10 Things to keep you safe on the internet
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by: Admin
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Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2009 Time: 11:21 AM
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- Never click on a link in an email
One of the biggest scams on the internet is to send you an email that looks like it came from your online bankers or paypal etc, asking you to confirm your login or banking information. They offer a link to what looks like the official website. But it’s not; it’s what’s known as a Phishing website. Once you click on the link and fill in the details, your information is recorded by the scammers and they can then access your accounts and steal your money. If you receive an email, even if you know it to be genuine, don’t click on the link. Open up your browser and type in the web address or use the link in your favourite’s folder. Try and get into the habit of always going to your browser and typing the address in. If the last three letters of the address are .exe, then don’t even put it into your address bar.
- Don’t click on the ‘Remove Me’ link
You may receive a spam email which says: “To be removed from our mailing list, click on the link below”. Don’t do it! Spammers buy lists of email addresses from other spammers and these lists get passed around the spamming community. They don’t know if your email address is live (still in use) or not. That is until you contact them and let them know that it is. Then it is added to a live list and your spam increases.
- Don’t just forward other’s emails
Most people when they receive jokes or interesting information from friends, forward these jokes on to their friends, leaving all those email addresses available for all to see. Eventually yours and your friends email addresses end up on a spammers list. See our article with full instructions on how to, still be able to share your jokes, but not feed the spammers with email addresses. Here’s the address:
http://www.magiwebs.com/articles/computer/spam/how-to-hide-your-mass-email-addresses.html
Copy the address and paste it into your browser.
- Don’t pass on virus warnings
This may sound a bit strange at first, but there are two very good reasons. Firstly 9 out of 10 virus warnings sent by email are hoaxes. Norton and Microsoft NEVER send out email virus warnings. All this does is waste your time and make you look a little silly when some bright spark tells your list that it is a hoax. There is a website that you can go to check whether the email you just received is a hoax: http://www.hoax-slayer.com. They have a pretty good list of all the hoaxes, so check them out first. If you then feel you want to pass the info on, then use the method in 3 above.
The other reason for not passing on virus warnings is that they may have come from the very person setting up the virus. You then click on a link or open up the attachment and bang there you go!
- Don’t open up attachments
This is a pretty obvious one, but we all do it. When a friend sends us a crazy movie clip or power point promo we always click on that little paper clip to have a look. If you’re going to do this, scan it with your anti virus software first. Most anti-virus programs should scan it as it is downloaded, but it doesn’t hurt to be sure.
- Use an anti-virus program
There is a theory that most viruses are made by anti-virus companies to keep themselves in business! If this is so then it’s another good reason to have an anti-virus program. There are many good ones on the market. We recommend Kaspersky, from Kaspersky labs (Google it). The price is very good and it monitors emails and everything else coming into your PC.
- Use the Phishing Filter
Windows Explorer 7 has what is called a Phishing Filter. If you use that browser make sure the filter is enabled. If you go to a website that is not what it is supposed to be i.e. the legitimate website then the Phishing Filter will inform you of that fact and tell you to get the hell out of there! For example if you get an email from Ebay, Paypal or your bank with a link to go to their website, place your cursor over the link. In the address bar at the bottom of the page you will see the address the link is going to. You would expect to see www.paypal.com or www.ebay.com but instead you’ll probably see: http://62.365.125.39/user/FJFGEAFD4545XC44SX/login.php This is a link to a Phishing website.
- Make sure your firewall is enabled.
Windows XP and upwards come with an automated firewall, make sure that it is enabled. To do this right click on your connection icon in the bottom right hand corner next to the date. This is the icon that let’s you know you are connected your ISP. Click on “Change Windows Firewall Settings” In the ‘General’ tab make sure the tick is next to the ‘ON (Recommended) tab. You can add websites and programs you want to access your PC in the “Exceptions” window.
- Use a Spyware removal program.
When you visit some websites they embed bits of programming into your browser called cookies. Cookies are used for a whole host of reasons all of which are not malicious. Some cookies remember your passwords, so that you don’t have to type it every time you visit the site. Some cookies contain spyware. These are bits of programs that monitor which websites you visit in order to send you targeted advertisements and emails. Google were talking about doing just this every time you search for something on their website. Use a Spyware program regularly to get rid of this added intrusion. There are lots of free programs around to do this, Spybot SD, spyware killer etc.
- Use an IP blocking software tool
Every computer connected to the internet has an IP Address. This is a unique identification number. Government bodies, Universities, Copyright companies and other interested parties can monitor your IP address and see which websites you visit and trace your whole browsing history. To many minds this is an invasion of privacy. You can block others seeing your IP address with blocking software. Peer Guardian is the most popular IP blocking software and is free to download.
There are lots of other ways in which you can make your internet experience a safe and secure one, but if you use any of the above it will be a good start to help keep you safe on the net.
If there are any words or phrases you do not understand, Google them for a full explanation. You will find many of the programs mentioned above available in our free downloads section.
Please pass this information on to as many people as possible. If we all did even 25% of the things above, we could make the spammers and spies lives a lot harder and who knows, we might even eradicate them altogether!
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