Internet Crime!
Protecting Ourselves Better.
December 5th 2007
Don’t you
just hate way it seems that everybody’s out to get their hands on our hard
earned cash these days? If it’s not the threat of somebody rummaging through
our dustbin trying to piece together our old bills, it’s some lowlife trying to
copy our credit card's chip and pin number when we're shopping. When they’re not
trying to empty our bank account, they’re trying steal can steal our identity so
they can get credit and set up accounts in our name.
So we buy a blooming great
cross cut shredder to mince up all our old bills and stand watch over our cards
like a Marine on guard duty whenever we make a purchase or buy petrol, making
sure the card’s always in sight and the suspicious young blighter in the hood
behind us knows that we’ve clocked him. But even when WE do everything we can,
we get discs going missing with some of our personal details on. It seems
the threat is all around us and to be honest, it is and it is growing. More and
more these days, it’s the mixed assault and threat that we have to protect
ourselves from and not just one specific problem. We are informed that our
identity and our financial details are put together like a jigsaw by criminals
over the internet and all over the world waiting for the final piece to fall
into place.
And then of course we have
our home computer. They're all out to get us. Viruses, Trojans, Spyware, Spam
email, Hackers, rogue websites, fraud emails, confidence tricksters. The list is
endless.
Over three years ago, I
wrote to all my customers about the ever increasing problems of internet crime,
viruses and the (then) new bug on the block, Spyware. At the time it was getting
pretty serious and the increase in viruses for home users and small business was
marked compared to previous years. One of the main problems back then was rogue
dialler virus that took over the old fashioned modem connection and forced it
through a hi rate 0900 telephone link and several of my customers got stung
badly when they received their phone bill. The good news is that the onset of
Broadband in our area “did away” with the problem as people converted, but
unfortunately, it was quite minor compared to the threats we face today, and the
faster always on broadband connection brings its own problems like volume of
sites visited and the opportunity to download bigger files more often.
But we CAN protect ourselves
from web crime better both individually and as a group. In my opinion, it’s a matter of
using a little common sense, making sure that we listen to and take on board the latest advice available and
and try never let our guards down.
So for this newsletter, I’m
going to try and list as simply as I can the Dos and Don’ts of using your
computer on the internet. Some of the stuff will be new to you and some of it I
may have previously covered to some degree, but I feel that this is a slightly
easier more relative slant and it will be good for you to have a one page
reference. Clicking on a
blue link
will take you to the product that is being discussed website .
Do
make your online passwords hard to
second guess and change them occasionally. Passwords are an important way to
protect ourselves from the would be threat of internet theft and fraud. Large
concerns like banks usually have their own minimum standards when it comes to
internet passwords and security but nowadays many people register online with
several other services like gas, electric, telephone and water or purchase goods
online but I’m often informed that some of us use the same simple password for
everyone and everything and this is a major threat to your security. It is vital
that you use a totally different password for every one of your online accounts
and that you also make them hard to second guess because criminals will pool
information from many different sources. One website site might contain a bit of
your personal details like date of birth and another might contain your
favourite colour or mothers maiden name and it all becomes part of the identity
or theft jigsaw.
It is important that your password is lengthy,
in my opinion 10 characters or more (I use 14-16), and that you use numbers as
well as letters and try to mix UPPER and lower case. For instance
the ten digit password “CoMpuTeR12” is better then “computer12”. You can also
include symbols like $ or £ in your password. Of course the hardest passwords to
second guess are the ones that don’t relate to anything or anyone and so it’s
important that you keep a safe copy of all of them as you’ll never be able to
remember them all. For obvious reasons, don’t leave any passwords that you’ve
stored on paper near your PC if you’re not around. I’d also just use a prompt
next to each password and not the full name of the website it refers to. For
instance Amazon might just be AZ. If your computer were to be stolen, the paper
password list would enable you to go online at a friend or family member’s house
and change all your important passwords immediately or get them to do it one
your behalf over the phone. You can check the potential strength and weaknesses
of your password on Microsoft’s own site by clicking
Password Checker
Do
take advantage of any extra security
available if you use your credit card or debit cards online. For
instance, many cards now have an option to enter a second username and password
before an online transaction is complete and you can set this up with your card
provider.
Do
make sure that when the time comes to
dispose of your old PC, all your personal files are cleaned off
thoroughly as these can also fall into the hand of criminals. Computers by their
very nature store your information over time and the hard drive is where they
are kept. Just deleting the obvious files is not enough as many important files
are hidden from the average user and even deleted files can be recovered using
specialist programs. Even if you plan to give you old PC to a friends or family,
it may still eventually end up in the wrong hands and so the only effective way
of protecting your files is to totally destroy the hard drive or if you plan to
pass it on, have it professionally cleaned to NSA standard.
Do
make sure if you use a wireless router,
the signal is encrypted by so that the only people who can use it are you and
your family. You can read more about this subject by clicking
Wireless Networks
Do make
sure you have a good up to date antivirus program on your computer.
Computer Viruses weaken your computer’s resistance to infection just
like they real ones do to us. One infection can pave the way for other different
types and at best they can cause a nuisance problem and at worst, they may
access you personal details.
Trojans are a type of virus that
acts like the Trojan horse in Helen of Troy’s time. They can be downloaded on
the back of a seemingly safe or entertaining file often through programs that
our children may use like LimeWire. Often, there is no sign of a problem or
infection and they lie in wait, just like Achilles and his troops did inside the
real Trojan horse ready to pounce. Very often these days, it’s your personal
data that they’re after. Again a good Antivirus is needed to detect them.
Worms are self replicating
viruses that can spread via email form person to person often collecting details
of their address book and contacts on the way. A good antivirus will again help
prevent and remove the infection but “round robin” joke emails are a common
source of initial infection amongst my customers. If it has expired, it will
give you no protection against any newer virus just like having last year’s flue
jab wouldn’t protect us from this year’s outbreak. I use AVG and MacAfee on my
computers and both do the job very well. AVG also offer a 6 month trial version
that you can download. Only one antivirus must be installed on your computer at
any one time as they will clash with one another.
Do run an
anti-spyware program. Spyware is sometimes just used to collect people’s
surfing and shopping habits but it is also used to collect you personal data and
even as a means of downloading Trojans. The more sophisticated full internet
security programs now scan for Spyware as well as Viruses etc, but if yours
doesn’t I recommend you Download
Spybot or
Ad-Aware which are free by clicking
the links and also Microsoft's
Windows Defender but be warned, Microsoft will check that your computer has
a valid copy of Windows before you can down load this free program and it will
only work on XP. Windows Vista users will already have Defender installed. I can
only personally recommend these three programs and some “free” ones to be found
on the net are in fact bogus rogue programs. Unlike an Antivirus, you can have
more then one Spyware program but I’d stick with either of the first two
mentioned plus windows own Defender.
Do
make sure you have a Firewall. There
are two types of firewall, software and hardware. Software programs are
integrated with your Windows software and hardware one (like wireless routers
and hubs) are stand alone units. They block hackers and rogue programs from
accessing your computers files and also, if a rogue program gets onto you
computer, it will try to block it from accessing the internet to divulge your
personal details. Windows XP and Vista have built in firewalls and all the full
internet security software packages have a firewall in them. It is good to have
a hardware firewall like a router in addition to a software firewall as you’re
getting double the protection but never install or enable two software firewalls
as just like the antivirus programs, they will spend more time fighting each
other then hackers.
Hackers are people or their programs that
illegally try to gain access to your computer system for self gain, mischief or
to pass on your personal details.
Do
make sure that you have an anti-Spam program
on your PC. Spam are unwanted emails sent out in bulk on a regular basis
either to force their unrequested products to people’s attention or for
malicious purposes often carrying a virus in their attachments. If you use
webmail, you must rely on your internet service providers help block them but if
you use Outlook 2002 and later or the new Windows Mail that comes with Vista,
they have built in ant-Spam filters. If you use (as most of my customers do)
“Outlook Express”, you need to have a separate spam filter and they usually come
as part the full internet security software packages, but if you’ve not got one
there’s a very good Spam blocker for Outlook Express called SPAMfighter Standard
and you can download it by clicking on the ad at the top of the page. You can
download the standard edition for free or the Professional edition on a month’s
trial.
Do
make sure that the anti-Phishing filter
is switched on if you’re using internet Explorer 7 (the latest version) or its
part of your security package. Phishing is the act of tricking someone into
giving them confidential information or tricking them into doing something that
they normally wouldn’t do by setting up a bogus website or sending a bogus email
that looks like it’s come from your bank or some other reputable body. If your
computer is too old or your antivirus software is too basic to have a Phishing
filter, then please be extras diligent with your emails and surfing the
internet.
Do
try to use the safer Google search on
this website especially if your computer knowledge is quite basic or you have
younger family members that use your computer. It will never be 100% safe as
things change so rapidly and problem websites appear all the time on the
internet, but it will reduce your chances of you and your family accidentally
coming across a malicious site or picking up a
virus.
Don’t
open unknown email attachments and never respond to a mail that is asking
you to update your banking details online. A bank would never ask you for this
information out of the blue and any unsolicited attempt to get your details
should be ignored.
Don’t
fall for the “free” download scam. Many
free downloads come with viruses attached. I will always try to inform and
advise you about any good free products available like AVG Free, Spybot and
SPAMfighter standard, and if in doubt, please email me first and I’ll check it
out for you.
Don't buy anything off the internet
from an unknown website that you may have stumbled across. Only purchase
from bespoke suppliers or ones that friends and family have used and can
categorically recommend to you.
Don’t
allow unknown CD’s, floppy disks or memory
sticks to be run on your machine. They may have been infected by somebody
else’s computer.
Don’t
forget that even if other members of your family have their own log on when
going onto the computer, if they catch a Virus or Trojan, then so will you
and it could be one that threatens your privacy and identity. It’s just as
important to educate your family on these problems as it is yourself. as I have
mentioned before, I recommend that if you use your computer for business,
internet banking or other financial purposes, whenever
it's possible or practical you give younger members of your family their own computer.
I would then
password protect the access to your yours own computer as often I find that
children of a certain age do not appreciate the consequences of their actions.
If they are very young, there are programs like Net Nanny to help protect them
from unwanted websites.
And Finally…
Don’t
forget to spread the word for the
need for more vigilance on amongst your friends and family. Please encourage
your contacts to use my website for reference and its safer search if you think
it will help you and yours fight the internet bad guys. The more people in your
internet circle that are aware of the potential problems and take appropriate
action to protect themselves (and their own contacts), the less likely it is
that one of their emails will pose a threat to you, and this rule applies whether
they live in Barlborough, Bristol or Bermuda.
Thank you
for taking the time to read this newsletter and I hope that you found it useful.
There is no quick fix when it comes to internet security and nothing is 100%
because things are changing all the time, but if you take even some of it
onboard, you will reduce the chance of you and yours of becoming a victim.
Graham
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