Computers have simplified millions of people’s lives. With the advent of online technology we can be more productive in the office, organize household matters, and communicate with others around the globe. Do you ever think it’s all too good to be true? Well, you’d be smart to question the overall ease and efficiency of the web. The sad truth is, along with these perks there are a few major pitfalls. And if you aren’t aware of them now, you may be in for a rude awakening.

So many people get excited about the wide-reaching possibilities of an email system. Indeed, it is staggering to think about how you can connect with someone on the other side of the world with just a click of a button. Unfortunately, however, sometimes by clicking the mouse you are doing more than reaching out to a faraway friend. You may also be inviting email viruses and scams into your mailbox.

What is spam anyway?

Email spam is also called unsolicited bulk email - like junk mail in your computer system. In other words, it is email that you have not asked to receive. When we say "bulk email," we are usually referring to one message that is sent to more than 200 email recipients at a time.

How is spam targeted?

Basically, if you participate in any newsgroups, forums, or post your email address on a personal or professional website, you can be targeted for spam. A spam mailing list will be created by combing electronic newsgroups and mailing lists, or by conducting a broad address search online via "spambots" that roam the net collecting email addresses.

What is phishing?

Phishing is a relatively new form of email scam and it’s a serious one. What it refers to is an email that claims to be from a legit corporation (like Citibank, PayPal, eBay etc.), but it is really a spoof. Phishing can be tough to spot because it can look pretty slick. The email will come with a return address, a logo or a brand that seems on the up-and-up, links to other sites etc. But whoever is behind the scam is trying to get your financial info and rip off your identity. Studies show that 5% of the people who receive these fake emails respond to the "phisher."

Now that you know what these terms mean, how can you avoid dealing with them?

Clearly, the answer is with an expert email security system. No doubt, new scams will be popping up before you know it. We haven’t even discussed the horrors of email "worms" and "viruses."

What can be done?

• Use a web host with a secure email system that will control spam, maintain your privacy, and protect you from email viruses. A good web host believes that all individuals have the right to send and receive secure emails around the clock.
• The first step is to monitor the spam that comes into your email mailbox and then report any scams to the Anti-Spam League or the Anti-Phishing Working Group.
• Be wary of any emails that ask you for your personal information, especially financial details. Do not give out your credit card or bank account info unless you are on a secure server.
• Be wary of email attachments. When in doubt, don’t open them!
• Make a point of checking your account balances online to see if there are any sudden withdrawals that you did not authorize.
• Use anti-virus software and be sure to update it regularly (such as Microsoft patches).
• Think about installing a web browser tool bar that will alert you if a known spammer or phisher is trying to reach you (such as Earthlink ScamBlocker or eBay’s tool bar).

Madison Lockwood is a customer relations associate for ApolloHosting.com. She brings years of experience as a small business consultant to helping prospective clients understand the ways in which a website may benefit them both personally and professionally. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting, ecommerce hosting, vps hosting, and web design services to a wide range of customers. Established in 1999, Apollo prides itself on the highest levels of customer support.

The quest for convenience is a two edged sword. In our quest for speed, efficiency and walking as little as possible, we strive to make life as simple as possible. It was not so log ago that business was done face to face; meetings and paper letters were how we communicated. When we shopped we walked or drove to a store, loaded a trolley or basket and checked out.

Now, we can sit in the comfort of our own home and have face to face meetings through video conferencing, send a letter in less than a second and most importantly, shift our hard earned cash from one bank to another.

But there is a price some pay and it goes beyond the fees and any appropriate software. The more convenient we make life, the more potential avenues for theft and fraud we create.

Internet security is of paramount importance. When you live in a city, you lock your house door, lock the car, engage the alarm and leave lights on when you go out.

We speak of a ‘global village’, but I think this gives a false impression. Life on the internet is not a village – it’s a global city – and city mentality is needed.

So how can you lock up and alarm your virtual doors?

ANITVIRUS

For some reason, there are some people out there who get kicks out of writing little programs that cause computers problems. These range from annoying little bugs to complete computer breakdown. It can either be irritating or catastrophic leading to a loss of all data.

The solution – anti-virus (a virus killer). There are many programs that can spot a virus when it comes via a website or email – and kill it outright – is like cyber-bleach. These programs stay in the background, get updated with the latest threats and jump into action when needed.

SPYWARE

Although spy ware doesn’t usually cause computer meltdown, it can actually be more damaging. Spy ware are other little programs that run in the background of your computer – the monitor you online activity and report back to the sender. The threat? If you’re banking online or dealing with sensitive data, it could be under threat.

Like anti-virus software – there is a host of good spy ware checkers and removers.

It pays to get protected before you need it – there is no use locking the stable door after the horse has bolted. You can see the cyber locksmith at http://online-security-solutions.com.

© 2006 Copyright Steve Holloway. You may republish this article as long as it remains unchanged and the resource box is included.

The Worst Case Scenario

Your subscriptions to your favorite anti-virus and spyware software expired 28 days ago. You have been meaning to pull out your credit card and renew. However, you just haven’t gotten to it.

Yesterday an e-mail, SPAM really, hit your inbox with an interesting by-line on the latest natural disaster. You click on the innocuous looking link. The next thing you know, Internet Explorer doesn’t quite work correctly, followed by a failure of Windows Explorer, followed by your PC running really slow. You have just been hit with spyware! Next thing you know, your PC will not boot and you are dead in the water.

This Whole Scenario is Preventable

In this example (which is played out dozens of times every day) the user did not keep his/her software counter measures up to date. There are some extremely top shelf software products available which do a simply wonderful job of keeping up with the latest spyware and virus threats. In fact, by employing several similar products you can often catch threats with one product which was not neutralized by another.

However, there are no guarantees here! A variety of circumstances may result in a threat to your PC. Depending solely on software counter measures (e.g. anti-spyware, anti-virus software) is only part of the story. You can actually take your destiny and digital protection in your own hands and add another layer of protection.

Software Backup- Your Own Version of Digital Time Travel

The two approaches available are:

Data Backup refers to making a copy of your valuable files, personal and business information on some other media that is physically separate from your computer. A myriad of products and services exist for storing this information including USB drives, DVDs, CDs, external disk drives, network drives, archiving services and even the humble diskette.

However, you must really think through all of the information contained on your computer that you want to save if your PC became unusable including:

Image Backup refers to a process where your computer environment is saved. The difference is that in the case of a data backup you may have saved ALL of your valuable information. This is the good news. The bad news is that you have now have to rebuild your personal computer’s software:

An image backup makes a snapshot of your entire personal computer. The ideal scenario is that you tweak and install all of your software. At the point where things are working just right, you take your snapshot which you store away in a safe place. At this point you also start to regularly make regular backups of your valuable data that has changed since the snapshot has changed.

If you have the misfortune to get nailed by malicious software that cripples your computer, you now have the ability to

You now can keep on trucking with a minimum of disruption. This approach does take a bit of discipline. However, it really does not take a whole lot of time. These backups can be started when you go to bed, and will be completed by the time that you wake in the morning.

The alternative is spending time trying to rebuild your system (if you can find all of the software) and IF you can get your valuable data off of your crippled PC. It’s a simple matter of time, money and aggravation. It’s your choice…

Eric Penfield is a 20 year veteran of the Information Systems industry. He has worked for several Fortune 10 companies and currently publishes the Naughty Software Blog.

The biggest security threat to your company is you and your staff - not the internet.

The internet is merely a communications channel for data - it’s how you manage that channel and that data that is important.

With computing, shared networking, and internet connections, it means that information can flow more easily between PCs.

But that also brings with it added security risks - it’s easier for people to find your logins and try and force them, and opportunists will try and steal your passwords where they can.

Ultimately, it’s not up to the internet or existing software to reactively protect you against every instance of a security threat - you need to take proactive action in the first place to minimise those threats.

This really needs underlining, because even the most sophisticated security equipment will not protect you as required if it is poorly used.

Ultimately, protecting your business can be as easy as using common sense and following very basic steps.

Here are a few basic tips on how to protect against these user access threats:

1. Don’t use the passwords manager on Internet Explorer to save passwords. If your PC is infected with a trojan or virus, this is often one of the first places they check.
2. If you save your passwords to a file - a text or Word document - don’t name it something obvious like "passwords". If an unauthorised user got into your PC, you want to make it hard for them to locate your passwords.
3. Again, if you save passwords in a file, don’t use the word "password" in such a file either. Otherwise an unauthorised user could simply use your computer’s "search" facility for that word, and go straight to them. Simply use the initials "U" and "P" for "username" and "password" - that will be much harder to search out.
4. Only provide password information to people who need to use them - and if someone needs to use a password protected feature temporarily, then change the password afterwards. After all, you cannot be certain how well third-parties will protect your important security details.
5. Have different levels of passwords for different operations. For example, have a different password for accessing your e-mail, and a different password for accessing your website. That way, if someone somehow finds out one of your passwords, they cannot access all of your business operations.
6. Create really secure passwords by mixing up letters, numbers, and using upper and lower case, and even punctuation marks. Make passwords memorable by basing them on acronyms - ie, this is an article called "Online Security for Business: User access threats" and is written in 2006 - so an acronym from that could be: OS4Buat2006. That’s a strong password, and it’s much easier to remember as an acronym.
7. Don’t install desktop search applications, even by reputable vendors such as Google or Yahoo!, as they will not only help you find information quickly, but will also be invaluable to a hacker looking for sensitive information on your computer system. Instead, keep your files organised on your PC so you don’t need to resort to a desktop search tool in the first place.
8. Ensure you install anti-virus, a firewall, anti-spyware and anti-adware - and keep them up to date. This will make it far harder for anyone to access your machine without authorisation, The best of these software types will also keep checking the internet for updates.
9. You should ensure you make regular hard-copy back-ups of your computer data. And store them safely and securely, in a restricted place - such as a safe. You can make these backups to computer tape, DVD or CD media, or even just save everything to a USB stick at the end of the day.
10. Ensure you have off-site back-ups of all physical and electronic data essential to your business. In the event of catastrophic damage to your premises, you can at least restore basic business operations.

Conclusion

You are never going to be clear of security risks - but you can certainly minimise them. Keeping a security-conscious office is neither expense nor time-consuming. Considering the costs of losing essential data and equipment, can it really be that hard?

Brian Turner runs Security Watch, a site that keeps up to date with exploits and security discussions. He also runs the online security resources Trojan Library and Worm Library.

Social networking sites can be a lot of fun. College students like to use Facebook.com to connect and build relationships. Teenagers and young college students think Myspace.com is the place to be. Networking sites can also put you in contact with people who share similar interests or who are just plain interesting.

But, as with all great things, there is a darker, more sinister side. Predators lurk, hidden on these sites, ready to lure in unwitting teenagers. Content is posted that is inappropriate. Danger is around every corner…

However, some sites ARE trying to clean up social networking, while keeping it fun.

Facebook requires a school ID to peruse the profiles. You can’t even get on the site without this ID. Supersafe!

Mooble.com offers free memberships to their social networking website for adults AND teens. But, the fast growing site has the added benefit of protecting minors from material aimed only at adults.

They’ve taken a novel approach to adult content. Access to the adults-only material costs a small fee.

…a small price to pay to know that you don’t have to worry about whether or not the person you just met is really the age claimed. Besides, the annual access fee is quite small, considering it pays for a live person to view ALL submitted content for inappropriate content.

The effort that Mooble has put into making sure that kids are safe from inappropriate content, and that you are safe from an unpleasant surprise, is remarkable. In order to pay the fee for access to the adult content, the credit card used must be in the member’s name.

This is great because most kids under 18 do not have their own credit cards. Plus, there are many teens that would hesitate to take their parent’s credit card and then set up a profile in that parent’s name.

And, really, most of the time kids just happen upon adult content without meaning to do so. With a site like this, kids are protected, and you can still browse what you want to browse.

Another great thing about this whole Mooble idea is that it keeps kids safe from sexual predators. Social networking sites like myspace.com require that you be at least 16 to sign up. All the kids have to do is list their ages as 16 or older, even if they are not. There are literally thousands of teens and pre-teens that do not meet the My Space age requirements.

But they are on there, regardless, fudging their ages and are vulnerable to perverts who are out there looking for them. In fact, most pedophiles know, all they have to do to search for someone listing their age as 100, and nine times out of ten, it’s a youth.

Mooble does not have the same sort of problems because it actively tries to make it difficult for kids to have access to material suitable only for adults.

Keeping kids safe should be a high priority, and sites like Mooble and Facebook, that choose to draw the line between approved and unapproved use of adult content, provide an array of choices that can benefit both adults and kids.

Robyn Tippins is a freelance writer. See her blog at sleepyblogger.com.

The Internet is an unlimited sea of information. The user can find information about virtually everything, tangible and intangible, on the web. But, in the cyber world, while users browse various resources for information, there are other unscrupulous blokes who secretly access the personal information of others without their knowledge. Such people who clandestinely breach into other’s private space are technically termed as Hackers.

Hackers steal personal information of others using malicious programs called spy-wares. Spy-wares, after duping the user security, eves drop on the user computer and collect and send back their personal information stored in the computer back to the hacker. The hackers then use this information for misuse, which may range from minor offenses like corrupting messages on a home page to more serious crimes such as accessing bank accounts and forging user-ids and pins.

From a user point of view, it is difficult to track down a hacker or to realize when the hacking is even taken place. This is because the spy-wares usually make its way into the user PC stealthily such that even a good enough antivirus / antispyware may fail to take notice of the intrusion. As new versions of anti-spywares hit the market now and then, the latest spy-wares also update themselves to give the newer protection tools a miss. Mind you, software’s are the products of superior brains, but in this case, they are available freely on both sides. In simple terms, Internet users can never have a complete assurance of security with any antispyware tools.

So what to do in order to protect your personal information from hackers? Well, the old saying – prevention is better than cure – is relevant in this context. By following some simple and easy to follow defensive steps, one can prevent one’s personal information from hacking to a larger extent. For example, if you use a public computer,

· Never send any personal information nor store anything in the hard drive. Even if you are sending information to a secured site, there is the chance of getting the data hacked. Mind you, the site may be secured, but the computer you operate may not.

· Check the private policy of the public facility you are about to use to see if there is necessary precautions in place. If the facility lacks a private policy, assume that every key press is being logged – by somebody – and hence better keep off from sending/receiving any secret information.

· There are software’s that can even hack data send through wireless enabled laptops. Even the aerial route is not safe, something you should keep in your thoughts.

If you are using your personal PC, in order to prevent malicious programs from entering it, never open unsolicited mails and attachments, keep off from strange sites – sites with lot of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors – and never ever open links sent to your mail box from people that you don’t know. The site to which it leads may be a spy-ware storehouse.

To conclude, it is virtually impossible to provide fool proof security for something like the World Wide Web, which is accessed by millions from across the world. Therefore, it is the user’s responsibility to take care of his/her PC - and hence personal information - from being eaves dropped by others.

Never ever let you drop your guard while browsing the internet. There are always spy-wares on the prowl looking for chinks in your armor. I hope that this article will help you to better protect your personal information from being hacked.

Keisha Seaton is the owner of http://my-articles.com. To read more Security Articles please visit http://www.my-articles.com/Category/-Security/206.

The Internet is said to be the pool of information wherein you can find information on any topic. It is the best place to gain knowledge and information along with being in constant touch with your dear ones. Despite of many advantages and benefits still Internet is considered to be the unsafe zone for the kids as they may fall prey to the criminals in the world of immense pain and treachery.

Since the advent of Internet there has been a significant increase in number of kids falling into this trap. Despite vigilance over them either by friends, parents, law enforcement bodies still the count is on a rise. In certain cases the relationship is put to a stop by the timely intervention but there are times when there are kids who are not subject to vigilance. And if they by chance happen to meet these individuals they meet the torturous fate of being abducted, raped, tortured or even killed.

By sensing this danger many Internet companies like America Online, Yahoo and Netscape have started offering a feature of parental vigilance. This restricts the kid’s access to the Internet and parents get the chance to monitor them. Simply stated, if you don’t allow your kids to watch obscene shows on television so they won’t be allowed to access or open any unsuitable site.

It is advisable to inform your kid about the Internet safety techniques and make them feel free to discuss with the people who are trustworthy. But make sure to monitor them during that conversation for knowing the current direction. Build a comfort zone for your kids so that they feel free to come up with the questions regarding Internet and in case any individual from the Internet is trying to contact them.

These days there are strict rules and guidelines to follow for accessing the Internet in schools and libraries. If they are allowed to access web by any means then a constant observation over them is must. In case there is a case of careless and negligent management then you should contact the school authorities.

Internet vigilance over kids is not only restricted to schools and homes but also to those places where your kid is visiting. If your kid is going for the party at a friend’s place then make sure that his parents know your attitude regarding Internet access. Majority of the parents allow their kids to go to those friends where there is complete parent supervision.

The best way for constant supervision is of placing the computer in that room where everyone can view the screen. It is always advisable to place computer in a living room or family room so that there is complete vigilance. This confirms that your kid is not alone while accessing the Internet.

Never hesitate in teaching the evil effects of Internet to your child. Instead of scaring them intentionally make them free to ask Internet related problems they are facing. Also teach them a set way of reporting the problems or screen names of people indulging in obscene and indecent communication.

Complete vigilance and supervision over the kid while accessing Internet not only makes you relax but also keeps you tension free. Internet can prove wonders to your kids but be sure to warn them about the perils of the Internet.

The author is budding web content writer and has much experience in writing quality content for many websites. You can view his blog for more information.

Dear -fish this- member,

It has come to our attention that your account information needs to be updated.

Please send us your social security number, your checking account number, a pint of Jack Daniels, and a large paper bag filled with twenty dollar bills. We are only doing this for your protection, and even though we have no intention of stealing your identity,because we have a hard enough time dealing with our own identitys we have now, we sure could use some extra spending money for our upcoming phish…. errrr…. FISHING excursions!

We know it would be nicer if we actually worked as hard to make an honest living, as we do to bilk.. errr help protect your account information, but what fun would that be?

We promise not to have have account information problems in the future, because we are the "Gods of account information problems" and can control these sort of things. Besides, we won’t be able to monitor your account anymore, because we will be assisting Mr. Humongatus Batutti from Niger, who has been unable to find anyone lately that will help him out of the grave financial disaster his Pay Pal account has gotten him into.

If you don’t update your account information you may not be able to read worthless drivel in the future, your bumper will fall off of your car,and fleas will infest your armpits.AND…we will put a heebie jeebie hex on you that only a safe harbor ebay email can clear up. O.K.- O.K.– we will only suspend your account! That way we can send you another phony…. errrr…. follow up e-mail to protect your account. We will only temporarily spend the $20.00 bills you send us and will re-deposit two hundred bags of twenty dollar bills and some Papa John coupons into your bank account by—oh—let’s say Thursday.

Please don’t respond to this email- or blog letter for that matter- because we will be busy bouncing all over the internet phishing…. err bilking errr… updating other account info –and why would you want to have any dialogue about your terminated account anyway!!??

AND if you send us info now, we will send you a cheap knockoff Rolex that will impress some other phony, and also toss in a set of Ginsu carving knives!!

click here to update your account records.

The account dude at -fish this-

P.S. If none of this interests you, we have some hot stock market tips we will be glad to sell you…

user agreement blah blah,ebay,paypal,nigerian humonatus,Rolex, viagra,etrade, official looking mumbo jumbo, brought to you by the makers of pesty cola…

…Hard to believe- but every day people are still falling for those phony spams and e-mails that circulate the internet.A day is coming when the bilkers won’t be able to hide anymore and we will be able to track the phony solicitations down. In the meantime–be careful out there on the information highway, and if you really want to part with your hard earned money I know this Prince in Pottsylvania who is having some trouble with his finances, and if you could just help him out…..

A.J. Klott is the author of the Fish wRap-a humorous book on fishing and the people and events that surround the fishing world. You can visit his site at http://www.twoguyswithflys.com

The internet can be a dangerous place, especially for children. There are a lot of sick people in this world that will try to lure and entice their child into doing something they should not be doing. It is important that parents know what websites their children are visiting and who, if anybody their child is talking on the internet.

There is a lot of software available that will let you monitor your children and read their emails. You can also check the history of the websites your children have visited on the web browser. It shows what websites have been visited over a number of days.

Some of the best things you can do to keep you children safe are keep your computer in a public area. Do not allow a young child to have a computer in their room. It is very unsafe and it will be difficult for you to monitor what they are doing.

Also talk to your children about internet safety. Tell them not to give out personal information, send out pictures, or even talk to strangers at all. If you follow those tips you will be able to sleep a lot better knowing your children are safe.

Andre Bias is the owner of http://www.kidfriendlyentertainment.com, an line source for top notch DVD’s for children 10 years old and younger.