The Reaction: Computer security

By Carol Gee

Cyber security is a field unto itself, mysterious until you get into it a little bit. I am a novice at it. Fortunately the Department of Homeland Security has a really good website called, "US-CERT: United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team." It is a great page of tips on how to stay computer-safe.

This summary, "The Net's Real Security Problem," is from a Scientific American article from 2006. It is undoubtedly already out of date, but it is still a very helpful overview: To quote:

Even casually savvy computer users these days know to beware of security threats on the Internet. They know that the online universe is a-crawl with computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses and other malicious bits of code, and if they are prudent, they have equipped their computers with up-to-date anti-virus and firewall software for repelling these invaders. They are leery of unsolicited e-mail attachments, and careful about the web sites they visit. They have probably heard about (or experienced) "denial of service" attacks in which malicious hackers direct thousands of computers to bombard a company's servers with requests to shut them down. They probably even know not to fall for "phishing" scams in which hyperlinks take users to phony sites posing as legitimate banks and credit card companies for the purpose of stealing passwords and account information.

What few in the public realize, however, is that the Internet is vulnerable to much deeper levels of fraud-ones that exploit fundamental security gaps in the network protocols themselves. These attacks, often called "pharming," are all but impossible for individuals to guard against or even detect. They represent a growing threat to personal, corporate and national security that the federal government needs to address urgently.

My own security tool box contains these software items:

1) Norton 360 by Symantec. It has turned out to be the best anti-virus program with all in one protection. I have renewed my service annually for several years now, at around $50 per year and have never had a breach that caused me a problem.

2) Advanced SystemCare Free/100% Freeware. This really does work. It is updated often and offers a professional version with a few more bells and whistles. The promo says:

"A Click A Day For Computer Repair, Protection & Optimization. This comprehensive PC-care utility has a one-click approach. Advanced SystemCare Free helps protect, optimize, clean, and repair your computer and Registry –– with daily use."

My toolbox tips and tricks include these that I have found useful over the years:

Use "strong" passwords. This University of Texas at Austin link has several security tips in addition to how to make a strong password. I use a strong password to boot up the program of my notebook, even though it stays at home and I am the only one who uses it.

I use different web browsers and three E-mail addresses. My AT&T Yahoo web browser (used only for e-mail work) has relatively good protections built in. There is an automatic anti-virus scan of every e-mail attachment, for instance. I have three different e-mail addresses: One that I call "public" for online communication, newsletters, memberships, etc. I have another "private" account only for friends and family. And I have a "misc." G-mail address because it is short and easy and has a huge amount of storage. For my blogging browser, I use Mozilla Firefox which has some rather good built-in protections for its plug-ins. Occasionally I use Google's Chrome because is is very clean and simple, and lightning fast. It "crashes" rather easily, but the early security problems with this new browser have now been fixed. Internet Explorer feels outmoded to me.

I do not store my screen names and passwords on my computer. I do not do any banking online. We do buy airline tickets online, from the airline or from Expedia. I have bought pet medicines and flowers online. And I pay for Norton 360 online.

Your computer is subject to search and or seizure without a warrant when you enter of leave the country. So, if you must take it with you, go online to a number of websites to find out how to minimize the risk to your data and privacy. It is highly dicey deal.

I confess. Here are some things I do that I do not recommend, if you want to be ultra safe: I use a standard screen name and password for sites that I have to sign in to every time, or I let the computer remember it in for me. I probably use too many toolbars, notorious for spyware. However, Advanced System Care does a good job of removing spyware and keeping my computer running speedily. I do not back up my data as often as I should, or keep the back-up stored off site. But I do not use my notebook except at home, and I am retired and here most of the time.

And finally, "When donating computer, erase hard drive" is a good article from (8/25/08) Charleston.net/McClatchy News. To quote:

The safest thing is to do a secure erase of the entire hard drive. You can find free tools at download.com and sourceforge.net by searching for "secure erase" or "secure delete."

Here are a few cyber security news tidbits from that same above article :

IBM recently released some disturbing statistics in its twice-yearly X-Force IT security report.

Most critically, 94 percent of all browser-related online hacker exploits occur within 24 hours of a system vulnerability being disclosed to the public, according to the report.

. . . In the first six months of 2008, about 78 percent of Web browser exploits targeted browser plug-ins.

References for cyber security: