It's a bit of a mouthful but what it's actually doing is forcing your ISP to keep a record of every email sent, every internet session and web site visited for two years. So think back at every web site you've ever visited for the last two years and it's on record and can be matched to your own little electronic profile.

How does that make you feel?

Even if you've done nothing wrong it's bound to make you feel a little uneasy after all why do Governments want all this information about us? If you want to feel a little more uneasy, many Governments are looking at the UK Governments idea who are going to store all this information in a central database accessible to certain organisations. Fear not US citizens you'll not be left out - the FBI are pushing hard for similar data retention facilities.

Storing data is dangerous

If you store data you have to be prepared to take good care of it. All the privacy erosion concerns aside, the more personal data is stored about us, the more people will have access to it. How thorough do you think is the vetting procedure for an ISP Technical engineer ? Who potentially has access to huge amounts of this data. Even if implicitly trust our govenrments with this tremendous invasion of our privacy - fraudsters, identity thieves and others can create mayhem with this sort of information. These logs are gold dust to anyone trying to steal our identity for example - they can match up users, with web sites, pick up password and all sorts of personal information. Even though a small part of this information is encrypted when you're actually using a secure web site (with the padlock below) there's plenty of other personal information available to compromise your usernames, password etc.

An identity thief can pick up huge amounts of data about the average person all ready, an hour or two picking up all your web traffic and they'll also have where you bank, what web sites you visit and logon to and a whole heap more. This unfortunately is the tip of the iceberg and I suspect you'll see many, many people protecting their privacy online soon from identity thieves, hackers and even our friendly snooping governments.

Everything I do online is private, I use a fast professional service that anonymises my connection and encrypts all the data. My web logs sit next to yours in a server room at my ISP however mine are all completely encrypted and unreadable by anyone, whereas yours are in clear text.

One thing I should warn people about is the use of free anonymous web proxy services which you see all over the web. Be very, very careful about these and think why are they supplying a very expensive and resource hungry service for free? Remember also that by using one of these free proxies you are redirecting your traffic via this server whose owner can capture and log your data himself. Many of these are owned and run by Eastern European Hacking groups as an easy way to gain peoples traffic, so be careful.

So if you don't want hackers, crackers, identity thieves or even governments snooping on what you do on the internet do as I do. I use the most secure and professional service to encrypt and protect my web activities - the excellent Identity Cloaker service - click here to read more about them - Protect your Privacy

How to Successfully Monitor the Access of Your Child to the Internet

2008-10-21T06:18:00.000-07:00

While installing surveillance cameras in a room would be a really far-fetched idea, it would seem advisable that you can somehow monitor what your children do on the internet. Therefore, you need to find the valid tools and processes that will ensure your child is protected against any internet attack.

While the best idea to monitor your children would be to sit next to them and watch them, sometimes constant surveillance is not possible. Therefore, you need to keep the internet connection somewhere at reach so that you can access it whenever you want to. Also, the computer needs to be located in a room different from that of the children, because otherwise they might be tempted to enter in the computer too often.

For smaller children, aged from two to ten years old, it is always advisable to be there with them when they are accessing the internet. Since this vast domain encompasses a lot of risks and there is a lot of gibber lurking around it, it is important that you know how to select only what is the most important fort your child and then make the browsing through the internet a valuable activity.

Another possibility would be to make sure that if you have a teenager or pre-teenager, then it would be best to instill some other rules. You need to keep constant checks on the web history that your computer can store and also know how to master the Hosts file from the computer so that you can keep blocking out content. Therefore, using browsers as well as filtering software such as the ChildLock, Bsafe Online, Mcaffee Internet Security, Cyber Snoop or Net mop, you will ensure that you are protected against online attacks.

As parent, you are also expected to instill in your child the feeling of responsibility and value of privacy. You need to openly discuss with your child topics such as health or sexuality without delving into the other extreme. Router with internet filtering abilities can also be a solution to your security problems. Therefore, you need to know the way of being able to block out content.

While hardware and software are good tools in helping parent's monitoring kids online activities, they are no substitute to teaching your children internet safety tips

Reverse Email Searching is Available All Over the Internet

2008-10-07T05:59:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, a reverse email search is one of the best decisions you can make to help protect you and your family's security. In fact, the chances that you may need to use such a resource increase every day as email becomes an increasingly important and frequent means of communication. Luckily, rather than worrying about finding and making good use of the correct email directory, you can use a reverse email search to access this information for you. The even better news is that similar online resources are available all over the internet, so with the likelihood that you will need browse this data comes this knowledge that you will be able to do so quickly, easily, and nearly instantaneously.

Since there are so many available reverse email search sites, it may seem difficult to pick the best one. For people in this awkward position, there are a few good guidelines to remember. While there are a lot of reverse email searches, not all of them have free access to the email directory you need. This means that using a free site when you need to find information listed in a private email directory will probably mean that you are only able to find out more about the server and not the actual username.

If this is the case, then you should look a little harder to find a reverse email search that is upfront about what type of email directories it makes available. After all, you do not want to spend precious time or unnecessary money trying to figure out certain types of data, such as the user's IP address, with a free public reverse email search.

There are a lot of servers and email addresses and a lot of possible directories in which the information you need could be contained, but the good news is that there are almost as many reverse email searches to help you locate the exact email directory containing the specific entry you want to see.

Don't send Claudia Kim a sketchy email because she will run a an email search on you at http://www.emailfinderpro.com

Protect Yourself From Cyber Criminals

2008-09-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

Don't you like to protect your money and keep your private information safe? Are you frightened by the possibility an Internet criminal will steal your credit card and do things with your name after stealing your identity? Guess what! You can prevent this mess from happening. Let's go over the steps you can take to prevent identify theft and loss of your money while you are online.

Take precaution with storing information and passwords on any computer you use. You might be thinking, "I am the only one who uses my computer; therefore, I can store the password I use to log into my computer and any accounts I have with different websites." If you believe this and act accordingly, you could be in trouble. Someone might rob you of your laptop or break into your home and steal your computer. Furthermore, you will probably have to recycle or throw away your computer eventually.

Choose passwords wisely. Do not choose a password that has any part of your name or other information that identifies you. Choose an unusual password or a password you think others will have trouble guessing. If you open an online banking account or PayPal account, create a password that contains numbers and capital letters. Never reveal your passwords.

Be careful when reading E-mail messages from PayPal. The real PayPal site only addresses you by your name and it does not provide links for you to click or ask for your password. If you get a "PayPal" or "eBay" message saying you must verify your account to avoid suspension, ignore it. If you are ever tempted to respond, it is safer to copy and paste the link into your browser. If you ever believe an account of yours has been breached, immediately change your password and report the breach to the site holding your account.

Ignore E-mail messages in which you are asked to submit a form to claim a tax refund. The IRS does not actually contact people online unless they are returning a message.

Ignore messages from Microsoft and others that try to get your personal or financial information by claiming you have won the lottery or that you are a beneficiary of a huge sum of money. Also ignore messages in which each letter for the sender or subject line is capitalized.

Take precaution when sending messages online. A cyber criminal gained access to my debit card after I revealed my new debit card number on a web site's contact message form as a result of not being able to get their system to recognize my new debit card.

Handle your social security number with care. Do not provide it when you use a web site or submit a cover letter, resume or other form of communication online.

Be careful when making online purchases. Make sure the site has a padlock symbol that represents a secure purchase. An https site is highly encrypted to prevent others from seeing your credit card.

Use these tips to prevent identify theft and loss of your money!

Todd Hicks owns Skill Development Institute, an enterprise that provides a keyboard typing lesson and academic study guide. To become a great typist or student, visit Skill Development Institute.

http://sdinst.blogspot.com

Virtumonde Attacking the Web

2008-09-21T21:09:00.000-07:00

Virtumonde Trojan demonstrates that contemporary antivirus protection leaves much to be desired. This malware seems to have been specially created to make popular security programs look imperfect. Some are able to detect the infection, but cannot remove nor quarantine them.

At a closer look Virtumonde is nearly a perfect virus. It self-protects, monitors the system memory of the infected computer, randomly names its malicious files, and integrates with Windows critical processes.

This Trojan is responsible for adware pop-ups, redirecting browsers to websites with ads and malicious scripts. Virtumonde is able to change the desktop background (wallpaper), screensaver, and disable some tabs of Desktop Properties. Besides, some variations of the trojan are capable of disabling Task Manager and Registry Editor thus making everything to prevent its successful removal.
Virtumonde loads a .DLL file into memory to ensure it's always up and running. A special module watches the environment inspecting the processes, and puts the virus back into memory whenever any program (e.g. antivirus) tries to close it.

Self-restoring mechanism allows virtumondo to restore its associated files if some of them are removed by security programs. That is, upon next computer reboot the Trojan is back and fully functioning.
The main files that are integrated with Windows Explorer and Winlogon processes make the infection resistant and hard to remove. Popular Windows security suites from biggest software manufacturers often cannot break the tight linking of the malware to critical components.

This explains why specific steps and virtumonde removal tools are needed to clean out infected computers.

First, it is necessary to unload malware services from system memory.
Second, registry entries and keys related to Trojan virtumonde should be deleted at once.
Third, malicious files should be permanently erased from the system.

All this has to be done in one Windows session, without restarting, or the Trojan will be able to restore itself to previous state.

Several software companies and volunteer programmers decided to develop special tools to help users remove Virtumonde. Among others, Symantec provides a free fix tool for certain variations of the virus.

If you're a victim of the infection and want to remove the trojan with as little hassle as possible, get your hands on free virtumonde removal tools. Available removers are known to fix the malware without the need to call for expert help.
Alberta Glamerheim is an author and consultant who writes about Internet privacy management issues, and publishes articles related to PC security maintenance.

Learning security lessons from the motives of malware

2008-09-11T20:59:00.001-07:00

Security threats have changed greatly over the past several years. The worst "hacking" was comprised of kids defacting web pages to get improve their stats on defacement boards and sending out viruses to pronounce their undying love for some unfortunately girl. Concerted, financially motivated attacks did occur, but they were somewhat rare and normally involved industrial espionage of some form.

Today, though, an entire economy has been built around "hacking". Much like television networks trying to attract eyeballs for advertisers, today's hackers are trying to infect computers with trojans and other malware. These "botnets" are sold and traded in an underground market. The purposes for the botnets are varied: stealing backing information from the victims, using the collection of computers to implement an protection racket against DDOS attacks (as we have seen many times lately), to simply installing adware. Because of this, attackers are racing to find and exploit new vulnerabilities in software as quickly as possible - at least before someone else does. There is also no honor between theives - it's not uncommon for some piece of malware to intentionally disable the malware from some other group, so the former can keep his network pure and maintain the profitability of the botnet.

So, what can we learn from this?

We will continue to see faster and faster virus propogations. The virus writers are now financially motivated to infect as many computers as possible before anti-virus signatures are available and applied. Using non-conventional tactics to defend against these viruses are going to be needed. Such tactics include using behavioural virus scanners, rather than singature based scanners. Internet Security Systems and Panda both offer implementations of this.

We will continue to see worms that are released either before or shortly after acknowledgement of a weakness - and quite often before a fix is available. In the past, a rigorous patching program was typically enough to provide a reasonable amount of protection. Again, though, non-conventional tactics are needed - such as general buffer overflow exploit protection, more diligence around segmenting network assets to minimize the spread of worms, and tools to identify when a worm is present. Certainly, this aslo underscores the importance of tightening up already rigorous patching processes. An additional layer of protection can often be found in host and network intrusion prevention tools. Such tools are often updated quickly in response to a new threat and provide a buffer between the release of a worm and the time that systems are patched.

Certainly, organized crime is not the only source of malware - plenty of enterprising individuals are participating. Keeping up with the motivations of hackers will give you a better understanding of what you need to protect against and what threats you can expect down the road.

About the Author

Jerry Bell has been in the information security industry for 8 years and has spent 4 years as the Director with responsibility for information security and regulatory compliance at a $300M public company. IT Capability

Can You Recover After a Security Breach?

2008-09-04T23:38:00.001-07:00

If you haven't already taken adequate steps to ensure your data and computer security systems are up to date and working to protect you against hackers and other potential threats, then you should do it right now to ensure the chances of being subjected to a security breach are as small as possible.

Unfortunately some businesses take the attitude that there are always more important things to be doing - such as winning new clients for example - and they never quite seem to get around to it. But if you can number yourself and your business among that group, you could be heading for disaster.

If you need an incentive to make sure your network security is as good as it should be, then consider what you would do and how you would be affected if someone did manage to break into your systems and cause havoc as a result.

A lot of people immediately think of the practical considerations. That is understandable, as you will want to see how much data - if any - was compromised or lost during the security breach. The natural step then is to do what should have been done in the first place and plug those holes so no one can get through them again in the future.

But that isn't the only problem you would be faced with if you did fall victim to the hackers. News of the breach would almost certainly reach your clients in one way or another, and that would mean some serious damage limitation exercises would be due on your part.

Just consider how you would feel if you discovered that your personal information had been compromised like this. Even if you were reliably told that the chances of your information actually being used or accessed by someone else were extremely slim, you would still wonder if that tiny chance would actually happen.

But even if it was safe you would begin to wonder how reliable that company is when it comes to looking after your data. Some people may have been with that company for some time - and yet they would still be thinking about whether or not they should go elsewhere. This is the kind of situation you would be faced with if you became the owner of a business that was known for having been hacked into remotely.

It's not unknown for some businesses to be affected like this and never recover from the damage that is done. This is where many people slip up - they assume the damage is physical and can be repaired, ensuring that nothing similar happens again.

But the real damage is that caused to your customers, and no matter how much apologising you do, the decision of whether those customers stay with you or go elsewhere is, at the end of the day, down to them and them alone.

So why chance the future of your business by leaving its security until tomorrow? If you do, tomorrow might just be too late to do anything about it.

Pure Hacking helps protect your Internet security by providing world-class penetration testing and ethical hacking risk management services. For a free consultation, please visit Penetration Testing

Computers Get Sick Also - About Computer Viruses

2008-08-26T06:24:00.001-07:00

A computer program capable of copying itself and infecting a computer without even the user's permission or knowledge is known as a computer virus. When the host of a computer virus is carried to an uninfected computer, then the virus spreads from one computer to the other. Viruses get transferred over a network, Internet or through removable mediums like floppy disk, CD and USB drive.

There are three basic categories of computer viruses which are boot infectors, system infectors and generic application infectors. The boot sectors of diskettes and hard disks are attacked by the boot infectors. During the first access of a diskette the virus transfers itself to the sector 0 of the diskette and it then spreads to the system that are booted from this diskette. The Pakistani Brain Virus is an example of a boot infector. The system infectors are found to be attached to the operating system modules and Lehigh virus is a typical example. The Generic application infectors have the capability to harm any application program. Well known viruses of this kind include the Israeli Virus and the Scores Virus.

There are various theories and controversies regarding the first known computer virus. But majority support the view that The Creeper was the first virus that was detected on ARPANET which happens to be the forerunner of the internet in the 1970s. It found its way through the TENEX operating system and had the capability to use any linked modem to dial out to all remote computers for the purpose of infecting them. There are again beliefs about "Rother J" to be the first computer virus to have appeared "in the wild" which means outside the lab or the single computer where it originated. But the truth is that, it was the first virus to infect computers "in the home". A boot sector virus called The Brain was the first PC virus which appeared in the wild. In 1986, Farooq Alvi Brothers from Pakistan created this virus with the aim of discouraging pirated copies of software written by them.

CIH and Melissa are two well known viruses which created disasters in the years 1998 and 1999 respectively. The estimated amount of damage that CIH created was 20 to 80 million dollars. This virus originated from Taiwan and Windows 95, 98, and ME executable files were its main targets. This virus found its residence in a PC's memory. Soon after its activation, it started overwriting data on the host PC' hard drive and as a result it made it inoperable. It also prevented boot-up of the host by overwriting the BIOS of the host. Although it caused disasters and losses at some point of time but it is not a serious threat nowadays because of the migrations to Windows 2000, XP, and NT which are not susceptible to CIH. Melissa caused an estimated damage of 300 to 600 million dollars. This was a word macro script that infected the business PCs. The rapid spread of the virus made Intel, Microsoft and other companies that were using Outlook to shut their total e- mail systems down! This virus used the e- mail lists of the user of Microsoft Outlook to e- mail itself in the form of a .DOC file as attachment. Unsuspected receivers opened the file and got their systems infected.

There are a number of destructive viruses like Blaster, Bagle, MyDoom, Sasserbut I LOVE YOU released in 2000 deserves special mention. This acted like Melissa by e- mail itself with an irresistible message: I love You. It even used to find the IDs and passwords of the users of infected machines to send e- mails to its author. The amount of damage was estimated as 10 to 15 dollars. The irony is that Philippines had no law against computer viruses at that time and so it failed to punish the author of I LOVE YOU who was from Philippines itself!

For more PC security tips, advice and antivirus software reviews visit http://www.antivirus-software.com

What Governments and Agencies Are Doing About PC Security

2008-08-15T01:57:00.000-07:00

If you felt isolated and susceptible in the battle against cyber-space terrorism - virus and malware attacks - then there is no need. Numerous forces have joined together to help safeguard the nation's computer infrastructure from abuse. Just like the US armed forces guard the homeland - and indeed every nation has armed forces - there is an army of technical staff out there who have put their heads together to come up with computer security and defense strategies.

One such agency is The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT). The department of Homeland Security has collaborated with other private and public sectors to respond to national cyber attacks and correlate defense. You can learn a lot about them and about viruses from their website us-cert.gov/, from which you can also subscribe to mailing lists for firsthand knowledge.

US-CERT professionals evaluate and decrease the threat of cyber attacks, interact with other federal agencies, research communities, industry and governments at both state and local levels to decide if and what action should be taken. And they are responsible for alerting the general public as to what action needs to be taken.

They are available for communication from the general public about cyber issues that may arise. You can report a virus to them and they will investigate it to determine its seriousness and find how to stop it from spreading. Confidential information may be submitted through the Protected Critical Infrastructure Information (PCII) Program. This will be safeguarded from public disclosure.

There are many other government agencies that work to try and preserve computer security, whether their own or that of the general public. But generally it is private organizations that do the most work in creating patches to exclude new viruses or in upgrading anti-virus software. Let a new virus spring into being and a whole host of goodies also swing into action. And they soon spot ways to eradicate the danger.

Microsoft works hard to give the personal computer user additional protection. Parents can get special programs that permit them to watch over their children and protect them from identity theft and corrupted viewing. Windows Vista and Xbox parental controls will control the type of movies they observe and the games they play online. The parent can become the Administrator and allow only limited or restricted use for the children's user accounts. Instant Messenger can be configured to only allow known contacts.

Garey Simmons writes about computer troubleshooting from personal experience. Garey performs his own for his small office computers and likes http://1ComputerHelp.com

Security and Multi-Layer Antivirus

2008-08-07T04:36:00.000-07:00

No computer network can be 100% protected from threats that the internet and attackers can bring. But with a smart IT security policy and using a layered approach, you can reduce your company's risk to attack.

Viruses today are more blended and have a higher payload than ever before. This means that they are easier to distribute and can do greater damage. Viruses today can attack networks at even the lowest level which means they can bypass desktop and server antivirus software. Software antivirus no longer provides the complete protection that it once did.

So what is layered antivirus and network security and how should you approach it? Simply put, it is like placing a defense barricade at every possible entry point onto your network. A typical layered antivirus solution will include server AV, desktop AV, gateway AV, email AV, and sometype of intrusion detection/prevention service (IDS, IPS).

This approach will not only protect from threats that come in at the computer and file system level, but will also protect your network from denial of service and other network level attacks.

A layered approach also helps provide efficiency and load-balancing on your network. If you find that your email server is getting pounded by daily phishing or virus emails, then having gateway antivirus can help take some of the load off of your email server by stopping those emails from ever reaching the server.

It also provides greater security on desktops using gateway antivirus. If a user attempts to download a virus onto their computer, rather than letting the desktop AV software handle the quarantine/deletion, the gateway appliance will built the packet stream and scan it as the virus passes through. If the stream matches that of a known virus signature, then the stream is cut off by the gateway and the virus never reaches the desktop to begin with.

Protecting your network with a layered approach is now not just a security design for enterprise networks, it is a requirement for all business networks.

Aaron Guhl is an IT professional that specializes in security. He frequently writes on his blog regarding security issues to help IT professionals get a better understanding of security in their networks. Visit his website at: Multi-layered Antivirus

Spam - The Internet's Biggest Virus

2008-08-01T05:22:00.001-07:00

We all know that virus's cause our computers to crash, and unfortunately at times rendering them completely unusable. That's why we have virus shields and scanners that can take care of these mechanical viruses for the most part. Well there is a virus that has long been attacking the internet itself, and it is not mechanical-it is completely organic and it has a brain. This virus is called a spammer.

Spammers.. viruses? No way, you think... they just send out unsolicited Emails and are extremely annoying.

In the most general sense a virus is a bad thing that is constantly adapting in order to continue attacking, and a vaccine is a good thing that is constantly adapting to mitigate attacks from viruses. If you think about it, web services all over the internet (Google, Spam filters, etc.) are constantly having to adapt and change rules and algorithms to keep spammers on edge-but somehow they manage to get through. Spammers are more than just annoying marketers (or wannabes) that want to fill up your Email inbox.

I often wonder: Are spammers slowly destroying the internet?

Here are my thoughts on that question. Social media and many other web 2.0 services on the internet (social bookmarking/networking, blogs, etc.) are in fact good things. They allow people to express opinions, share useful resources, share lesser-known knowledge, etc. and on the other end of the spectrum other people are able to read opinions, gain more knowledge, visit useful resources, and so on. But as time goes on the amount of genuine content is being far out-weighed by crap content produced by spammers in an attempt to trick search engines, trick users (to gain money), etc.

For example, hundreds (maybe thousands?) of blogs are created each day, but how many actually end up being genuine blogs, and not spam-generated blogs, re-produced content, blogs created for the sole purpose of getting links, etc. Lets look at social bookmarking. There are so many fake accounts are there all linked to one specific person in an attempt to send their website to the top of the rankings. Social networking is the same way along with every other web service/idea both new and old-all are getting plagued by spammers.

However, in the midst of the darkness among all these negatives, there is in fact a light that emerges. I'm a positive thinker, so after giving this subject some thought, I got to thinking about the life expectancy of the so called spam content being mass produced on a daily basis. Not very long. Most spammers probably give it a try for a few days or weeks only to find that their strategies take a lot longer-which narrows down the number of actual spammers that pose a threat to honest bloggers, social networkers/bookmarkers, etc.

So the answer to my question above (Are spammers slowly killing the internet?), I think would have to be a big NO. Search engines are getting better and better at finding the real content and weeding out the crap, and the one's who usually stick around are genuine web users who are producing valuable content-valuable content meaning real content (someone's opinion may not seem valuable but it is in fact useful to the overall internet if it is genuine).

If this issue has ever bothered you, such as having thoughts run through your head such as, I'm never going to get a good search engine ranking because there is way too much competition, don't worry about it because although the numbers tell you there is a rising amount of competition in any certain niche (hard to find a non-saturated niche these days-if you go strictly by the numbers), you have to stop and think of how much actual competition there is. Most people enter a market (many of which are spammers looking for the money) and give up within a few weeks, if not a few days... but their websites, blogs, etc. remain so while it may seem like there is competition, you will actually surpass them very quickly just by being an honest web user that is persistent in whatever niche you are trying to attract traffic within.

The question for this article:

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by competition in a certain niche (whether you were trying to sell something, or just make a blog that will build a readership) but didn't stop to think how much of that competition was dry spam that isn't going anywhere?

Learn to make money online the right way, exactly how I do it. This blog focuses on profits earned via blogging and certain affiliate programs. Observe this blog as a live case study and discover insightful tips to help you with your own ventures.

Blogging HQ - Discover Proven Ways to Make Money Online.

Antivirus Comparisons - How to Choose the Best Antivirus Software Product

2008-07-25T05:52:00.001-07:00

Years ago it used to be important that you had some antivirus software on your machine. With the Internet, it is now imperative. Viruses can spread extremely quickly thanks to email, file sharing and chatrooms. To protect yourself you will want the best products available to you. Here is how to carry out antivirus comparisons to make sure you are using the best product.

First you should visit the websites of companies that carry out antivirus software reviews. Virus Bulletin and AV-Comparatives specialise in this type of software and both have a respected position in the industry. You can also visit the websites of computer magazines or buy them from a newsstand.

These reviews will concentrate on how effective the software is at doing its job: finding and eliminating viruses. Narrow your search down to the top performing products. But there are a lot more factors that will affect your choice. The first of these are speed and stability.

Find user reviews online that discuss how the software has performed on people's computers. Has it adversely affected the speed of the computer or are their conflicts with other software? Once you have carried out this bit of research, download a trial version. Any problems with stability will now show up before you actually spend money on the product.

Use the trial to evaluate other features such as ease of use and the graphical user interface. This type of software is very advanced but some manufacturers have succeeded in making it very easy to use. Others still have a way to go.

Another feature that many people ask for is a 'set and forget' option. This allows you to set the software to automatically perform scans and pick up updates. You should evaluate this process with the free trial.

When you are carrying out antivirus comparisons, don't be afraid to put several products on free trial. Just be aware that most antivirus software is incompatible. You have to remove one before you can install another.

Learn more about free virus software by visiting http://www.top-antivirus-software.com. Can free antivirus programs be better than paid? The results are surprising.

Usability & Security - Unlikely Bedfellows?

2008-07-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

With an ever increasing online population - 41 million users in the UK alone - computer security and user authentication have never been more vital. Unusable security is expensive as well as ineffective. According to Password Research, two-thirds of users had to reset their passwords/PINs three or more times in the last 2 years. With each password reset estimated at £35 in help desk costs (source: Mandylion research labs), it's easy to see how expensive an affair this can be.

Passwords

Passwords are by far the most widely used method of authentication. We're all having to remember more usernames and passwords by the day. It comes as no surprise then that over half of us use the same password for everything from work to banking to ecommerce, which is known to be poor security practice. More worryingly, 21% of people revealed their passwords in exchange for a bar of chocolate (source: Infosecurity Europe)! Clearly it's not all about making systems secure but making them usable too.

Passwords have long been considered insufficient within the security industry. Bill Gates even called for an end to passwords 2 years ago (source: CNET news). As that day still seems a long way away, let's consider what we can do to make the best of a bad bunch.

What you can do

As a website owner, you can make your customers' lives easier, and your site more secure by adhering to the following guidelines:

* Use e-mail addresses as usernames - Don't ask site visitors to create separate usernames as this increases the number of items they have to remember.
* Allow passphrases rather than just passwords - Passphrases are just like passwords but longer, being entire phrases instead of single words. They're typically 20-40 characters in length, an example use being Wi-Fi security. A sample passphrase would be 'PASSphrase1234567890'. Phrases provide context and are easier to remember than words in isolation. Passphrases are also harder to crack than passwords.

Helping users remember their passwords

To help your users choose secure passwords that are memorable, try suggesting some of the following tips to them:

* Use a passphrase instead of a password, if the system permits.
* If not, take a phrase and use the first letter of each word to make up a password that's easy for them to remember but difficult for others to guess. For example the phrase 'my favourite sweet in the world has to be chocolate' becomes 'mfsitwhtbc'.
* Then replace some of the letters with capital letters and throw in numbers and symbols to increase the password strength. For example use '1' or '!' for an 'i', '4' or '@' for an 'a' and so on. The above sample password 'mfsitwhtbc' then turns into 'Mfs!twht6c', which is much stronger.

Do your users have one password that they use for everything and want to keep it that way? They can have an easy life and be security-conscious. Here's how: Advise them to append an additional word/number at the end of the universal password to make it longer and more secure. The add-on can be related to the application/site they're on, so it's easy to remember and yet unique.

Here's an example - let's say the universal password is 'password' (which it should never be of course!). This is of course a rather weak password in terms of security. For a florist's site they can turn it into 'p@ssw0rdfl0wers' (for 'passwordflowers') and for e-mail it can be 'p@ssw0rdem@1l' (for 'passwordemail'), both of which are much more secure than the initial choice and unique to the respective sites. With just a few modifications, the new password 'p@ssw0rdfl0wers' becomes very secure.

Encourage your users to find out how secure their passwords are by checking their password strength on sites like Security Stats, Password Meter and Microsoft's Password Checker.

What's the future?

Passfaces

Should passwords disappear then what'll replace them? An alternative is a system called 'passfaces' that utilises our innate ability to recognise faces with speed and accuracy. Users are required to correctly select their pre-chosen faces from a random set in order to gain access. Passfaces has already been implemented by a number of websites.

Random number generators

Some online banking customers are being sent chip-and-pin card readers to add a layer of security. A lot of banks and large corporations are using tokens such as random number generators in addition to passwords to increase security.

Biometrics

Another alternative is biometrics where a person's physical or behavioural characteristics such as fingerprint, iris or voice are used for authentication. Examples include laptops with built-in fingerprint readers and the new biometric passports in the UK.

These approaches aren't solutions in themselves but will have to consider the human as being central to the whole authentication process in order to succeed.
In a nutshell

Traditionally, security has been considered more important than usability. In reality, security measures only succeed when users' needs are taken into consideration. Contrary to popular belief, security and usability can and should go hand in hand. Let's hope whatever replaces passwords is designed with usability in mind so we don't have to lose ours!

This article was written by Mrudula Kodali. Mru's crazy about improving online user experiences - so crazy that she works for Webcredible ( http://www.webcredible.co.uk ), an industry leading user experience consultancy, helping to make the Internet a better place for everyone.

Scanning the Box

2008-07-12T06:23:00.000-07:00

This article provides details on the scanning phase of any penetration test (blackbox, whitebox, gray box). Let's start from defining the types of scan we can use while performing a penetration test.

Scanning the box means performing the scan on the target to blueprint its security measures and than to penetrate into the box.

Types of scan we can perform on the selected target:

1. OS Scan (OS fingerprinting)

2. Port Scan ( Service detection)

3. Vulnerability scan (finding the hole)

Let's discuss the above types in detail:

OS Scan (OS fingerprinting):

When we are performing a pen-test we need to detect what OS is being running on the remote machine so what we can search for its related critical patches and vulnerabilities. OS fingerprinting is also known as banner grabbing.Banner grabbing and operating system identification - can also be defined as fingerprinting the TCP/IP stack. Banner grabbing is the process of opening a connection and reading the banner or response sent by the application

Following are the two techniques used to detect OS fingerprint:

a. Active Stack fingerprinting

b. Passive Stack fingerprinting

Active stack fingerprinting:

Active stack fingerprinting is the most common form of fingerprinting. It involves sending data to a system to see how the system responds. It's based on the fact that various operating system vendors implement the TCP stack differently, and responses will differ based on the operating system. The responses are then compared to a database to determine the operating system. Active stack fingerprinting is detectable because it repeatedly attempts to connect with the same target system.

Passive stack fingerprinting:

Passive stack fingerprinting is stealthier and involves examining traffic on the network to determine the operating system. It uses sniffing techniques instead of scanning techniques. Passive stack fingerprinting usually goes undetected by an IDS or other security system but is less accurate than active fingerprinting.

Port Scan (Service detection):

Port scanning is used to gather information about a test target from a remote network location. Specifically, port scanners attempt to locate which network services are available for connection on each target host by probing each of the designated (or default) network ports or services on the target system.

In a broad approach Port scanning is the process of identifying open and available TCP/IP ports on a system. Port-scanning tools enable a hacker to learn about the services available on a given system. Each service or application on a machine is associated with a well-known port number. For example, a port-scanning tool that identifies port 80 as open indicates a web server is running on that system. Hackers need to be familiar with well-known port numbers.

Vulnerability scanning (finding the hole):

The primary distinction between a port scan and a vulnerability scan is that vulnerability scan attempt to exercise (known) vulnerabilities on their targeted systems, whereas port scan only produce an inventory of available services. That said the distinguishing factors between port and vulnerability scan are often times blurred.It is the automated process of proactively identifying vulnerabilities of computing systems in a network in order to determine if and where a system can be exploited and/or threatened. While public servers are important for communication and data transfer over the Internet, they open the door to potential security breaches by threat agents, such as malicious hackers. Vulnerability scanning employs software that seeks out security flaws based on a database of known flaws, testing systems for the occurrence of these flaws and generating a report of the findings that an individual or an enterprise can use to tighten the network's security. Vulnerability scanning typically refers to the scanning of systems that are connected to the Internet but can also refer to system audits on internal networks that are not connected to the Internet in order to assess the threat of rogue software or malicious employees in an enterprise.

Tools available for Scanning the BOX

Port Scanners: de-factor for port scanning is NMAP some more tools are available for port scanning are net cat, advance port scanner, super scan etc

Vulnerability scanners: de-facto standard for vulnerability scanning is Nessus some more tools are available for vulnerability scanning are GFI Languard, SARA, Shadow security scanner etc.

Spy Scanners - Don't Compromise your Privacy

2008-07-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

Spies, spyware, internet parasites are among what they are usually called. These are scouts that monitor your web activities. The work undercover to check on your surfing patterns, spending habits, items bought, they extract email addresses, hijack browsers, steal credit card information. These are just some of the things a spyware is capable of.

A spyware is mainly an information hungry parasite determined to gather data from a user or surfer without him knowing it.

The information gathered by these parasites are then sent to the originator without the users consent. Most often, the information gathered by the spyware are used to generate ads and pop-ups on the user’s PC.

Spywares and Adwares aside from being a nuisance and an invasion of privacy can also jeopardize the optimal performance of your PC. They can eat up unused disk spaces and position themselves in an inconspicuous location in your hard drive. They can also eat the bandwidth, crash your system and oftentimes inflict themselves in the Registry or in the memory of your computer.

Spyware and Adwares have become very rampant nowadays. Prevent yourself from being a victim of these by:

* Being careful of Freeware and Shareware Downloads

- Some of these downloads are tagged with spywares which may be unknown to the user. Refrain from downloading sharewares and freewares from unknown sources.

* Installing a good spyware/adware scanner and removal software

- There are a number of spyware scanner and/or removal softwares in the market today. A good spyware scanner can effectively locate all spywares installed on your PC and a good spyware removal tool can effectively remove all the spywares detected.

Spy Scanners are programs designed to detect spies in your PC. A good spy scanner can effectively search through the most unnoticeable embedded files that spy on you.

Most Spy scanners include a spyware removal function. Other spy scanners do not entail spyware removal features but display the logs of the spyware detected in your PC. The information in the logs contains the location and nature of the spywares.

For spy scanners with no built-in spyware removal functions, a manual deletion of the spyware files could also be done since the location and the file type is specified in the logs. Some Spy scanner products on the market today have spyware scan available for non-paying users and the removal tool available only for paying users.

Spy Scanners when installed can be chosen to run on demand or periodically.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Gina Marie Capatar is a Technical Writer by profession and writes articles for http://www.isnare.com, also accepts freelance writing jobs. feel free to drop by http://www.isnare.com or email her at gcapatar@gmail.com

The Importance of IT Alerting and IT Incident Handling

2008-06-17T02:29:00.000-07:00

In the Information Technology industry, immediate notification of critical events is essential. The Internet never sleeps, and neither do customers or employees in this age of global business and commerce. IT services must be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without exception. When a computer or email server goes down, it can mean the difference between a corporation closing that $1 million dollar deal or losing it, or between a small business making its 100th sale or losing it. In any business or organization that contains more than a handful of people, enterprise email and communications are essential tools that must be available at all times. Electronic shopping carts and informational websites also must have near-zero downtime in order to be successful and effective.

So how can IT professionals ensure that they are notified the instant an error occurs on one of their systems? IT alerting is the answer. A notification service can contain a database with all IT employees contact information, including email, home phone, cell phone, work phone, and instant message screen name. These individuals can be divided into groups and scenarios can be created based on what type of event occurs. Then, when an incident does occur, the appropriate person can be notified based on the severity of the event. If multiple servers go down and a company's main revenue-generating service becomes unavailable, then most like the Chief Technology Officer and his team as well as Customer Service, the CEO and other executives should be notified. If a single email server goes down or becomes overloaded, then only a lower IT technician would be notified in order to fix the relatively small problem.

IT incident handling can be made much simpler using a reliable notification service. If a major IT incident occurs, then IT professionals need to be reached no matter what time of day, no matter where they are. It is not guaranteed that an IT expert will be located in front of his computer, able to receive email, when an emergency occurs. That is why robust, customizable notification service is necessary-to be able to send a voice and text message to the IT professional at all of his or her contact points, including email, cell phone, home phone, work phone, instant message screen name, or BlackBerry PIN, and also to get word back from the employee in response to the message. This guarantees the fastest possible reaction to an unforeseen event.

Learn more about IT Alerting and IT Incident Handling

Web Applications Penetration Testing - Security Measures - Security Assessment

2008-06-11T05:31:00.000-07:00

1. Introduction

What is a web application? Why web applications are the first target for hackers? Why vulnerabilities occur in web applications? How we can make a web application a cure portal. As I understand a web application is a portal available on internet for the general public who can easily make use of it positively for different purpose or for the reason the web application exists. You must be aware, web applications are the easy target for hackers to gain access because it is publicly available, and a hacker needs to know only the name of the organization which he wants to hack. Vulnerability is the weakness or lack of control exists in the application. Vulnerabilities can be due to insecure programming in web applications, lack of access control places or configured, miss configuration of applications and server or due to any other reason, there is no limit.

There are many ways to harden your web application or your web server we will discuss this in a while. Let's see what are the key requirements which makes up a web application live?

a. Web Server

b. Application content displayed

c. And or databases

These are the key components of any web application.

Web server is a service which runs on the computer and serves of web content/application content. This server typically listen on port 80(http) or on port 443(https). There are many web servers which are freely available or commercial including top contributors

a. I.I.S by Microsoft

b. Apache by Open source community

c. Tomcat etc

Application content is what you see on the website, it can be dynamic or static, dynamic content containing web applications are at more risk as compare to static content containing web applications. Dynamic content containing web applications uses database to store the changing content. This database can be one of the following types.

a. MySql Server

b. SQL Sever

c. Oracle Server

d. MS Access or any other

We have discussed a lot on web application architecture now I will show you how to perform penetration on web application (what we say a Pen-test).

2. Information Gathering

Any pen-test can not be accomplished without performing the information gathering phase. This is the phase which is the heart of pen test, there are many ways to do information gathering lets discuss here.

a. Hacking with Search engines.

I would not list specific search engine which can be used in information gathering phase, there are lots of search engine which are more power full from which secret/confidential information can be gather. There are techniques which you can use to gather information on the target.

b. For example

You can use 'inurl:' in search engines to know what are the complete site map of the web portal, you can also use intitle: admin to gain access to the admin panel of the web portal, you can use inurl: Admin filetype: asp or aspx in order to search for admin login pages or simply you can lock for login page for any portal.

c. You can also look for the email address of the technical staff, email address shows the user id for that specific person

d. You can also use archives for more info to gather. This is the short list of the techniques, to explain more I would be writing a book

3. Attacks

Here I will explain you what are the major attacks which hackers use on web applications or the attacks which are dangerous for web applications. We will only discuss application level vulnerabilities and attacks.

a. Miss configuration? If you are a technical person your priority would be availability of your server, you should be asked by your senior management for the 100% up time of your server, this is the point where technical staff left security holes in the configuration just to make it live or in order to give 100% up time as directed. This miss configuration may lead to the compromise of the complete server.
Examples: default passwords, default settings for server, weaker passwords.

b. SQL Injection? A very high rated attack which can lead to complete web server compromise or complete administrative level access to hacker. SQL is a query language which programmers use for query the content from database in dynamic web applications. Many times a less experienced programmer left bugs in applications which if attacker discovered can be very harmful. SQL injection attacks occurs due weakness in input validation, insecure programming or due to insecure web application architecture. SQL inject can be used to by pass logins, gain admin level access, can be very harmful if a hackers gain access to admin logins. SQL Injection 'UNION' attack is commonly used in dynamic web applications penetration testing. There is more stuff which can be written on sql injection, I think this info is more than enough at this stage.

c. CSS/XSS (Cross site scripting)
XSS/CSS is a client side vulnerability which can be used in phishing attacks. Many hackers use XSS in order to gain secret information which can be credit card numbers, login passwords, private information and more. As XSS runs on client's browser hackers use to insert scripts in order to gather information from user. If XSS used in phishing attack it can be highly rated vulnerability.

4. Be Cure

To be cure complete assessment of web application should be performed in order to test the application and make it bug free, continuous testing should be maintained. Input validation should be implemented. Default configurations should be removed or changed, secure database connectivity should be maintained and in last directory listing on every directory should be turned off, file permissions should be reviewed, access rights need to be maintained.

5. Summary

This is the short article to develop awareness on web application security, what are the holes which can be used by hackers to do security breaches. These days there is a war on survivability of web applications. Is cure being long live?

article by Raheel Ahmad, CISSP

3 Tips To Remove Spyware From Your Computer For Free

2008-05-29T09:20:00.001-07:00

Your computer is the portal to the Internet. It allows you to speak to friends via email or instant messenger, to play games on or even to educate you or your children. However your computer is at risk the minute you browse on the Internet. All kinds of nasty files from spyware, adware, malware to computer viruses which are lurking to attack your computer, all without your knowledge. I am going to give you three easy to follow tips that will enable you to repel and remove spyware infections from your computer.

Tip No.1 - My first tip is to practice safe browsing techniques. This sounds obvious, although it is tempting to visit those sites that offer downloads and goodies for free. Most of the time they come with a price, infected files within the download itself.

So to prevent spyware files from being downloaded onto your computer in the first place, do only download legitimate files or programs from safe and trusted websites. If you are unsure then ensure you have the latest browser installed on your computer. Preferably you should be using Firefox as this can warn you if you are visiting a potentially 'dodgy' website.

Tip No.2 - You should ensure that you have an anti-spyware program that has an online guard contained within. Anti-spyware programs that remove spyware are great at removing infections, but that is all they can do remove after the infections has occurred.

The best way to combat spyware is to limit the amount of infectious files that will be able to infiltrate your computer. As this article is to help you remove spyware for free, then I can recommend two products at the time of writing this. The first program is Spyware Doctor. The free version does have a decent online guard. [The paid for version is slightly better, but the free version is a very good product in its own right]. The second program is Spyware Terminator. You will only need one of them not both.

Tip No.3 - My final tip is to run a regular scan of your computer with whatever anti-spyware program you use. Ensure that you also regularly update your anti-spyware program for the latest file definitions so the anti-spyware program can find the latest spyware that is released to attack your computer.

How regular you run your anti-spyware program is based on how much you use your computer. Once a week is fine if you use your computer frequently but to not to excess. Personally I run a scan every 2 days as I do use my computer every day. My computer is pretty clean.

Unless you are using a Macintosh or Linux based machine, it is near impossible to stop spyware from infecting your computer. However, by following the above tips you can reduce the amount of infectious spyware files get through your computer defences and cause you too much havoc.

Want to discover more tips and secrets that can speed up and protect your computer for free? Then check out my online blog at http://www.john-french.net

John French has been breaking, repairing and building computers for over 15 years. He has expertise in computer security and maintaining a healthy computer.

How A Computer Virus Works

2008-05-23T04:10:00.000-07:00

A virus is a small computer program designed to do mischief by destroying data, altering information or even sabotaging entire computer networks.

The computer virus was originally a concept of science fiction. It was used in David Gerrold's book When Harlie Was Once in 1972 and also in John Brunner's The Shockwave Rider in 1975.

The concept in John Brunner's science fiction novel was a worm, the computing equivalent of a parasitic tapeworm, generating new segments for itself in all machines of a network and therefore unstoppable. Although this type of program was beyond the capability of programmers at the time.

The figurative use of the word virus is based on the biological virus which multiples itself within an organism. So too a computer virus has the same ability to replicate itself in a computers system.

A virus spreads by burying itself deep within the computer's disk operating system (DOS). The DOS is a set of instructions coordinating the activities of the disk drive, the keyboard, the monitor and the CPU that performs the arithmetic and logic operations. The DOS must run every time the computer is turned on.

Viruses tend to sneak past many users of computers because the viruses, like legitimate programs, are written in a computer programming language, a type of code made up of letters, numbers and other keyboard. A programming code gives instructions to the computer "behind the screen" so that most users are never aware that their system has been breached. Until it is too late.

As well as infected legitimate software or the illegal copying of software sold on disks, viruses are transmitted through the internet.

Once a virus has been discovered it is easy to write a simple program to delete the virus. Creators of such viruses, however, can just as easily upgrade their viruses to override such a program. Furthermore, some viruses can change the characters in their code every time they reproduce, making it almost impossible to stop them.

The first real virus was the subject of a computer science experiment in November 1983, presented by Fred Cohen, a professor of computer science at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, to a seminar on computer security. He developed the first computer virus as part of his research on computer security for his doctoral thesis.

When Cohen introduced the concept to the seminar, the name virus was apparently suggested by Len Adleman.

According to Cohen, computer viruses are so easy to write that "anybody can do it". He said that it was possible in some programming languages to write a virus in as few as 11 characters.

By the second half of the eighties the virus had become a serious and prolific hazard to individual and corporate computer users; because the code copies itself into the computer's memory and then causes havoc, it became advisable to avoid using floppy discs which might conceivably contain a virus - freeware and discs supplied by clubs, for example.

In one famous incident, London's Royal National Institute for the Blind temporarily lost six months' worth of research after being attacked by a virus contained in files on a floppy disc. Considerable financial loss was suffered as a result of the epidemic, not to mention research time and valuable data.

The proliferation of viruses has seen the rise of a new business within the computer industry, the anti-virus. A number of software companies began to offer virus detection programs and 'good' viruses which could guard against threats.

Prevention is better than a cure: The best Antivirus Software available online free review

Protecting Your Website From Unethical Online Predators

2008-05-14T06:02:00.001-07:00

If you have ever created something from nothing you are a true artist. And you are most likely familiar with the feeling of contented satisfaction. Mix that with the excitement of being a powerful creator, and you may feel like this is your destiny. Whether it is a child, an oil painting or a novel it is as if you are presenting a little bit of you to the world.

The same feeling applies if you have created your own website. Particularly, if you have introduced an absolutely unique and patented product on this website. The web is such a wonderful window to the world. Reaching millions upon millions of people, what could be a better place to show off your "baby"?

Hold on, though. Before you get too excited, I urge you to take some very important precautions. If you were taking your baby home from the hospital, would you make sure that some details are in place first? Of course, you would! You probably would get yourself a crib, some disposable diapers, formula, a car seat, etc.

Well, you should have an appropriate safety checklist for your website, as well. You will need certain details taken care of to protect your site from the greedy, unseen predators that stalk around cyberspace. If you don't you could wind up losing what you spent so much time and money to build.

How do I know? Because it recently happened to me. So before you do anything else, stop, and read this very carefully. I am here to give you a heads up when it comes to protecting your website.

I manufacture and distribute an electronic fireflies product with my partner, Mark. Since 2003 we have sold this cool gadget as "a certain name". In 2004 another website popped up selling their version of the electronic firefly-their fireflies are stagnant lights that only blink, and do not move (like Christmas Lights on their last legs). For their uninspired product, they selected a url that was similar to the one that we were using at the time. This was fine with us, we just looked at it as healthy competition. And we felt that our product was uniquely different (our fireflies actually moved), so we would always have a healthy flow of customers.

So what does our competition do? 5 years later ( in January 2008) this business trademarks the exact name that were using to sell our product. They proceed to hire a lawyer, and file a claim to have our website transferred to them. This unscrupulous business was not content with their current profitable situation, they wanted more. And they were determined to take it.

Not once did they try to contact us in the 5 years we have been online. The only communication they initiated to us was to inform us that they were planning on stealing our website. We filed the response ourselves (lawyers cost too much!) to the National Arbitration Forum, confident with our overwhelming evidence. This was probably not wise, since their lawyer was obviously much more schooled in the domain registry law lingo. This was our second mistake. Our first mistake was not having our name trademarked from the get-go. We were naive to think that there were such unethical predators slinking around. We lost our PR 4 website and now our customers are left not knowing where to find us. Despite all that, we have bounced back under a new name...and yes, it is trademarked.

Do not let this happen to you. Keep in mind that Mark and I had our original website protected under copyright laws since 2003. We clearly used the name that our competitors wound up stealing from us; this is why we did not think we needed a lawyer. Copyright laws clearly state, material that is marked as copyrighted is protected. Under these federal laws, the descriptive works (whether is fireflies or socks) is yours, and no one has the right to take that from you. This is why we did not hire a lawyer...clearly we would win. Well, we did not. Apparently a trademark trumps a copyright, even if it is implemented in an unethical way.

When things like this happen, I always try to look at the bright side. I know our loyal customers will find us, and karma will take care our greedy competitors (can't escape the law of attraction!). And I also know whomever reads this article will spread the word, and learn from our unfortunate mistakes. Be prosperous and keep safe.

Kim McGinnis is a freelance writer/entrepreneur. She co-owns Avenstar Enterprises, Inc with her partner, Mark. One of her many websites features her amazing Zen Fireflies. The only electronic fireflies product on the market that actually MOVE. Come see for yourself at http://www.ZenFireflies.com

Spam The Spammer - Will It Work?

2008-05-08T00:09:00.000-07:00

Spam is everywhere. It’s the “in-box lunch meat” nobody likes, wants or looks forward too. Unfortunately, many folks enjoy “eating” this product because if they didn’t, there wouldn’t be any. Read on…

The federal government’s ill-conceived CAN-SPAM Act did little more than make a few legislators feel better about themselves. Did this legislation stop spam? No. Did it at least slow down the flow of spam? Nope.

You can’t eliminate a problem by treating the symptoms. If you want to eradicate a problem, you must make its environment one that will not support it.

There’s a new plan recently hatched by some well-intentioned folks at Blue Security that several of my clients have asked about. On the surface, it sounds like a good idea but, in my humble opinion, the model is fatally flawed. Here’s the scoop…

1. You sign up for their "list" which is basically a "do not spam me list" and that gives them the authorization to act on your behalf.

2. You then have to send EACH spam message to them for inclusion on their list.

3. They then send the spammer a "stop order" (which, if they can even find the spammer, will be ignored).

4. They then flood the spammer with basically a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack hoping to bring down the spammer's server.

This all sounds great until you think about it rationally...

1. Spammers use "open relays" and hundreds of addresses to prevent you from finding their originating location.

2. The "stop order" they send is just their way of fulfilling the letter of the law under the CAN-Spam act.

3. The part I have the biggest problem with is they then effectively BECOME A SPAMMER by sending thousands of messages in a Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDoS). This is the same thing hackers do when they bring down a website by sending so much traffic to a server it basically shuts down.

4. Most spam is sent from your neighbor's PC. I spend a great amount of my time cleaning “bad guys” from client’s computers. There are MILLIONS of "zombie computers" that are infected with auto-dialers and trojans that are being used without the owner's knowledge to send spam. Don’t believe me? Just run Counter Spy on grandma’s PC and tell me what you find!

5. How long do you really think it will be until the spammers turn the tables on Blue Security and initiate their own DDoS attack? It will be interesting to watch.

Other fight-back tactics against spammers have failed in the past. Last year, Lycos Europe rolled out a screensaver that conducted DDoS attacks against known spammers. Within days, however, Lycos buckled under pressure from security groups, which called it vigilantism, and ISPs who worried that attacks originating from their members would make them liable to legal action on the part of spammers.

Spam will NEVER go away until you attack its real source engine. If you don't order anything from a spammer and don't even click on his link to open the message, the monetary incentive for spam is removed. Spammers operate under the same economic rules as the rest of us...supply and demand.

Take away the demand and you eliminate the supply. Simple.

Allan Gunnneson is the CEO of Gunner Web Group (http://www.gunnnerweb.com), a website design and marketing company based in Kansas.

Online reprint rights granted as long as the article is published in its entirety, including links (http://www.gunnerweb.com).