PAGE 7 Email, Internet
Safety and You By Andrew Lord
Now is a good time to go over a few basic things about safely us- ing the internet as I’ve had many people recently ask me what they can do to be safer.
timely as there have been a new spate of viruses, worms and tro- jans emerge and at the same time there are many email account passwords being hacked. Don’t become overly fearful, though. Here are a few simple guidelines to help you avoid trouble: Use one web browser such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome and stick with it. Firefox and Chrome are somewhat safer to use than Internet Explorer because when using Windows, there is a wall between them and the rest of your operating system. Internet Explorer is part of the Windows operating system so any exploit in it can potentially lead to get- ting a bug in Windows itself. This doesn’t mean Internet Explorer is inherently unsafe but just like any web browser, you need to keep it updated. While Firefox and Chrome are not foolproof (noth- ing is), they do offer a built-in level of protection because they are strictly programs and not part of the operating system.
It is important to always update your browser and if us- ing Internet Explorer, it’s doubly important to install the security updates for it from Microsoft Up- date. Firefox and Chrome will automatically update themselves periodically and if a new version comes out that you have to manu- ally install, they notify you. It is also important when you are noti- fied of updates to Adobe Flash or Adobe Reader to install those as well. Flash runs in all web brows- ers so you can view content such as YouTube. Adobe Reader inte- grates with your browser and so you should update that as well when notified. Another update that you shouldn’t ignore is for Java. Java is a programming lan- guage used in many applications both on the web and installed on your computer as well. The Java runtimes need to be installed on
your computer for Java program- ming to work. Therefore you need to update it when it notifies you. Your antivirus is important
It’s also
as well. Windows comes with a pretty decent firewall built-in so you really don’t need a security suite as most of it is redundant and because they install so many services, they can slow your com- puter down. We at Intentus pre- fer to just use a straight antivirus program such as Avast but others such as AVG, Kapersky, NOD32, et al are just as good.
It is important to make sure
that your antivirus is updating correctly.
If it doesn’t notify you
in some way at least a couple of time a week that it has updat- ed then you need to open it up and try to update it manually.
If
it won’t update, then you might have a problem. Remember, no antivirus is perfect and no antivi- rus can protect you from yourself. If you go to what I like to refer to as “dark” places on the internet then you naturally increase your risk. If you are prompted to install anything by a website unless it’s Adobe, Microsoft or Apple then
MARCH 2012
you probably want to just say no. File sharing programs are also dangerous and if you or someone in your home is down- loading copyrighted content then you risk being sued as well as getting some type of malware. Be smart, don’t use file sharing soft- ware and you won’t have a prob- lem with it.
Another thing to remem-
ber - there is no such thing as a free lunch so don’t download free games, screensavers and such unless you are certain their source is safe. You don’t need a screensaver .........
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