We strongly recommend that all
members of our email discussion list install anti-virus protection! Here’s a
how-to!
Tips for Safe and Prudent Online Computing
By
Duane Eaton (USA) and Robin Chapple (Australia)
Revision Date: August 15, 2003
(NOTE: This information is provided as suggestions
on how to try to keep you and your computer safe on the Internet. The information is the personal opinion of
the authors with no explicit guarantee implied. Programs change so fast that some of this information could be
outdated before it even gets published on our web site! Like everything else, you should always get
more than one opinion. SAFE COMPUTING!)
Welcome to the email list of Victoria-Adventure! You will quickly find that there is a wealth of information available for you here from your fellow pond fanatics. If you have a question, all you have to do is post to the list and get ready for some friendly help. BUT, your involvement with us puts all of us in the Internet world at risk. It is very important for all of us that you please keep in mind the critical need for email security.
The following information is a kind of “Internet Security 101” and we hope that you will carefully read it. The truly critical information is covered at the beginning and discusses anti-virus software. Practicing “safe computing” is what is so critical for all us. Simply by having the email address for Victoria Adventure list on your computer is enough to allow a virus to send itself out to all of us.
The
recent instances of virus appearing with incoming mail has been around for some
time. There are vandals out there in cyberspace who have automated systems that
can “harvest” email addresses, use them as fakes in the “From” slot in the
header and perform all sorts of other nasties. So the malevolent email
you receive is probably NOT from the person who is shown as the sender. For that reason, most anti-virus and ISP
companies do not even notify the sender when they detect an email with a
virus-infected attachment.
This is a reminder to us all that we should ensure that our subject lines are relevant and meaningful because this is usually an indication that the email is tainted.
We all have to defend our selves against these problems in much the same way as we lock our homes and cars to prevent unauthorized entry. Personally, I am a huge fan of Norton’s Internet Security 2003. The program not only protects your computer but also scans all incoming AND outgoing email for any viruses. (I switched to Norton from McAfee because at the time, McAfee did not scan outgoing email. I am not familiar with the current features of McAfee.)
WARNING: Just having an anti-virus software does NOT mean that you are fully protected! In order to be fully protected, you have to keep updating the data files for your anti-virus program. Most programs have features that automatically do this on a weekly basis. I have heard from some “computer geek” friends that weekly updates are not enough, that you should manually do it at least every other day. One computer repair person said that he even updates his program daily.
I used to work as an office manager for an insurance company with agents spread all over south Texas. I asked everybody if 1) they had anti-virus software and 2) was it updated. Everybody proudly confirmed that they had the necessary program installed. When I then asked if they kept it updated, several of them shockingly said that they had not updated it several years and didn’t know that you were supposed to. YES! Hackers are out there constantly writing new viruses. Anti-virus companies try as hard as they can to keep up and keep us protected. They do that by constantly updating their own files – which they give you free for one year.
Everyone should have an anti virus application and should keep it up to date. Equally, sending warnings of a virus attack serves no purpose because by the time it is received it is probably too late. Many of these warnings exhort you to send to everyone in your address book. Don't do it. The only advice is to delete the email and update your protection regularly.
Another danger exists in the mail that invites you to send an email to be removed from their mailing list. This is usually a fraud and the only advantage is to the sender because he finds that he has a genuine email address if you do reply.
Another equally inane problem is the chain letter. "Send this to five friends ..... etc ....etc" This should be ignored. It is adding clutter to the Internet at the most generous perspective!
The bogus mail and spam can be detected with a mail washer. This has to be formatted over a ten to fourteen day period. It allows you to read the message headers on your ISP server before you download and it will then remove unwanted mail without you having to read it. The instruction advise that it be set to delete and bounce but bouncing is a two edged sword and my advice is merely to delete and it will always delete. I use both the features within Norton’s Internet Security 2003 and Outlook Express to route undesirable email to the its proper place.
The last nasty out there are programs that settle on your machine and send details back to their base without you being aware. They track your Internet surfing habits, reporting back what sites that you visit. Their purpose is to then customize the Internet advertising that you see based upon the sites that you visit. While it might sound nice in concept, do you really want somebody watching every Internet site that you visit?
And then once you install the software, often times it can be very difficult to remove it. Simply following the standard software removal procedure just does not work. And guess what? It’s designed to be difficult for you to remove!
These programs are usually bundled together with some “free” program that you are happily getting ready to download. After all, “free” IS good, right? Not necessarily so!
Four programs in particular that you should think twice about before you install them are as follows:
Bonzi Buddy
Comet Cursor
Gator
GoHip
Of the four, Comet Cursor and Gator are probably the two most common. In fact, Gator even has other names that it goes by, and you can download one of their programs and not even realize it unless you carefully looked at the company behind the program that you are downloading. Yes, you really must read the fine print in those install instructions!
If you do have one of these programs and would like to get rid of it, following are links to the company sites for their removal instructions:
Bonzi Buddy: http://www.bonzi.com/support/bdyremove.htm#remove
Comet Curosor: http://cometcursor.cometsystems.com/uninstaller_program.asp
Gator: http://www.gator.com/help/gatortrouble/p_alluninstall.html
Go Hip: http://www.gohip.com/remove_browser_enhancement.html
So here is an advice list:
For Virus protection:
The best known company is:
http://www.symantec.com.au/
There is an excellent article by one of my MelbPC Help Desk Colleagues at:
http://member.melbpc.org.au/~mully/index.htm
Check out the web site http://www.my-etrust.com/
-
Grisoft's AVG is available free from http://www.grisoft.com/
with no support other than a FAQ area on site and a mailing list to keep you
informed of the latest viruses.
Or check out other free software and information from a member at
http://www.alphalink.com.au/~oleary/Virus/virus1.htm
There is also VET, from www.vet.com.au .
Another good one is NOD32 from www.nod32.com.au
.
FIREWALLS
Is Your Data at Risk?
A growing number of profit-driven hackers have learned that the surest way to your organization's assets is to target your unprotected PCs - in particular, remote access and wireless networked PCs - with a custom-coded attack.
Targeted hacker attacks are increasing at an alarming rate, becoming the most costly and devastating type of enterprise security breach.
Microsoft’s Windows XP comes with a built in firewall but it may not be enabled. I have heard that their firewall is NOT very good. McAfee and Norton both have firewall software. Time magazine once listed BlackIce as one of the best firewalls to have.
You can get a
free firewall from Zone Alarm at
http://www.zonealarm.com/. Remember though, that your program is only
as good as what you pay for!
Unwanted adverts and SPYWARE
There is a great free program "Ad-Aware" at http://www.lavasoft.nu/index.html
to find and remove all spy-ware. Its database is regularly updated and it has a
separate stand-alone component "Ad-Watch" that watch over any new
installation, whether the SW tries to install any of the known spy-ware
programs.
They certainly deserve some support, especially since their free version is really free, it doesn't annoy with pop-ups and begging reminders, it just runs and doesn't bother.
If you use the "Ad-Watch" companion of "Ad-Aware" and have it running in the systray, it catches the spyware BEFORE it installs itself. It prompts if some program tries to install itself quietly without using the "Windows Installer" which is transparent indeed, so "Ad-Watch" won't interfere with normal installations.
Mail Washing
http://www.mailwasher.net
MailWasher is the easiest way to check and manage your e-mails before you
download them. It is a powerful email checker with effective spam elimination.
Discover the safe way to stop unwanted viruses and e-mails before they get to
your computer. No gimmicks here, it is
so easy to set up and use that you'll be managing your email like a pro in
seconds. It can even be used as an effective privacy tool.
The Internet can be a wonderful place. But we must use it in a safe and practical manner. With using some of the guidelines, hopefully you can enjoy it to it full potential. That is all they are – guidelines for your benefit.
Safe computing!
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