Archive for the ‘Computer Security Service’ Category

Submitted by: Sara Chambers

These days, computers are almost as common in households as telephones. Computers themselves do not cause any threat to individual security. When connected with networks and the chaos that is the World Wide Web, computers have become the tools that identity thieves and hackers use to extrapolate this chaos. In order to establish computer security, software companies have created devices to ward off the hazards and hassles of viruses, spyware, pop-ups and spam.

The first of these creations is anti-virus software. There are two main companies that offer this software: McAfee and Norton. These programs work to scan the files on your computer and check them for attributes that are in viruses or are often linked with viruses. These traits or attributes are often called virus definitions and need to be downloaded on a relatively regular basis. In addition to the files on your computer, files on CDs, floppy discs and e-mails can and should be filed. There is no question on this one: anti-virus software is vital to computer security.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H87Yxc4p-C8[/youtube]

Next on the list is spyware scanning software. Spyware occurs when certain websites run programs in the back ground of your computer while gleaning information from it. The information can be as benign as tracking what type of websites you look at, to actually acquiring passwords. Regardless of the type of spyware, it can slow your computer to a crawl and needs to be removed from your computer. Two popular software options are Spy Sweeper and Ad-ware.

Last, but certainly not least are pop-up blockers and span filters. Not only are pop-ups and spam annoying, but these often contain the spyware scanning software explained above. In addition, they can slow your computer down incredibly. And when you are angry at your computer, your computer is not secure!

In addition to these software items, there are a few more tricks you can use to keep your computer and your information secure. Password secure everything you can, and when you create the passwords, don t make them easy. Do not use your name, your birthday or your social security number. And, if you are on an unsecured wireless network, do not check your bank statements. These networks allow several people on them at one time. Remember, hackers are smart. You have to be smarter!

About the Author: Sara Chambers is a marketing consultant and an internet content manager for

computersecurityblog.com

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=28197&ca=Computers+and+Technology

Pc Security At Glance

Submitted by: Vladimir Petrov

Executives at small to mid-sized businesses that we have surveyed state that one of their top technology concerns continues to be security and privacy. Small to mid-sized businesses store vital data: client files, accounting records, corporate records, email communications, and more. Failing to back up this data or keep it secure can ruin a business.

Most small to mid-sized businesses have taken essential steps to consider security and privacy in all that they do. And still, they wonder if they are doing the right things. This article highlights the four biggest issues that small to mid-sized businesses face, and the simple steps they need to take to address these risks.

Risk #1: Data Backup and Storage. The costs of recreating lost data for a small to mid-sized business can be huge, both in terms of recovery and the cost to the firm’s public profile and image. For instance, a firm simply can’t afford to recreate three months of accounts receivable invoices.

Solution: It is crucial to have real-time, frequent backups and to confirm that data retrieval processes are working. Manual backups can be less expensive than automated backups, and equally reliable. At the same time, small to mid-sized businesses can’t overlook the process of retrieving backups. In fact, retrieving lost data often proves more risky than storing data in the first place, and is often overlooked by small to mid-sized businesses that focus more on data storage. It is essential to test retrieval of stored data on a regular basis.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKmUUcyYIsk[/youtube]

Risk #2: Threats from internal sources. In the case of small to mid-sized businesses, threats from internal sources are often larger than threats from unknown hackers. We are aware of a number of cases of attempted fraud. For instance, an employee at one business managed to hack into escrow holding accounts, as well as private files containing owners private credit card numbers.

Solution: Only authorized users should be able to access vital data, a strict privacy and security policy should be in place, and businesses should be especially careful when adding and removing employees/users. Of course, most small to mid-sized businesses have created a network architecture with unique user names that is password driven. Unfortunately, we have found that many businesses have become complacent and sloppy with this type of system.

For instance, they share passwords or give each employee/partner the same password. Even businesses that do follow this system can go further by checking the log files on the servers and on applications, and by testing network security each time an employee comes or goes, to ensure that there has been no security breach.

Risk #3: Turnover of in-house technical resources. We have found small to mid-sized businesses experience turnover of their in-house technical resources every 12 to 18 months. Most of the time, these “technical” employees did not create written processes and procedures for security, or kept them inside their heads. Turnover of staff therefore can lead to decreased attention to privacy and security, and make a small to mid-sized businesses vulnerable.

Solution: Small to mid-sized businesses should have a formal, written procedure and set of standards in place for testing their system for breaches and risks. They should test their system regularly, and also check log files – especially during employee transitions. These standards and processes should have a life independent of any single employee.

Risk #4: Vendors, especially IT vendors. It is a secret in the IT world that many IT service providers create more security and privacy problems than they fix. That’s because they may lack good security procedures and, if they are vulnerable to hacking, so are their clients. Any vendor that connects to your systems can make you vulnerable to hackers.

Solution: Small to mid-sized businesses should screen all vendors, and especially IT vendors, to ensure that they have a secure infrastructure. Ask them how they connect to your computers in order to maintain security. Request their written policies and procedures about how they govern security and privacy. Find out how your security might be compromised if someone breaks into their system. Ask about how they recruit and screen their employees.

Conclusion: Don’t get complacent!

The solutions to privacy and security issues are technically straightforward. What is often lacking is a proactive, consistent approach to ensuring that security remains strong. In addition, it is challenging to find the right resources to be truly accountable for security and privacy. Due to turnover and other demands on their job, in-house technical resources are often not ideal candidates to handle these vital issues.

Conflicting demands on their time can lead to the appearance of security without actual compliance (e.g. passwords that people share; lack of written procedures and standards). When they leave, small to mid-sized businesses are vulnerable, often for some time. Meanwhile, many IT vendors lack the infrastructure and expertise to adequately secure small to mid-sized businesses firm’s vital data and applications. Small to mid-sized businesses must stay on top of Computer Security and privacy issues, and be sure that they follow a consistent set of policies and procedures.

About the Author: Vladimir Petrov – Chief Technology Advisor

minleys.net

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=557838&ca=Computers+and+Technology

Submitted by: David Chandler

Help, I was sitting in front my computer and it starting acting strange! Pop-ups were on my screen and I was not even surfing the web. My home page was changed somehow and so did other web settings. My programs are at a crawl and overall my computer is just not working the way it should be.

If this sounds like your computer, chances are you have been infected with some type of malicious software. Several types of software can infect your computer; some of these are spyware, a virus, a Trojan, and a worm. That is why you need security software.

Below is a brief and simple description of the software that can infect your computer and cause poor performance.

Spyware is a program that gathers information about the user through the internet without their knowledge. It monitors your web activity and passes this information to another party without your knowledge. Spyware is designed for commercial gain, thus when it is installed in your computer you will probably receive unsolicited pop-up advertisements. It can also gather your email addresses, passwords, and credit card numbers stored on your computer.

A virus is programming code or a piece of code that loads onto your computer without your consent. A virus is also self-replicating by inserting copies into an executable code or documents. Any virus is dangerous as it uses up memory and brings your system to a halt.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY7Ur43nY2M[/youtube]

A worm is much like a virus in the fact that it is self-replicating but differs in the fact that it does not need another program to do so. A worm can spread itself without any action from the user. A worm can attach itself to you address book and send a copy to everyone in it, then attaches itself to the receivers address book in addition, send it out to everyone in that address book. Worms are dangerous and in the end can cause networks to crash.

Trojans are designed as legitimate software that you can download onto your computer. Once installed though, they can be annoying and/or malicious. Annoying activities of a Trojan would be changing your desktop around or silly icons appearing. Malicious damage from a Trojan is capable of deleting files on your computer and allowing personal and confidential information to be collected without you being aware.

Preventing spyware and other malicious software from infecting your computer through security software is lots easier going online and finding a reputable online scanning site after the fact. Sometimes if your computer is infected, you may not even be able to get online. Therefore, prevention is better than fixing.

You can protect your computer from malicious programs in many ways. Here are a few tips to consider.

Always have the latest version of anti virus and anti spyware technology on your computer. You will also need to keep the program files up to date in order to protect against newest threats.

Only download files from a trusted source. If you are not sure, run a virus scan on the file before downloading it or saving to your computer.

There are limitless resources on the internet offering anti spyware and antivirus programs. Many sites offer free online scans, and provide instructions for removal of any malicious programs on your computer. Once you have selected a well known, (well-known being the optimal word) follow the instructions for installation carefully to ensure that the scan will work properly. Below are the most common and well-known virus and spyware removal programs.

McAfee (mcafee.com) virus remover features up-to-date protection from the latest viruses and web activity threats for the user. They have three main anti-virus and anti-spyware programs that you can choose perfect for home and business uses.

Microsoft has an anti spyware (microsoft.com) removal tool that you can use to scan your computer. This functions mainly by reviewing and checking your files for unwanted software contents, and once found can be selected and removed depending on the procedures indicated on the program. Just follow the tools and guides on how you can remove the infected files.

Ad Ware Personal provided by Lavasoft.com features scanning and fixing infected files and drives, detection of known and unknown but potentially damaging software with its Code Sequence Identification (CSI) technology. This program also has a spyware removal and capabilities of removing other damaging programs in your system.

The above sites are just a few of anti spyware and anti virus removal programs that are available on the web. Take the time and do the research and you will find the right security software for your needs. Once again, it is imperative that the site you select for your computer security is credible.

About the Author: For more information about security software, visit

securitysoftwareanswers.com

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=43133&ca=Computers+and+Technology

Submitted by: Drew Pilton

Today, many people rely on computers to do homework, work, and create or store useful information. Therefore, it is important for the information on the computer to be stored and kept properly. It is also extremely important for people on computers to protect their computer from data loss, misuse, and abuse. For example, it is crucial for businesses to keep information they have secure so that hackers can’t access the information. Home users also need to take means to make sure that their credit card numbers are secure when they are participating in online transactions. A computer security risk is any action that could cause loss of information, software, data, processing incompatibilities, or cause damage to computer hardware, a lot of these are planned to do damage. An intentional breach in computer security is known as a computer crime which is slightly different from a cybercrime. A cybercrime is known as illegal acts based on the internet and is one of the FBI’s top priorities. There are several distinct categories for people that cause cybercrimes, and they are refered to as hacker, cracker, cyberterrorist, cyberextortionist, unethical employee, script kiddie and corporate spy.

*The Hacker.

The term hacker was actually known as a good word but now it has a very negative view. A hacker is defined as someone who accesses a computer or computer network unlawfully. They often claim that they do this to find leaks in the security of a network.

*The Cracker.

The term cracker has never been associated with something positive this refers to someone how intentionally access a computer or computer network for evil reasons. It’s basically an evil hacker. They access it with the intent of destroying, or stealing information. Both crackers and hackers are very advanced with network skills.

*The Cyberterrorist.

A cyberterrorist is someone who uses a computer network or the internet to destroy computers for political reasons. It’s just like a regular terrorist attack because it requires highly skilled individuals, millions of dollars to implement, and years of planning.

*The Cyberextortionist.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emdzQJQnK08[/youtube]

The term cyberextortionist refers to someone who uses emails as an offensive force. They would usually send a company a very threatening email stating that they will release some confidential information, exploit a security leak, or launch an attack that will harm a company’s network. They will request a paid sum of money to prevent the threat from being carried out, a bit like black mailing.

*The Unethical Employee.

An unethical employee is an employee that illegally accesses their company’s network for numerous reasons. One could be the money they can get from selling top secret information, or some may be bitter and want revenge.

*The Script Kiddie.

A script kiddie is someone who is like a cracker because they may have the intentions of doing harm, but they usually lack the technical skills. They are usually silly teenagers that use prewritten hacking and cracking programs.

*The Corporate Spy.

A corporate spy has extremely high computer and network skills and is hired to break into a specific computer or computer network to steal or delete data and information. Shady companies hire these type people in a practice known as corporate espionage. They do this to gain an advantage over their competition an illegal practice.

Business and home users must do their best to protect or safeguard their computers from security risks. The next part of this article will give some pointers to help protect your computer. However, one must remember that there is no one hundred percent guarantee way to protect your computer so becoming more knowledgeable about them is a must during these days.

When you transfer information over a network it has a high security risk compared to information transmitted in a business network because the administrators usually take some extreme measures to help protect against security risks. Over the internet there is no powerful administrator which makes the risk a lot higher. If your not sure if your computer is vulnerable to a computer risk than you can always use some-type of online security service which is a website that checks your computer for email and Internet vulnerabilities. The company will then give some pointers on how to correct these vulnerabilities. The Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center is a place that can do this. The typical network attacks that puts computers at risk includes viruses, worms, spoofing, Trojan horses, and denial of service attacks. Every unprotected computer is vulnerable to a computer virus which is a potentially harming computer program that infects a computer negatively and altering the way the computer operates without the user’s consent. Once the virus is in the computer it can spread throughout infecting other files and potentially damaging the operating system itself. It’s similar to a bacteria virus that infects humans because it gets into the body through small openings and can spread to other parts of the body and can cause some damage. The similarity is, the best way to avoid is preparation. A computer worm is a program that repeatedly copies itself and is very similar to a computer virus. However the difference is that a virus needs to attach itself to an executable file and become a part of it. A computer worm doesn’t need to do that, it copies itself to other networks and eats up a lot of bandwidth. A Trojan Horse named after the famous Greek myth and is used to describe a program that secretly hides and actually looks like a legitimate program but is a fake. A certain action usually triggers the Trojan horse, and unlike viruses and worms it will not replicate itself. Computer viruses, worms, and Trojan horses are all classified as malicious-logic programs which are just programs that deliberately harm a computer. Although these are the common three there are many more variations and it would be almost impossible to list them. You know when a computer is infected by a virus, worm, or Trojan horse if your computer displays one or more of these things:

*Screen shots of weird messages or pictures appear.

*You have less available memory than you expected.

*Music or sounds plays randomly.

*Files get corrupted.

*Programs are files don’t work properly.

*Unknown files or programs randomly appear.

*System properties fluctuate.

Computer viruses, worms, and Trojan horses deliver their payload or instructions through three common ways.

1 – When an individual runs an infected program so if you download a lot of things you should always scan the files before executing, especially executable files.

2 – When an individual boots a computer with an infected drive, so that is why it’s important to not leave removable media in your computer when you shut it down.

3 – When an unprotected computer connects to a network. Today, a very common way that people get a computer virus, worm, or Trojan horse is when they open up an infected file through an email attachment.

There are literally thousands of malicious logic programs and new ones come out by the numbers so that’s why it’s important to keep up to date with new ones that come out each day. Many websites keep track of this. There is no known method for providing 100% protection for any computer or computer network from computer viruses, worms, and Trojan horses, but people can take several precautions to significantly reduce their chances of being infected by one of those malicious programs. Whenever you start a computer you should have no removable media in the drives. This goes for CD, DVD, and floppy disks. When the computer starts up it tries to execute a boot sector on the drives and even if it’s unsuccessful any given virus on the boot sector can infect the computer’s hard disk. If you must start the computer using removable media for any reason, such as when the hard disk fails and you are trying to reformat the drive make sure that the disk is not infected.

How can you protect your computer?

The best way to protect your computer from any of the above is by using good quality internet securities software. Purchasing this from a reputable security company is recommended to ensure that your software is kept up to date with the most recent virus signatures. If you are not up to date an unrecognised virus will not be stopped by the software. A full security package will protect you from viruses, Worms, Trojan horses, keyloggers and will detect when a hacker is attempting to hack into your computer and prevent them from gaining access when you are online or connected to a network. It is not advisable to use a free antivirus service as these do not provide adequate protection and are a false economy. Recommended internet security software companies are:- Norton, McAfee and others.

About the Author: The auther is dedicated to PC security and PC health. See the Error Doctor Award Winning Registry Cleaner Software.

registry-cleaner-magic.com/error-doctor/

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=121797&ca=Computers+and+Technology

Pc Security

Submitted by: Amaan Goyal

Computers are the most useful and well-known technical gadgets used worldwide. Some uses it for their livelihood, some uses it for playing games on it and some uses it for browsing the Internet world. Among those who use the computer, most of us do not know the proper security steps that can be taken to prevent unauthorized access to their machines. Many of us do not hesitate surfing the Internet wirelessly on any hotspots without knowing the security part, which if turned out to be a Poisoned Hotspot can be very dangerous. Most of the hackers try to sniff data stored in the computer without the owner s permission. Taking some necessary steps can prevent these.

Types of computer attacks

There can be two types of attacks which a computer might face:

Active Attack

Passive Attack

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on2QoYQKHEQ[/youtube]

Active attack is something where eavesdropping is on so that the data sniffer can sniff the data which is being transmitted over the network. These attacks are difficult to detect but can be prevented.

Passive attack is done by those who have an intention to destroy other s network security without having any aim of sniffing their data, but they are harmful as well. These attacks are easy to trace out but can be difficult to protect from those.

Remedies of computer security

The collection of various hardware and software specially designed to protect from data theft and other malicious stuffs are termed as computer security. There can be various solutions to protect the computers from unauthorized access from hackers and crackers. Hackers are those programmers who break the computer security with an intension to steal, destroy or change some data that is also treated as cyber-crime. Whereas, a cracker is a programmer who gains unauthorized access to a computer without having any specific intension as the hackers has. Some proper security tools might include firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware, proper use of the Operating System and its browser etc. Let us discuss them one by one.

Firewall:- This can also be describes as a protected wall or shell all around the computer to detect and filter out the threats which try to access the computer in an unmeaning full manner. A firewall is the combination of hardware and software that is installed in the machine that helps in controlling the flow of data between computer networks. It helps the computer to protect from the hackers who can sniff data without the owner s permission.

Those who have Windows XP or Windows Vista as their operating system, for them getting a firewall is not a worry, they just need to make them active to protect themselves from the hackers and other unwanted stuffs. But those who doesn t have any of those two as their operating system, they need to have any other firewall software which is easily available in the market.

Anti-virus:- One of the most important tools for computer security is the anti-virus software. Though a firewall is always protecting from unwanted access to the computer network, but still some malwares make their way onto the computer by means of some attached file in the email or files from the Internet that the firewall cannot detect. For those malwares the antivirus software can be effective.

Antivirus software s are easily available in the market that doesn t cost much. Sometimes it is also bundles with a firewall as well which also includes in the security tool.

Some other security concerns are operating system; the web browsers and many more which should be updated regularly. One should also not click on the links which are there in unwanted emails, as they are might contain viruses and other malwares. Some people also face trouble when they download any free software that in some cases are bundled with viruses and spywares.

VTechCare represents a revolutionary new PC support model for Home Users, Home Professionals and Telecommuters leveraging the expertise and experience developed over the last 20 years in providing excellent technical support to customers across the globe. Our service is safe, secure and efficient.

About the Author: VTechCare was founded by Amaan Goyal,an industry veteran and entrepreneur, with the mission to provide high quality

computer support services

,

technical support services

that spans across software, hardware at the most reasonable reasonable prices across the globe.

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=282485&ca=Computers+and+Technology