kristinawood.com ~ View topic

Rank: Uncle Pepe Joined: 12 Aug 2004 Posts: 620

A few things regarding Computer Security has come up recently, so I thought I'd offer some helpful information:

Most new computers come with a program called FREEDOM. This program is designed so a person can fill in their Name, Address, Credit Card information, Web-Site Passwords and User Names. The premise is so that anytime you are on line and need this information, you just click a button and everything is filled in for you. Sounds great on the surface, but I highly recommend you DO NOT use that program or any like it (such as GATOR).

If you use those kinds of programs you are only inviting trouble. Sure, they are designed to make things easier for you while shopping on the internet, but the reality is they make it easier for Hackers to steal your personal information. It happened to me last year when someone charged $10,000.00 on my American Express card - And I only figured out what happened because I had NEVER used the card myself, and the only place it appeared was in my FREEDOM program!!! Needless to say, I uninstalled the program! And if you have it I highly recommend you do the same! Take the extra few minutes to fill in forms when you need to.

Also, to help with SpyWare at www.lavasoft.com is a free anti-spyware program called AdAware. It's a pretty good program, and I highly recommend it. It won't prevent hackers, but does help rid you of the spyware.

To prevent hackers you need a good Firewall. Windows XP Service Pack 2 has a great one. However, it's so good it may prevent you from seeing Jana's live shows - So you may have to turn it off during the show.

If this helps even one person - Then it was worth the time for me to post, and you to read !!!

Rich

P.S.

Also, if you use Web-Cams on your computer ... Firewalls can interfere with them ... So you need to be sure you know the Firewall you're using and how to turn it on and off when you view your web-cam (and even then, sometimes the web-cams can't get past the Firewall).

Rank: Mr. Fabulous Joined: 04 Sep 2004 Posts: 413

good call Rich!

don't store any personal info on a pc!!!
the time it saves is just not worth the risk!

Adaware is very cool, make sure you keep it up to date! it works in a similar way to a virus scanner, in that you have to keep it updated and do regular scans.

Firewalls: i recommend installing Sygate Personal Firewall in preference to Windows Firewall
http://soho.sygate.com/default.htm
- its a free download and is dead easy to use. it prompts you whenever a piece of software or somplace on the net is threatening your security. As a general rule, click yes to any prompt which is a direct result of your action. e.g opening outlook, internet explorere, or attempting to update you antivirus. If you get a prompt for no reason at all say no! The software learns from you. Once you're happy that all is well, you can turn off the prompts. Cool!

This is much better than the windows firewall cos its easier to see whats goung on, you can even use it to protect a small network if you need to!

Rank: Senior Member Joined: 12 Aug 2004 Posts: 212

hi guys, jana's webmaster said it was my codes that had been used to try and hack her site. it makes me feel bad if i some how let her down. i use the latest anti spy program fron yahoo , is it lame? also as far as i know i have all the latest up grades from mirosoft automaticly installed on my computor . is that not enough? these programs that you recomend , should they be installed in addition to the ones i already have? or must i uninstall stuff. roxstar it's good to see you here again .

Rank: Mr. Fabulous Joined: 04 Sep 2004 Posts: 413

The kind of problem you are describing suggests you either have no firewall, or it isn't turned on, or it isn't configured properly.

In my opinion its always best to use software provided by companies which specialise in their field. Lavasoft specialise in privacy software, and their product Adaware is probably the most well known anti-spyware software out there, and thats because its very good.

I never trust utilities from the likes of Yahoo etc. they've always caused problems for me.

messaging utilities such as MSN, Yahoo, ICQ and AIM often present security risks, as do filesharing software such as kazaa, edonkey, shareaza, imesh, bittorrent etc. Always virus scan completed downloads before opening them.

As long as you do all of the following you should be OK:

keep your PC up to date with windows updates
make sure you have a virus scanner installed and you keep that up to date too. (don't install more than one virus scanner, or your PC will hate you) Scan your PC regularly! An excellent one, AVG is free for personal use here: http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/
Install a good spyware cleaner such as Adaware and keep it up to date and scan your PC regularly, especially if you're in the habit of installing anything you find on the net that looks interesting!
Make sure you have a firewall installed (unless you are on a network where you're sure that one is installed already, such as in an office) The Firewall which appears in Windows XP SP2 is OK, but for the more computer literate, Sygate or Kerio are better free alternatives.
keep your popup blocker turned on. If you don't have one, your Windows isn't up to date!
Consider using a browser other than Internet Explorer. Most dodgy websites exploit security flaws in Internet Explorer to put dialers and other spyware on your PC without you knowing about it. Firefox is an excellent free alternative, which i use most of the time. you can get it here: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

Hope that all helps!

Rank: Senior Member Joined: 12 Aug 2004 Posts: 212

that lavasoft works, it found 4 items after the yahoo spy ware said i was ok.

Moderator Joined: 09 Jan 2004 Posts: 94

Also the spyware remove programs find webbrowser cookies and stuff. whch are used to keep track of your browsing habits, from big image based advertisers. So different spyware remove programs will find a slightly different set of the stuff. Nothing to be alarmed about that.

its the actual physical software that is running on your computer that is a big cause of concern. a cookie etc., can't get your passwords or whatever you type can't be sent to someone on the net.

Also I always use Firefox browser. I'd recommend getting that too. after you use "Tabs" feature, you'd never go back. Basically middle click a link and it opens the link as a tab on the browser. Great for browsing porn sites. Smile

http://www.getfirefox.com

Rank: Mr. Fabulous Joined: 04 Sep 2004 Posts: 413

ooooo! middle-click! hadn't discovered that! I use CTRL click instead! Cool

Rank: Senior Member Joined: 12 Aug 2004 Posts: 212

my fire wall is on but i am having misgivings about the exceptions allowed . any recomendations.

Rank: Uncle Pepe Joined: 12 Aug 2004 Posts: 620

Rank: Senior Member Joined: 12 Aug 2004 Posts: 212

i just did another scan of my computor .it found another two objects to be removed. thats in less than eighteen hours since the last scan. these creeps are after me. i think its my fire wall configureation/ allow list must be wrong

Rank: Senior Member Joined: 12 Aug 2004 Posts: 212

i found out the data miner spy stuff i keep deleting is actually from microsoft. what bill gates wants to know about me i'm not shure but its none of his business . last week i was on hold at microsoft for twenty minets i had a question about ther e fire wall . eventually a service rep. told me i could talk to a tech but it would cost me 45.00usd. oh bill , don't you have enough money yet?