10 Tips for safer WWW surfing

How many times have you came across your mail box having weird emails like "click a link as you have a cheque ready"  or "asking for your banking information" having exactly the same type of logo of your Bank and we get tempted to find what it is? Many people have given their personal information, only to find out later that they should have avoided.

In context to this post, I came across a situation with one of my colleague and I would like to share his incident with you. One fine day he received an "Urgent Action required Email" from his Bank stating to go to link and re-validate his account for security reasons, as it stated security reasons he clicked on the link and was asked to enter Bank card number and password, he entered the same and thereafter there was a link to click as Bank was giving promotion for valued clients. He found something suspicious, so he stopped there. After a couple of hours he received a call from Bank, stating he had just completed a huge banking transaction and his account has gone past overdue, which was unusual for the Bank looking at his account history. The Bank had called to confirm the same, and my colleague stated he hasn’t done any transaction of that amount.

He went to Bank right away and stated he had received an email regarding validation of account for Security reasons. The Bank declined for any such email being sent, and changed all his Banking cards and password. After investigation, they found out some one was sending emails to its clients with exactly same logo of Bank and the website almost the same type with some Changes. My colleague got easily carried away as the website was of the same colour as original Bank website.  The Bank did reimburs his money as was due to fraudulent activity  on his account.

Looking at this scenario, I thought let me list some safer Internet usage tips which can be helpful.


Tip #1 Don't click e-mail attachments
Some emails may contain viruses and worms when they arrive on your PC in the form of email  attachments from strangers. You must keep all your Software’s updated to almost nullify to be  effected by such viruses. Some of the file-name extensions that can be dangerous  include .bat, .com, .exe, and .pif. Virus authors may enclose their codes in .zip or .rar archive file.   

Tip #2 Do not share passwords

Passwords should be strong and keep them private. Never share your passwords, even with friends, family, or computer support personnel.

Tip #3 Do not click on random links

There are lots of attractive offers when you are surfing on internet. You might see a message coming up "You are the winner for today" or "Your IP address has been selected to win a Device". Do not click on those links, you might feel it is just a normal webpage opened, but some websites shall put their link on backend and which can cause serious problem like your personal information might be monitored or transferred when you are on internet.

  

Tip #4 HTTPS websites are safer than HTTP

HTTP is a non secure website, meaning if you enter your credit card info into it or doing online purchasing, it could be seen by someone you most likely don't want it to be seen by. HTTPS is secure (hence the S). This means it's an encrypted connection, so (theoretically) the data cannot be read by anyone except you and the intended recipient (the server). Check for secure  transaction info. The best companies will have many security devices in place. You may see a  gold lock at the bottom of the page to indicate a secure site.

Tip #5 Remove unnecessary programs

Check your programs installed in your Operating System . For Windows or Mac confirm the programs you have installed are the one’s which you have installed. Verify and confirm no unknown software is not running on your PC or Mac. 

For Windows Check in Add/Remove programs if you have XP, or Program and Features in Vista, or Programs section of your Windows 7 to remove unwanted software’s.

For Mac Check in Application folder and send them to Trash also check in Libraries sub folders.

Tip #6 Get a good anti-virus and turn on the firewall

Use a good anti-virus and regularly update the anti-virus software. Updating anti-virus is a  critical element of security protection.

A firewall is like a security guard that stands between your computer and the Internet. It examines all traffic routed between your computer and the Internet to see if it meets certain criteria. If it does, it is allowed in. If it doesn't, it is stopped.

Tip #7 Don't let the computer save your passwords

Never save login information on a shared computer or a work or public facility computer.  When you check your emails or any other website which requires username and password, computer might ask you if you want to save the information, never save them.

Tip #8 Logout / Lock your computer

You must logout of your computer even though you are going to be away for a moment.  Forgetting to log out poses a security risk with any computer that is accessible to other people (including computers in public facilities, offices, and shared housing), because it leaves your account open to abuse. Imagine, you are in process of  sending an email and suddenly you had to move from your desk, someone could sit at your computer and have access to your personal information. Always logout from your computer. Make sure you always backup your data using Online Backup or any other media.

Tip #9 Say no to Pop-Ups

Pop-ups are generally a new window opens on your computer when you are using internet. They are generally advertising, but they can also be malicious software that can be potential virus. Sometimes the pop-ups will look like a security warning like "Your computer is at risk and is having following files infected", it might tell you to download a program. Don’t rely on such messages. These messages are fake messages that encourage you to download "security software" , which can steal your personal information from your computer. You should click on “X” on top right corner of that screen without clicking on link, and thereafter turn off your internet and run your anti-virus.

Tip #10 Change your passwords once every set period of time

Make a calendar to change passwords frequently. Changing passwords constantly make it difficult for people to hack into your accounts. Try not to repeat the same passwords more than once. Make your passwords hard to guess, like make it mix of letters, numbers, it might be hard to memorize, especially if you have a bunch of logins. There are several software’s available through which you can manage your passwords, whereby you have to remember only one login information or you can also maintain a Excel Sheet and protect the same with password.

Till next post, Enjoy Safe Surfing.

6 Best Practices for Computer Security

My today’s post is regarding Computer Security.

True, Internet has made world small and you can get every information by going to WWW. The major issue that has created problems is Security of your Computer. Improper usage can leave you in trouble and if you are in networked environment where there are hundreds of users connected it can be a nightmare.

By following basic security principles we can lower or avoid security issues. Let me discuss with you a interesting incident that had happen to one of my clients. As I have done Software Implementation related to financial part of companies, I generally discuss with them what Security of data plan they have in place.

This customer had decided to keep separate network of 5 computers for implementation, detaching them from rest of the network. So, mainly the data we had was about the Software that we were implementing. The IT in charge use to do backup of data. We were almost about to complete the implementation with all the data feed in after 2 ½ months of hard work and we had reached the stage of closing the project. One fine day, as usual our project team started to work and all our data was lost, there was virus on the server which knocked out the system. We were all stunned, the IT people of the company worked hard and stated they shall have to format the Server. We were relieved that backup was there but the department had missed backup for last 2 days in which we had inserted 2000 entries of inventory products. We had  another backup plan, wherein  we as implementers, use to take backup on own devices, which helped us to reinstate the data back and saved 2 days of repeated work and advance the  closing of project successfully. The IT department found the virus had came from one the emails received by a user to install an application.

This prompted me to write this blog regarding Computer and data security.

Top Six things you can do to protect your computer

ü  Use Security Software

ü  Maintain current software and updates

ü  Windows Security

ü  Backup regularly

ü  Use strong passwords

ü  Don't install software from untrusted sources

Use Security Software: The most important thing you can do to keep your computer safe is to install and maintain security software, which protects your computer from viruses and spyware. Such security programs perform two general functions: scanning for and removing viruses and spyware in files on disks, and monitoring the operation of your computer for virus-like activity (either known actions of specific viruses or general suspicious activity). Most software can perform both of these tasks.

Install an antivirus application, and keep your virus pattern files up to date.

In general, it's not a good idea to have more than one antivirus program installed on your computer. Each program may interpret the actions of the other as viral, therefore giving you false warnings about virus-related activities.

For antispyware for Windows computers, use Windows Defender.

Maintain current software and updates: Use a secure, supported operating system. Keep your software updated by applying the latest service packs and patches. For Windows, you can schedule Automatic Updates to automatically download and install available updates.

Windows Security: Login as a Standard user most of the time. You can browse the Internet, send e‑mail, and use your applications, all without an administrator account. When you want to perform an administrative task, such as installing a new program or changing a setting that will affect other users, you don't have to switch to an administrator account; Windows will prompt you for permission or an administrator password before performing the task. I also recommend that you create standard user accounts for all the people who use your computer.

Back up regularly: This goes for your important personal files and your system files. You should have an automatic backup schedule, so that you don’t miss any of your important data. You should have your data residing at a different location like if you are using laptop, you should your data somewhere else too.

Use strong passwords: Strong passwords should be longer than six characters and a mix of numbers, letters (both upper- and lower-case), and symbols. Strong passwords should not contain your name or family names, birthdates, or addresses.

Don't install software from untrusted sources: Don't just download any file or program you come across through an internet search, unless you know it can be trusted. Download software from reputable sources, and then check the newly downloaded software thoroughly, using reputable virus detection software on a locked disk, for signs of infection before copying it to a hard disk.

You can also refer to data protection – best practices in my previous blog which shall give you more information regarding which backup strategy to go for.