Archive for the ‘Security’ Category
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
This article was originally posted in January of this year (here on JumpstartMyPC.com) but, as I pointed out in the article the first time, some topics need to be revisited regularly. Several recent events, including a comment from a reader and some trouble with my own credit card prompted me to post this article once more.
A strong password, by definition, is a password that is both complex AND secure (contains numbers, letters, and special characters that do not include personal information such as name or birth date). We should all be using these types of passwords to protect ourselves from potential hackers and thieves, but the sad truth is that most of us are still taking the easy way out. These easy passwords are about as effective as NBC’s late night talk show programming strategy.
Although we like to cover a different topic almost every day, there are some topics that are worth covering again and again. Of course, our favorite is PC maintenance, but we do have a few others up our sleeve. Today, thanks to a recent white paper released by Imperva, we find ourselves once again talking about strong passwords and why you should use them.
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Tags: Imperva, Password, secure, Security, strong
Posted in Security, Tips and Tricks | 4 Comments »
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
March Madness kicks into high gear today, March 18th, 2010, with the first games taking place at 12:20 PM EST. From now until the end of March, millions of fans will tune in to watch as the field of 65 teams quickly dwindles down to the famous Final Four. During this ten day stretch, many of the games will take place during traditional “work hours,” forcing a majority of the fans to turn to the internet for schedules, updates, scores and even FREE live streaming of the games. Unfortunately, criminals and hackers are aware of this increased interest and have turned their malware all the way to 11 to take advantage of unsuspecting basketball fans.
As with any other spike in a particular search topic/interest, the criminally minded will attempt to capitalize on the frenzy surrounding this event by bullying their way into your search results and (with any luck) your computer. Many fans will be rushing to news sites and unfamiliar web sites to find out how their favorite team is doing and, in this rush, users might not be focused on the security of their computer. A great article, titled Don’t Let Malware Score This March, was posted by Lockergnome yesterday afternoon. The blog post points out the potential dangers facing fans and offers up a solution for the problem (WinPatrol Plus). While this software might be a great solution, I am unfamiliar with it and I see that it will run you $29.95. So, I thought I would bring you some of my own suggestions on preventing Malware Madness this March.
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Tags: Final Four, Firewall, Madness, Malware, March, McAfee, Scans, TrustedSource, Updates, web of trust, Windows, WOT
Posted in Free Programs, Security, Tips and Tricks | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
That old computer has made it’s final stand. You’ve tried everything to speed it up and exhausted yourself in the process. The day has come to upgrade to a shiny, new PC with all of the bells-n-whistles that will (hopefully) keep you chugging along the information super highway for the next few years. When you get that new desktop/laptop computer up and running and transfer all of your data over, you’ll have another big decision to make… What do you do with your old computer?
A quick search of the internet will provide you with tens, maybe even hundreds, of ideas for re-purposing an old PC, but time, space and/or a limited budget will lead most to the final decision of trashing that old PC. If you’ve come to this decision, then you have most likely asked yourself (and others) “what should I do with the hard drive?” No doubt you have heard the horror stories and rumors of information stolen from discarded drives and are aware of the potential dangers of simply tossing that hard drive out on the curb. Just in case you haven’t, you should know that throwing an old drive out is the equivalent of tossing out your wallet, with all of your credit cards and ID still in it.
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Tags: destroy, discard, disk, Hard Drive, information, personal, secure, Storage, wipe, wiping, zero-fill
Posted in PC Support, Security, Tips and Tricks | 8 Comments »
Monday, March 1st, 2010
Are you a parent? Are you a teacher? Are you concerned about the well-being and education of our children? Do you know what computer classes are being taught at your elementary, junior high and high schools? Many of us can answer yes to one of the first 3 questions, but that 4th one…. You might be aware that there are classes, but what is being taught? The sad truth is, not much.
A recent study by the National Cyber Security Alliance titled 2010 State of Cyberethics, Cybersafety, and Cybersecurity Curriculum in the U.S. indicated that less than 25% of our students are being taught about safety on the internet (social networks, scams, fraud, safe passwords) and more than 75% of teachers reported receiving less than 6 hours of professional development on these topics. This basically means that one quarter of the children of America are being taught by untrained professionals about the dangers of computers and the internet. Very scary numbers. I think that a similar poll of American adults would reveal the same lack of understanding, so who is going to educate these young minds?
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Tags: children, cyber, education, ethics, Malware, parents, Passwords, safety, Security, students
Posted in Security, Tips and Tricks | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
I recently stumbled onto a blog from Panda Security that focuses on “emerging threats” on the internet. Typically, with this kind of site or blog, the terminology and explanations are a bit over my head. Shockingly, the authors of the PandaLabs blog have managed to relay information on these threats in bite-sized, easy to understand articles that I don’t mind reading. When a threat is uncovered, they write a blog post with the information, including screen shots and a few details about the threat and then update their Twitter and Facebook accounts. I follow them on Twitter and now I have a better feel for what is going on in the ever-changing threat landscape.
If you are interested in this type of information, I strongly urge you to follow PandaLabs. However, I know how busy most people are and that they probably haven’t scheduled much time for following the latest malware threats of the world, so I plan on using Panda Security as a resource and relaying the information to you via the JumpstartMyPC.com blog.
Tags: Amazon, greeting card, Malware, Panda Security, PandaLabs, Security, Threat
Posted in Security | No Comments »
Friday, February 19th, 2010
Browsing the internet should be easy! Unfortunately, with all of the toolbars, icons, labels and preloaded bookmarks of the most used internet browsers (IE, Firefox) your viewable space can get a bit messy. If you have found yourself a bit overwhelmed by the “clutter” that has accumulated within your browser or simply want to see more of the web pages you are browsing, we have something for you. Welcome to JumpstartMyFirefox! We’re going to show you how to take your browser from A to B.
Over the past few years, Firefox add-ons have grabbed my attention more and more. Each time I found myself with a browsing need or problem, a quick Google search led me to a solution using add-ons, which are basically mini-programs that work within Firefox to customize some part of the browsing experience. I have installed and tested many add-ons during that time and today I bring you my own collection, titled JumpstartMyFirefox, to help you take back your browser.
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Tags: add-ons, bookmarks, Browser, Firefox, Google, secure, Security, streamline, web of trust, WOT
Posted in Firefox, Free Programs, Security, Tips and Tricks | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
“Malware Peddlers Look to Exploit Olympic Luge Tragedy“ That is the title of an article posted on mashable.com yesterday. Yes, the sad truth is that cyber-criminals are using a man’s death to find a way into your computer and your wallet. Many were interested in the details of the Winter Olympic tragedy and, in their search to find the video of the accident in question, were tricked into installing malicious software on their computer.
Scams like these are becoming more and more common. As PC and internet users we have just a few choices. We can avoid using the internet completely (not likely) or arm ourselves with the right tools to prevent malware attacks, spyware trickery, phishing scams, etc. Anti-virus and anti-malware programs can detect and prevent most malicious software when it gets to your computer, but what about preventing this malware from ever getting to you. This is where My Web of Trust (WOT) comes in.
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Tags: malicious, Malware, My Web of Trust, Olympics, safe, scam, surfing, threats, WOT
Posted in Firefox, Free Programs, Security, Tips and Tricks | 1 Comment »
Monday, February 15th, 2010
It isn’t as if we needed another reason to perform regular maintenance on our computers, but a recent development in the world of Windows XP has proven our point once again. A recent article on engadget.com, titled Windows XP patch fiasco gets even crazier, Microsoft now scrambling for solutions, indicates that some recent Windows XP security patches resulted in BSODs (that’s Blue Screen of Death) for a small group of PC users. We’ll quickly give you the rundown on this development and show you how to prevent the issue on your PC.
First thing’s first: if you have a yellow shield in your system tray (the icon that indicates a Microsoft update is available for your PC) don’t update just yet. This goes against everything we have ever told you here on JumpstartMyPC.com, but it’s OK just this once. Why? Microsoft recently reported that existing malware on a “limited number” of computers caused those machines to blue-screen when the update was applied. There is a technical explanation for all of this (available in the engadget article), but all we really need to know is that our PCs must cleansed of any malware before any updates are applied. Microsoft has already “yanked” the patch, but some of you might have already downloaded the files without knowing it.
Tags: anti-malware, Blue Screen of Death, BSOD, Malware, Malwarebytes, Spybot Search and Destroy, Update, Updates, Windows, XP, Yellow Shield
Posted in Free Programs, Security, Technical Issues, Tips and Tricks | 2 Comments »
Friday, January 29th, 2010
As the title says “Don’t Panic!!” Instead, it is time to read up, comprehend and act to protect yourself from the latest epic security threat of 2010, titled Aurora. In the following paragraphs, we will explain (in easy to follow terms) what Aurora is, why you should care and what you should do next. Do not stop reading now! If you read even one of our articles from start to finish this year, this should be the one.
The internet has become a hostile place and it is up to you to protect yourself from the threats and attacks that WILL appear from time to time. The information and tools are there. You must simply educate yourself and be willing to invest a little time. A Threat Analyst (someone who studies these types of malicious attacks) recently posted a great comment on one of our articles that sums it up “Sorry folks, the internet isn’t very safe anymore. The moose out front should have told you.”
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Tags: Adobe Acrobat, Attack, Aurora, IE, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Threat, Update, Updates, Zero-Day
Posted in Security, Tips and Tricks | 1 Comment »
Monday, January 25th, 2010
Unemployment and financial desperation have struck our country and for many, crime might be the only way to put food on the table. The local news, relatives and friends will tell you to protect yourself by keeping your doors locked, watching your wallet/purse and paying attention to your surroundings. This is all sound advice, but it is also the thinking of 15 years ago, before the internet. Today, criminals have gotten smarter and now it is time for you to do the same.
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Tags: Clickjacking, Criminals, e-Mail, Facebook, firewalls, Flash Drives, scams
Posted in Security, Tips and Tricks, Viruses | 1 Comment »
