This really chapped my lips…

I recently bought a new computer. Mine was getting old, had lost its whistle, and the few remaining bells didn’t ding a nicely as they had in the past. Yep, it was time for a new state-of-the art dream machine with CD burner. DVD player, a bazillion gigabyte drive and more RAM than Rambo has. I whipped out my trusty credit card and told my local CompUSA to ring it up.

Well, needless to say I was enthralled. Blazing speed, working whistles, and bells that were more like the Big Ben gong! I could tear through spreadsheets with one CD/ROM tied behind my back. One day, about three months later, my Son came home form college. having heard all about my new pride and joy, he sat down behind the keyboard and fired that puppy up. He put it through its paces for about 30 minutes and then turned and said "It’s nice Dad, but I thought it would be faster". HE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FASTER? What was he, crazy? This box was so hot that it came with it’s own fire department.

Then he started poking around the hard drive. "Dad", he said "You need an exterminator. Your PC is infested." "Infested with what, bugs?". "Nope", he said "Spyware". "Spy What?". "Spyware", he replied. And then he explained.

Even thought I had a good virus prevention utility installed, it didn’t protect me against Spyware. Spyware, it seeks, are nasty little programs that get downloaded in similar fashion to the way a virus does. It can be attached to an email, or even one of those new talking E-Cards. it can hide in one of those "Click Here to close this window" boxes, or in any of seemingly a hundred other secret ways.

There are essentially two types of Spyware. The less dangerous type either causes lots of ads to pop up every time you go on the Internet, or records your shopping and surfing habits in order to report them back to Big Brother somewhere. Of course, these steal your PC’s clock cycles, and cause your hard drive to get bloated, which ends up slowing your entire system down. The problem is, the loss of speed is gradual and you don’t even know it’s happening until Mr. Big Shot college kid comes along and tells you that your PC is slow.

OK, that’s bad enough. But then, there is the second kind of Spyware. used by real spies, or at least the kind that want to steal your credit card and personal information so they can clean out your bank accounts and assume your identity. You know, the scary stuff that you’re starting to hear about more and more.

So, what should I do? Did I need to reformat my hard drive? I hoped not because THAT was no walk in the park. Fortunately my college geek was up on the subject and took me to a site that specialized in safely removing Spyware. We downloaded and installed it in just a few minutes and then fired it up. Holey Schmolie, I was infested. After about 25 minutes of chunking and plunking, the software pronounced me fit and clean. Well, at least my PC was. We rebooted and Boom! All of the speed and performance that had gradually been lost slammed right back into life. Even my Son was impressed.

Folks, this Spyware is serious stuff. You can’t afford to be wiped out by some cyber terrorist half way across the world. protect your PC, and your identity. You probably already are infested. There’s only one way to know for sure, you need to check it out for yourself.

Steve Robichaud and Andrew Wroblewski have been involved in online sales and marketing since 1996. For more information on finding and removing Spyware from your PC, visit: http://spyware.pcwash.com

The Loss Prevention Manager should be receptive to the needs and objectives of upper management and work to prevent and reduce loss from crime, fire accidents etc.

With the continuing threats brought to us by our AL Quaeda and Taliban enemies and the outbreak of new TV shows that reinforce the danger we all face on a daily basis, one must look within as to how we can protect ourselves from threats both real and imagined. I said imagined because we can become either hypochondriacs or completely oblivious to the dangers around us.

The situations we will focus on in this brief evaluation are those where large volumes of people congregate on a daily basis. Much has been written about airports and how the Government has stepped in to facilitate the security of baggage and boardings etc. Although Schools and theatres could be targeted, one area I would like to review is the Mall, which we have first hand knowledge of since we frequent them almost daily. The mall, some large and some small all handlelarge volumes of people daily. Its close proximity to the airports has caused me to visualize a frightening scenario from time to time. This also should be addressed in any critique of physical protection

Security for malls throughout the country is based on protecting the occupants and the property primarily from fire and water damage.

Personnel are generally given basic information as to what should happen in the case of fire and subsequent damage control, but essentially the function of either Security officers or tenants is to pull the fire alarm and wait for the fire trucks to get there, hopefully as quickly as possible.

Business continuity is a primary situation for the Mall and yet there is little accomplished to meet those requirements. With this in mind a good security officer should be a fireman and or be trained in fire prevention and training. In the world of fire training there are those who are listed as fire police. They are primarily there at the scene of a fire to direct traffic and move gawkers away from danger.

Mall security would seem to fit in this category, as they are not really trained in fire prevention nor fire combating. This exclusion in training on a primary and continual basis is a danger faced by the visitors and businesses that expect protection.

Fire-personal as well as the police, by nature, are trained to meet the demand for medical aid in the event of minor or major medical emergencies. At the least, basic first aid should be a required continual training program for all Mall personnel, with an emphasis on the Security Guard. The fact that defibrillators are available at Malls along with first aid kits but with little or no training approved by the Mall is a condition that should be addressed.

Most security guards are usually hired because they are between jobs, work cheap and don’t ask a lot of questions. Training consists of reading a manual, taking an open book test that consists of :

1. Appearance

2. Where the fire equipment is located

3. Reporting problems

4. How to tour the inside and outside of the building and

5. Limits of authority.

It is not the job of the Security Guard to fight fire, provide medical assistance or use force. The primary use of Security personnel is to walk the Mall during the business day and to report from time to time that they have gone into a tenant’s space and shown their presence. Observing possible loss pevention does not appear in their lexicon.

Over the years the defensive tools used by security personnel has been reduced to carrying a set of handcuffs, which can only be used under the direction of a local law enforcement Officer in the completion of his duty. Again, without basic and ongoing training, the uniformed Protective Services officer is of no other use than to be seen. Physical contact with individuals is totally prohibited due to the same reason above. Lack of training creates liability to the Mall and to the officer.

The physical plant known as a Mall has many egresses and entrances. Sets of keys are used by housekeeping, maintenance and protection services to secure the movement throughout the site. In most cases the key systems work as the keys are assigned to individuals and are signed for. Various situations cause damage to the doors, some by the stores themselves and by visiting vendors. Unlawful entrance and egress from the stores occur at all times of the day or night. Doors that are broken and unable to be secured with a key are not repaired in a timely manner. Automatic closing devices are tampered with and are inoperable and in many cases doors are intentionally left open to allow easy access to various parts of the building by not only the Mall employees but many of the store personnel as well. Damaged doors and poor maintenance precludes the hazards to all visitors and employees as well. The ability to enter the building and to cause damage, either unintentionally or inntionally should be of paramount concern to the administration as well as injury to visitors and employees from individuals who may be emotionally, politically or criminally motivated. Daytime situations are normally different than evening and overnight due to the fact that more personnel are available and more activity promotes little opportunity for problematic situations. On one hand this combination of light and sound along with the presence of people creates the environment for terrorism and or criminal acts. During the evening hours there is the added problem produced by teenagers and young adults who create disturbances causing security extra work which distracts them from actual security and placing them in the position of acting as police, which they are not trained for. The use of force has been all but totally removed from their arsenal of protection. No training in civil disturbance or any other disturbance is given on any basis.

Radio communications is used in various ways depending on the requirements of the various departments within the Mall. The benefit is that communications are available to identify negative situations that would require fire, police, housekeeping and maintenance. In the event of an emergency, radio frequencies will be modified to meet the needs of security. Maintenance and housekeeping as well as Mall administration should be subordinate to security. The standard operating procedure would require that the individual in charge be completely cognizant of the workings of the building and at least have the workable phone numbers of department heads. In many situations of various venues, the phone numbers of employ ees are not kept up to date and can cause unnecessary delay not only in emergencies but also on a day to day basis to contact personnel who are due in for shift changes. It should be the responsibility of at least one person in administration to make sure that the phone numbers are kept up to date.

Video surveillance, on the most part, functions well. The worst problem is the lack of light particularly in the parking lot. Often the failure of pole lights creates blackout areas during evening hours. This makes it impossible to check activities from the control center. If there is only one guard on the midnight shift, it requires that the control center may be left unattended to check the lot as well as the entrance and loading doors. video cameras with night vision capabilities would provide the necessary protection of the lot. The inability to patrol and or visually observe the site have created criminal acts from break-ins,vandalism and murder. Using the parking lot or a lover’s lane cannot be tolerated.

Without listing banal conclusions to these initial thoughts, lets recognize the need to be aware of that, which surrounds us. Remember, God is in the details!

With 8 years of service in the Military Police and former investigator for the State of NY election fraud bureau, a retired private and insurance investigator and presently actiove in the field of security. Member of the Police Commissioner’s Association of Connecticut, International Foundation of Protection Officers.

Much has been said on the theory of password protection for files, computer login, and other network access. In the past we used a combination of letters, special characters, and other techniques to try and prevent unwanted or unauthorized access to our computers, resources, and networks. A new theory on passwords is emerging that may help us remember our access codes, be more secure, and generally keep hackers and thieves out of our networks.

A password is a combination of words, letters, and special characters that only the user knows, allowing access to a computer or other information resources. As humans we have a large number of codes and numbers we need to remember every day – such as the key lock on our apartment entries, national identification numbers, automobile license or tag numbers, telephone numbers – it is a large and confusing suite of items we need to memorize.

When selecting a new password or pass code for access to a computer system, most of us understand how difficult it is to remember complex codes, and thus we select something already know n to us, such as names, birthdays, national identifiers, or other known items, and then place a number or character in front of the name or number thinking it is secure. This is easy to understand, as most of us simply do not have an ability to instantly recall large numbers of complex codes.

In a worst case we simply write down the complex code on a piece of paper, and leave it in a desk, our pocketbook, or in many cases taped to the front of our computer monitor.

However, to a hacker this makes access to your network or computer much easier, at they generally only have to learn a couple things about you, and add a few numbers to the front or ending of your personal data – you would be surprised how often this grants access to computers and networks. Ad some good “cracking utilities” to the hacker’s suite of tools, and you can understand the threat.

PassPhrases are a concept that will help us create more secure, easy to remember safeguards for our computer and network resource protection. A passphrase is a selection of words and/or numbers that are 15 characters or more in length, and are easy for us to remember. A couple examples of a good pass phrases are:

• igotodalaieejdaily

• shehasbeautifulhair

• surfinginhawaiiisgreat

According to Mark Minasi, a noted security consultant, a 15 character pass phrase will require a cracking program the following number of computations to try and break a 15 character pass phrase:

• 15 lowercase letters = 1,677,259,342,285,725,925,376 possibilities

• Try a million a second, it’ll take 531,855 centuries/years to break the code

As you can see, this is a pretty good level of security for your resource.

Another concern with passwords is if you forget or lose the password, and are using a utility like Microsoft’s Encrypting File System (EFS), you run the risk of losing all access to your important files if you require a hardware reset of your password. All EFS encrypted files are linked to your login profile, meaning if you encrypt a directory or file with EFS, and you do a hardware reset on your computer, those files and directories are lost FOREVER.

For Microsoft Windows users you can now also use spaces within your pass phrase, however we would not recommend embedding spaces in your pass phrase, as that actually does allow a cracker better access to getting your code – it may help them crack it in 100,000 years rather than 250,000!

(About the Author – John Savageau is a managing director at CRG-West, responsible for managing operations and architecture for several of the largest telecommunications interconnect facilities in the US, including One Wilshire in Los Angeles)

On December 8, 2004 Webroot, an award winning anti-spyware solution provider, released a press release identifying the ten most significant emerging spyware and adware threats. Most of these you probably haven’t heard of and a few may surprise you.

It is estimated that 9 out of 10 computers are infected with spyware, also known as, adware, scumware, malware and many others.

Here’s the top 10.

• PurtyScan – popup ads that trick users into installing by claiming to find and delete pornographic images.

• n-CASE - adware program that delivers targeted popup adds. This program is usually bundled with freeware.

• Gator - adware program that displays banner ads based on your Web surfing habits. This program is usually bundled with the Kazaa file-sharing program, as well as other free software programs.

• CoolWebSearch – hijacks home page, Internet Explorer settings, and Web searches.

• Transponder - monitors sites visited and any data entered into online forms, and then delivers targeted ads.

• ISTbar/AUpdate – spyware posing as a toolbar. Has been reported to display porn, pop-ups, and to hijack homepage and Internet searches.

• KeenValue – an adware program that collects personal information and delivers advertisements.

• Internet Optimizer – hijacks error pages and redirects them to its own site.

• Perfect Keylogger – records all keystrokes (including personal information, passwords, etc), clicks and web sites visited.

• TIBS Dialer – hijacks phone modem and redirects to pornography pay by the minute phone sites.

The following precautions are recommended in the fight against spyware: install Microsoft security patches, avoid downloading and using freeware; and disable ActiveX downloads in Internet Explorer. In addition, install at least one anti-spyware program, some experts actually recommend that you have two installed. For starters you can download one of the free spyware removal programs such as Spybot Search & Destroy or Ad-aware. There are also a few good anti-spyware programs on the market that proactively protect your computer (alert you before the spyware is installed). When purchasing an anti-spyware program you need to be sure it is from a reputable company as many of the anti-spyware programs available actually place spyware on your computer. They do this by offering a free scan, which places the spyware on your computer as it is scanning. Then they entice you to purchase the product to remove the spyware.

In conclusion, if you take a few precautions and install anti-spyware software on your system you should be well protected in the fight against spyware.

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Lisa Smith is the webmaster of 1stSpywareRemoval.com

offering in depth information on spyware, anti-spyware reviews, news and free spyware scans.
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This article may be reproduced as long as the above resource box is included in its entirety.

Computer security for most can be described in 2 words, firewall and antivirus.

Until recently could one install a firewall and an antivirus program and feel quite secure. The risk of something “bad” succeeding with infecting your computer or a hacker to breach your firewall was not likely.

This as internet was filled with computer completely without protection. Easier to attack or infect the completely open computer then fight all installed counter measurements. The viruses spread quickly and if you had protection, you where protected.

The new era has come.

But look around. Read about all new versions of spam control software, software firewalls, antivirus software and similar products.

Of course are they still a good protection against all the normal threats on internet, but the new main focus is the protection they offer against new threats.

Yes, they actually all try to come up with more and more cleaver ways of protecting you from threats not even present!

And how can they do this?

The answer is quite simple.

Most attacks and viruses use variations of known methods to attack or infect. And the new technologies that are being invented all search for “how things are done” instead of “exactly this or that”.

How to find viruses.

The old way, a known virus can be found by using a signature, a known piece of code inside.

The new way, now they look for known actions certain viruses use to accomplish an infection or spreading.

How to recognize an attack.

The old way. Someone connecting to your computer in any way at all (stop them).

The new way, someone connecting via this protocol, to this port, more then 3 times per second and so on.

A couple of examples.

Norton Antivirus 2005 ™ has, Internet Worm Protection. Panda Antivirus ™ has, Trueprevent.

Other companies will follow and this will expand into other areas like firewalls and spam protection.

What’s in it for you?

New protection will catch more virus, more attacks but they will most probably require more configuration from your side as well as a better understanding of how they work. And as always, a more complex system is more likely to give you problems.

So here you are, probably a bit more secure and with a bit more technical problems.

Kenth "The Designer" Nasstrom is the founder of The Designed Software Series. His software can be found at http://www.kndata.com and he also owns http://www.free-newslettertemplates.com as well as http://www.costa-rican-information.com

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has identified “phishing” as the “hottest and most troubling new scam on the Internet.”

What is Phishing?

Phishing is a scam initiated via e-mail. Messages are “fishing” for personal and financial information. Most often, e-mails appear to be from reputable companies (internet service providers, telephone companies, etc), banks, and other financial organizations. The e-mail message often gives a story of the bank needing to update its personal information database or a financial institution claiming your personal data had been lost.

Who Phishes?

Hackers and Scammers looking for personal and financial information use phishing as an effective method of gathering information. Phishers imitate legitimate companies in e-mails to entice people to share passwords or credit-card numbers. Recent victims include:

• Bank of America
• Best Buy
• America Online
• eBay
• PayPal
• Washington Mutual
• MSN (Microsoft Network)

History of Phishing

The term phishing comes from the fact that Internet scammers are using increasingly sophisticated lures as they "fish" for users’ financial information and password data. The most common ploy is to copy the Web page code from a major site — such as AOL — and use that code to set up a replica page that appears to be part of the company’s site. (This is why phishing is also called spoofing.) A fake e-mail is sent out with a link to this page, which solicits the user’s credit card data or password. When the form is submitted, it sends the data to the scammer while leaving the user on the company’s site so they don’t suspect a thing.

Avoid Phishing

Fortunately, common sense can save you from giving away your personal information. For example, be aware for the company requesting information. I have received e-mails from banks I have never had business with. Know that your bank or ISP will never ask for your information out of the blue. Banks do not update their databases and misplace information.

Tips To Avoid Phishing

• If you receive an unexpected e-mail saying your account will be shut down unless you confirm your billing information, do not reply or click any links in the e-mail body.

• Look for words misspelled or other grammatical mistakes.

• Before submitting financial information through a Web site, look for the "lock" icon on the browser’s status bar. It means your information is secure during transmission.

• If you are uncertain about the information, contact the company through an address or telephone number you know to be genuine.

• If you unknowingly supplied personal or financial information, contact your bank and credit card company immediately.

• Suspicious e-mail can be forwarded to uce@ftc.gov, and complaints should be filed with the state attorney general’s office or through the FTC at www.ftc.gov.

Jacob Madison is an internet marketing professional specializing in high-return growth and advanced marketing tactics. Find out more about him at http://www.jacobmadison.com

No, this article isn’t about some new, lose-20-pounds-in-a-week, certified-by-some-tan-Southern-California-doctor diet. It’s about cookies on your computer - what they are, why they are there, and what to do about them. Computer cookies actually have quite a bit in common with their baked counterparts - some are good, some are bad, and they have expiration dates.

Cookies are small text files that a server places onto your hard drive whenever you access a given domain. Cookies typically contain information that the website uses to either customize the page you are viewing or otherwise make your web browsing experience more convenient and enjoyable. The information is stored on your hard drive and accessed whenever you go back to the website that originally gave you the cookie. They usually include an expiration date at which point they will be erased from your computer - it could be when you close your browser; or hours, days, months, or years after it is placed. Some don’t expire at all. At the time of this writing I had a cookie stored on my computer that wasn’t set to expire until Wednesday, February 25th, 2195 at 3:45:13 am - I deleted it.

Before you run out to your browser’s options and delete and block all cookies, let me mention a few common uses of cookies:

* Cookies store information for ’shopping carts’ at online stores. When you select an item and place it in the shopping cart, a cookie is created to remember the item and the price so that you can keep shopping. When you are done shopping you simply click the button to check out and the site accesses the information stored in the cookies to complete your order.

* Cookies can be used to remember logins and passwords. While this initially sounds a little disheartening, the purpose is really to save you time. Sites will remember the information for you so you don’t have to type it in each time you want to access information.

* Cookies help websites customize their content and layout for you. If you are a diehard fan of the local college’s basketball team, and you always access the stats and score from the game at a website, that site might use a cookie to send you straight to your team’s page.

* Cookies help identify whether you have already visited a site. They can also count how many times you have visited the site in a given period of time.

* Cookies remember the last page or position you were on at the site. Like a virtual bookmark, this is especially helpful if you are reading online or accessing several pages of information.

There are many other ways cookies can be used, and there is obvious potential for abuse. You probably wouldn’t eat a cookie given to you by a complete stranger, especially if you didn’t know what was in it. The same common-sense principle holds true while you’re online, and exercising a little caution can save you from a lot of heartache later on. Blocking any and all cookies will guarantee no personal information is leaked through the cookies, but many sites will either not be able to or will choose not to interact with you.

The trick, then, is to let the good cookies through while screening out the bad ones, not at all dissimilar to what you do when you hover over the cookie tray at a party - you take the ones you want and leave the rest behind. This can be accomplished in a few different ways.

First, you can periodically delete all the cookies on your hard drive. This will systematically wipe out all unwanted cookies that have made their way to your computer. Unfortunately, it will also take care of all the good cookies too. If you only use the internet occasionally (i.e. a few minutes a week), this option might work for you.

Second, you can try to go about it manually. Many browsers that allow you to block cookies also include a feature that allows you to include a list of sites from which you will allow cookies. The advantage of this method is it places virtually complete control over cookies into your hands, allowing only those that you want to be placed on your hard drive. The disadvantage is that it can become very burdensome (at times downright annoying) having to constantly update the list of allowed sites.

Third, you can call in some third-party software to help out. The best programs will scan your computer to find all the cookies and put them into a table or list. This saves you the trouble of having to dig around your hard drive to find the files yourself (try looking for a folder named "Cookies"). Many programs will also indicate with some degree of confidence whether a given cookie is wanted or unwanted, and provide a convenient way to delete the ones that you decide you don’t want.

Nick Smith is a client account specialist with 10x Marketing - More Visitors. More Buyers. More Revenue. For great software to help delete cookies, check out ContentWatch, Inc.

“You’ve just won a fabulous vacation or prize package! Now, if you’ll kindly give me your credit card information and social security number for verification purposes, you will receive this awesome gift!”

Now why would they need my credit card or social security number to send me a freebie? Can you say, “identity theft?”

Although there are legitimate reasons for people to need that information, such as a purchase or job application, thieves need it to steal your life and money from you!

Crime officials are reporting that this kind of theft is becoming quite common. Don’t be a victim! Follow a few common-sense suggestions to avoid finding out someone else has taken over your life-along with your bank account!

-Do not allow anyone to borrow your credit cards! Your best friend may be trustworthy, but her boyfriend may not be!

-Don’t provide personal information such as date of birth, credit card numbers, your pin number, mom’s maiden name, or social security number over the telephone unless you initiate the call. Don’t leave mail lying around for strangers to pry into. How well do you really know your teen’s friends?

-Destroy all bills, pre-approved credit card applications, credit card receipts, and other financial information when you no longer need such items.

-Don’t keep private information like pin numbers and such in your purse or wallet. It’s just too risky. We humans are much too forgetful. Be honest, how many times have YOU had to return to a restaurant or friend’s home to retrieve your purse? Is there anything in there that could harm you if it was stolen or lost? Time to check.

-Check your credit reports regularly. To order your report, call the three major credit bureaus at these toll-free numbers: Equifax at (800) 685-1111, Experian at (888) 397-3742, or Trans Union at (800) 888-4213. By law, the most you can be charged for a copy of your report is $8.50. To be safe, consider getting a copy from each of the three companies. If after reviewing your report you spot signs of a possible fraud, report it immediately!

-Keep your passwords and pins confidential and secure. Avoid passwords and pin numbers that will be easy for a thief to figure out. For example, don’t use your name, street address or birth date. Also, change your passwords every once in awhile, just to be safe.

- Get Identity Fraud Insurance. It’s just plain smart.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. Report suspected Internet-based fraud to the Federal Trade Commission or the IFCC (www.ifccfbi.gov/Default.asp), a new joint project of the FBI and the National White Collar Crime.

Kristi Sayles invites you to her Internet Treasures Newsletter at http://treasures.smartauthor.com to learn more valuable tips and freebies.

A little bit of time invested into learning about internet security can go a long way in preventing mishaps on your computer. Temporary internet files are not something we should be afraid of, but we should certainly be careful in how much we trust them and how we deal with them.

Temporary internet files are image, text, and formatting files that are stored on your hard drive by the websites that you visit. They are placed there by the websites without your having to do anything. The files are stored on your computer the first time you visit the site so that the next time you go to that webpage you only have to load new information or files that have changed since the last time you visited - files that have not changed are loaded from the temporary internet files folder at a much faster speed than over the internet.

This seems like an incredibly appealing option, especially to those of us still working at home on dial-up connections (my teenage brother-in-law insists I’m "old school" because I don’t have DSL - I think he may be right). Storing the temporary internet files on the hard drive significantly cuts down the amount of time it takes to completely load and view a website.

There are a few question areas, however, that need to be considered in any discussion about temporary internet files. First, and arguably the most trivial of the concerns, is that you may miss out on all of the updated information the website has to offer. If your browser loads the files from your temporary internet files folder rather than the updated material from the website, you may miss out on an updated football score, or you may get a different image than the one others are viewing. The system is designed so that things like that don’t happen, but the possibility is out there.

Second, storing huge numbers of files can bog down your computer, slowing down its ability to do even the simplest of tasks, such as word processing (a deadly one-two combination if you’re working with dial-up!). Fortunately, you can control the number or size of the files that are being stored on your hard drive. Typically under the Tools>Options menu of your browser you’ll be able to set the amount of your hard drive you’re willing to dedicate to temporary internet files. You may want to set this high or low, depending on your browsing habits and need for speed.

Third, the temporary internet files folder may contain files that contain viruses, inappropriate images or text, and files that could leak personal information to websites. This is obviously a huge concern any time you allow someone virtually unregulated access to your hard drive. Images from an inappropriate website you accidentally stumbled across (it has happened to all of us) may be stored on your hard drive. Corrupted files may be placed there by an unfamiliar website you only visited once. Cookies and other files may potentially spawn popups that cover your screen in a matter of seconds.

Before you grab your pitch fork and storm the beast’s castle, let me mention a few things you can do to bring a little control to your temporary internet files folder without destroying it completely.

I already mentioned limiting the amount of your hard drive dedicated to holding files from visited websites. This is the best option for those who may be less concerned about corrupted or inappropriate files being stored and more concerned about the ability of their Jurassic-era computer to perform at a decent speed. Some versions of the popular browsers won’t allow you to completely eliminate storing files, but you can limit the resources to 1% of your hard drive or a small number of megabytes.

Some opt to regularly clean out their temporary internet files folder - obviously this will eliminate malignant files and free up some space for your computer; but it will also eliminate files you may want. A quick note about the files that begin with "Cookie:" - cleaning out the folder will not actually delete the cookies. The cookie files in the temporary internet files folder are simple files that point the browser to the actual cookie in the "Cookies" folder on your hard drive. If you are interested in truly purging your system of internet files, you’ll need to clean out that folder as well.

In my view, the most judicious option is to utilize available software to manage the content of your temporary internet files. Some files you want because they make your life easier. Some files you don’t want because it bogs down your computer and makes your grandmother blush. Software is available that scans your computer and finds all the internet files (including cookies). The software makes recommendations as to whether the file in question is good, bad, or ugly - all you have to do is decide to keep or trash it, then click the appropriate button.

Temporary internet files can make our internet browsing time a quick and convenient experience. Unfortunately, they may also pose a risk to the security of our hard drives. With a little hands-on management we can keep ourselves, our loved ones, and our computers happy, safe, and protected.

Nick Smith is a client account specialist with 10x Marketing - More Visitors. More Buyers. More Revenue. For great software that helps manage temporary internet files, check out ContentWatch, Inc.

The money being spent online is steadily growing. With billions of dollars being spent each year online, the opportunity to make money on the internet has never been bigger. Unfortunately, with that opportunity come people who want to make money in less than honest ways. We’re going to look at some concrete ways you can identify fraudulent transactions and save yourself a lot of chargeback fees, money and grief.

Get more information from prospective customers.

The more information you have to work with, the better your chances are that you will be able to positively identify fraudulent transactions. At the very least, you need to make sure you get a customer’s name, credit card billing address, phone number and the IP address of the computer currently accessing the order form. You should also get a valid email address. This email address should not be one that comes from a free email service.

Fraudulent transactions occur more frequently from certain countries.

The first thing you should know is that certain countries are more prone to fraudulent transactions than others. If you get an order originating from one of the following countries, you should be suspicious and do more digging. Some of these countries include: Ukraine, Indonesia, Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Egypt, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Morocco, Vietnam, Russia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Israel, Iran, Cameroon, Gambia, and Ghana. This doesn’t mean that every transaction from any of these countries is definitely fraudulent. But you should be very suspicious.

Confirm the address of the customer.

The first thing I do when I get an online order is to check the phone number of the customer against a reverse phone number directory. The majority of my orders come from the United States and Canada. Phone numbers from these countries can usually be entered into reverse directories to find out the address that phone number belongs to. If I can’t get a match for the phone number it servers as a red flag and warrants more investigation.

Lookup the customer’s country and city of origin

I’ve already outlined a long list of countries that should be suspicous to you. How do you determine if your customer placed the order from within one of these banned countries? Simple. You cross reference their IP address with an IP lookup database that can tell you what country they are in. The city they are from and sometimes even ISP they use! If you handle only a few orders a day, you can use an excellent free service at IP2Location.com. If you do handle more volume, IP2Location.com also offers subscription packages at various prices.

Once you determine the country of origin, if it doesn’t match the country the customer listed with their billing information be very careful. Yes, it is possible that your customer could be travelling away from home. It is much more likely that their credit card information has been stolen and it is being used fraudulently. A mismatch between the country reported by IP and the billing address is a big red flag.

Don’t let customers use free email addresses.

A free email address is so easy to setup at most free email services. The odds of your being able to track down the person that registered that free email address are next to none. If at all possible, block all known free email services. The most common include Hotmail, Yahoo, Mail.com, and Gmail. If you can’t block free email addresses in advance, consider a free email address a red flag. A utility you can use to determine if an email address is a known free email is dnsstuff.com. Look towards the bottom left of the page that comes up.

Don’t ship a product until you are sure.

If two or more red flags go up, beware. If you ship a product from a fraudulent transaction, you will very likely be slapped with a chargeback from your credit card company and lose the money from the good. Be skeptical of all orders until everything checks out to your satisfaction. If in doubt, refund the purchase. Too many chargebacks will result in the cancellation of your merchant account. Who needs that?

A little diligence can go a long way to helping you prevent loses from fraudulent transactions. With a little knowledge, you can greatly reduce lost profits due to fraud.

This article was written by Joe Duchesne, president of http://www.yowling.com/, Yowling offers free ecommerce shopping carts with their web hosting plans. Copyright 2005 Yowling. Reprint Freely as long as you provide a clickable link back to my website from this resource box.