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Tips on computer problems and internet and information security -- provided courtesy of Craig Herberg
Please be sure to check out the Tips Archive
- How do I find Word 2003 commands in Word 2007?
- How could unsecured wireless networks threaten public safety?
- Criminals have long known that they could do nefarious deeds online in nearly complete anonymity, by using unsecured wireless networks owned by others. Online activity is readily traced to the owner of these unsecured wireless networks, but not to others who easily use them with laptops or other wireless devices. In this way, online pedophiles and identity thieves can go undetected. Additional information is available in the article, Wireless networks giving bad guys an edge. Please do your part by securing your wireless network.
- What is pretexting and why the sudden interest in it?
- Pretexting is a form of social engineering used to obtain confidential information to which the pretexter has no authorization from the victim. This practice has received a lot of press regarding an investigation of a Hewlett-Packard boardroom leak, when investigators apparently used pretexting to obtain the telephone records of Hewlett-Packard directors and employees, as well as reporters who covered the company. Pretexting is frequently used when other means of obtaining information, such as subpoena or search warrant, are unavailable or inconvenient. Strong demand, lucrative fees, and lax information handling practices keep pretexters in business. Any organization holding confidential or proprietary information should constantly review and update their information handling practices, and regularly conduct security awareness training sessions. Nobody wants their business to be known as the company that was tricked into improperly disclosing their customers' confidential information.
- What security suite(s) do you recommend?
- There are only two that we strongly recommend: Norton Internet Security (NIS) 2008 and ZoneAlarm Security Suite (ZSS) v7.x. In our opionion,
NIS has a more user-friendly interface, a slightly better antivirus engine, and much better anti-spyware engine, and ZSS has a vastly superior firewall and spam filter. NIS 2008 is much faster and less resource intensive than previous versions. Both provide automatic updates and scanning, but only Norton provides current antivirus definitions for download on its web site. These fresh antivirus definitions can be copied to a thumb drive and used to update the definitions of a computer before reconnecting it to the internet.
The latest release of ZSS has hourly anti-virus updates.
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