Lionheart Group Scam Prevention Toolkit

I Looked Out My Window And There It Was, Evidence Of Global Warming

January 6th, 2010. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

I always thought global warming was a hoax . I mean, come on, is the planet really getting warmer each year? Today, though, I saw it with my own eyes, the glorious sunshine on what should have been a cold winter’s day – A quick change of clothes was in order, I feel so much cooler in my shorts and t-shirt. The weathermen said this was the coldest winter since records began in Britain. They are clearly deluded – They also said that we hadn’t had this much snow since those records began either. Are they on drugs? This here photographic evidence clearly proves otherwise – I am therefore, completely converted. No longer will I believe that global warming is a hoax or conspiracy designed for hitting us with higher taxes or who knows what else. It is quite obviously a genuine phenomenon that poses a very real threat to society. I for one am glad though as I won’t be needing my heating on this winter I Looked Out My Window And There It Was, Evidence Of Global Warming is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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I Looked Out My Window And There It Was, Evidence Of Global Warming

Newspapers and Their Often Useless How-To Fight a Debt Collector Articles

January 4th, 2010. Published under Scams. No Comments.

I read a lot of news, and I mean a *LOT* of news every day. I keep tabs on all sorts of things, mainly debt collection and debt collectors. Especially the abusive ones. I have seen a growing pattern of newspaper articles titled along the lines of “How to Deal With Debt Collectors”,

If Hackers Attack Your Business Then You Can Be Held Legally Responsible

January 4th, 2010. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

The next step for mostly anyone that has a brick and mortar store set up out in the real world is to create an online virtual space for their customers to shop in. Of course anyone that is in business has heard of the great advantages that can be gained when you bring your store online. You have access to a lot more customers in a global arena. Plus the use of the latest and greatest software allows your transactions to be made easily without any problems. All you have to do is to take the credit card, process it, and get ready to take the order, right? Wrong, having your business online is a great way to make extra money but there are some considerations that are there that you can not take lightly. One of those are the very serious security issues that can arise from taking someone’s credit card online. If this is handled the wrong way you can be held legally responsible. Right now there is a case going on between the financial institution Capital One and an electronic testing firm from Louisiana. The name of the company is JM test systems and they had more than $97,000 stolen through the use of illegal bank transfers. Capital One is stating that it is not their fault and they are not involved with the transaction beside letting it go through their systems. How this case will pan out is anyone’s guess and will, undoubtedly, be expensive in either case. Therefore, it pays to take sure security seriously. When you are a company that takes a person’s credit card number, you must have the best security that you can possibly afford. You have to be certain that the protection of the numbers is your number one priority and that you take it seriously. If you are a small business the best thing that you can do is to allow a third party entity that is trusted to handle your credit card processing. Look at the companies that get the best reviews and use them. These people are professionals and handle security threats on a daily basis. They will be able to handle the security of your customers personal data better than you can. You have to make sure that when you decide to take orders online that you do not take this responsibility lightly. People are entrusting their credit card numbers in your hands. If you are the one that slips up by not providing enough security then you can be legally liable. If Hackers Attack Your Business Then You Can Be Held Legally Responsible is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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If Hackers Attack Your Business Then You Can Be Held Legally Responsible

Trend Micro Announces 30% Discount On Internet Security Products

December 24th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

Everybody wants to feel safe and secure when surfing the internet and the best way to achieve that goal is through having quality products protecting your computer. That means an antivirus program at the very least and quite possibly a full internet security suite. One of the most notable security vendors is Trend Micro who have today announced a 30% price reduction on many of their products. Make it a Merry Christmas for both of us by bagging a great discount whilst earning me a commission To benefit from this great discount just use the coupons below between December 25th and January 10th – For United States customers Save 30% off Trend Micro Internet Security! Coupon Code: shoptrendm Save 30% off Trend Micro Antivirus plus AntiSpyware 2010! Coupon Code: shoptrendm Save 30% on Trend Micro Internet Security Pro! Coupon Code: shoptrendm For my fellow Brits Save 30% on Trend Micro Home & Home Office products! Coupon Code: shoptrendm For everyone else Spar 30% av Trend Micros hele linjen av Home og Home Office-produkter! Coupon Code: shoptrendm Bespaar 30% van de gehele lijn van Trend Micro’s van Thuis en Thuiskantoor producten! Coupon Code: shoptrendm Sconto del 30% della intera linea di Trend Micro Home & Home Office prodotti! Coupon Code: shoptrendm Économisez 30% de toute la ligne de Trend Micro of Home & Home Office produits! Acheter maintenant Sparen Sie 30% der gesamten Linie von Trend Micro Home & Home Office Produkte! Coupon Code: shoptrendm Trend Micro Announces 30% Discount On Internet Security Products is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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Trend Micro Announces 30% Discount On Internet Security Products

Have Researchers Found A Way To Bypass Microsoft Bitlocker Security Technology?

December 18th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

In the last several iterations of the Microsoft Windows operating system they have touted the availability of higher security on the system. The newer security features included the forced nag screen that came up when installing a program that could be harmful to your computer. Also, the new command that you must have administrative access to be able to change certain settings that could damage the computer. One security feature that was praised above all was the Bitlocker system. You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video This technology allowed people to encrypt their hard drives in case it was stolen. It now seems that the technology has a flaw that allows it to be bypassed. The security test lab named Fraunhofer SIT discovered a way that they could get around the Bitlocker encryption. The way that they bypass the system is completely software based and requires physical access to the machine. It involves booting the system with Bitlocker on it from a separate device. This device can be a USB drive or another computer. Once it is ready, the attacker can then replace the boot code of the Bitlocker system with a piece of code that records the user provided key. Once that key is recorded ,the person is able to reboot the system back to its unmodified state. This attack even works if a person has the Trusted Platform Module turned on. The Trusted Platform Module is another part of the Microsoft security system that until now was not able to be bypassed. I’ve obviously made this sound simpler than it is as I don’t want to be teaching anyone how to do this but, in reality, it is far from simple. It is very involved and not at all easy to pull off. Overall the Bitlocker security system is still a very safe way to encrypt your files and folders. They did not find a way to break the actual encryption, they merely found a way to bypass it. You will not have to worry about your average attacker knowing how to do anything this complicated. The system is still very secured and should keep you worry free. Have Researchers Found A Way To Bypass Microsoft Bitlocker Security Technology? is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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Have Researchers Found A Way To Bypass Microsoft Bitlocker Security Technology?

Inheritance Scams

December 16th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

If you receive an email, or notification via regular mail, from an ‘estate locator’ claiming that there may be an unclaimed inheritance to which you are entitled then don’t get excited too quickly. Sure, there are times when someone dies and leaves a sum of money to people who didn’t know them, or didn’t expect to inherit anything from them, but that tends to be the exception rather than the rule. So, if you do receive such a notification from an ‘estate locator’ suggesting that you have an inheritance due then remember that if something sounds too good to be true it typically is. THE INHERITANCE CON Con artists will adopt any scheme that they think will part a fool from his money. They will tell you that you are due an inheritance and that they have found you by undertaking extensive research. Don’t feel flattered that they have found you though – inheritance scammers bulk mail the same message to hundreds, or even thousands, of people at the same time, hoping that one or two may reply. Those people who do reply are then enticed into a classic advanced fee scam , being told that they need to pay for various expenses before they can claim their inheritance. Such fees can include estate reports, legal costs and processing fees. Needless to say, this money disappears without a trace and no inheritance is ever forthcoming. PREVENTION Keeping yourself safe from inheritance scams is relatively easy and just requires some commonsense. If you receive mail from an ‘estate locator’ then check sources other than the ones they quote to you, such as relatives and obituaries. Additionally, business services such as the BBB and the AG’s office could tell you if you are being approached by an individual or company that has been investigated in connection with inheritance scams. Remember too that legitimate law firms and executors of wills will never require you to pay a fee in order to determine whether you are entitled to an inheritance or not. If you have been unfortunate enough to become a victim of such a scheme then report it to the authorities so that others do not have to experience the same fate. Inheritance Scams is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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Inheritance Scams

Hacker’s Holiday Tricks

December 7th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

The quick rise of the use of the Internet for people to go shopping has been staggering. For years people were afraid to place their credit card online since they were confronted with so many horror stories of shoppers being ripped off, while they watched the nightly news. Now that the Internet has been in the majority of peoples homes for close to a decade, there is a new comfortable feeling with expanding the use of it. People have educated themselves on how to conduct their online purchases and what common scams to look out for. That is a good thing but there are some stories that do not get emphasized enough. One story that seems to get downplayed is that on the holidays criminals tend to ratchet up their activities. They pull out all of the stops in their scams. They know that at this time of year there will be a lot of targets online so they attempt to fool as many of them as they can. Holiday Scams To Watch Out For – Ecards Here are some tricks that the bad guys will pull especially during the holidays. The use of a digital e-card as an attack vector really increases during the holidays. More and more people are using these types of cards to send their holiday greetings to people that they know. Since the holidays are such a busy time, this is a great time-saver. It is a great item to give to people, especially if they are just casual acquaintances. It lets them know that you are thinking about them without taking the time to go to the store and then filling out hundreds of cards. The bad guys know this and they will attempt to get you to spread their malicious malware to your friends using this information. When you are using an e-card, make sure that it is from a trusted site. If you are receiving an e-card, make sure that you scan it first. Also contact the person that sent it to you – this allows you to make sure that they really sent it. Holiday Scams To Watch Out For – Review Sites Another method of attack that will increase during the holidays is Hackers using fake review sites to spread malware. During this time of year, many more people using web sites to get reviews on products so hackers will set up review sites earlier in the year, keep it legit, and then when the holidays come around, load it with malware for their visitors to receive. This can confuse people, since there is a good chance that they have been to the site before to look at reviews of similar products. If you have an updated browser and an updated antivirus program running, you should be protected from most attacks of this kind. Even if a site seems legit, during this time of year make sure that you keep your guard up. Holiday Scams To Watch Out For – Your Kids! Our final method of attack that will be on the increase during the holidays are hackers using your child’s Internet activity to attack your computer. You will have to be careful and make sure that you monitor your children, especially those in the 8 – 12 year old range. Hackers know that kids will click on just about anything, so they will hide a lot of their malware in kid’s sites and games. Kids will become excited by the sight of Santa Claus and other holiday figures and will want to interact with them. They may seem innocent but they will cause just as much damage to your computer as if they were from an adult site. Educate your kids on what to click on and make sure that the sites that they are allowed to visit are limited. Also look to invest in software that is made especially for the protection of kids on the Internet, or get them their own kids browser . I have gone over several ways that hackers might try to attack you during the holiday season. Make sure that you protect yourself by updating all of the security software that you have on your computer. Also be careful of new sites that are just popping up around this time. Hacker’s Holiday Tricks is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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Hacker’s Holiday Tricks

The Use Of Charities To Run Scams On The Internet

December 4th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

One of the things about the holidays is the good feeling that people seem to display that is not there during the rest of the year. A lot of this goodwill gets displayed in the form of giving to charities . It helps a person feel good about themselves. They feel like they are helping someone else in need. That feeling is unrivaled to anything else in the world. This mood can be spoiled very quickly when they find out that their good deed went punished. This happens a lot on the Internet in the form of a scam . The bad guys of the Internet never take a day off, even during the holidays. It is up to you to make sure that you keep yourself on guard during the holiday season. There are several ways that an attacker will try to take advantage of your goodness this holiday. The number one way that this will happen is through a charity email that will be sent out to hundreds of thousands of people. This email will be a legit email but from a fake organization. They will try to sell you a sob story on how needy their cause is and how it is up to you to help them. They may even try to do a hard sell by sending information to your house about the charity in question. Do not fall for it. You have the Internet, be smart and use it. Do some research on the charity. This will let you know very quickly if the charity is a legitimate organization. If they have a negative rating or no record of the charity at all then you know that they are a fake organization. Another way that people will use a charity against an unsuspecting victim is to send you a tainted email. This email will try to pull at your heart strings so that you will visit the site in question. This site will be loaded with malware that will be used to infect your computer. Once again this can be avoided by doing some research on the charity in question before you visit any suspicious links. If you do click on the link, then having the latest in anti virus software protection will help to large extent from having your computer become infected. You must be careful during this holiday season. People have bad intentions 365 days of the year. Just because it is the holidays, do not let down your guard while you surf the Internet. The Use Of Charities To Run Scams On The Internet is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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How To Communicate Securely Through A Network With SSH

December 1st, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

When you take your computer onto a strange network, it pays to be highly suspicious and even paranoid about the situation. There are many tricks that are out there now that allows malicious hackers to gather your information as the packets transmit through the air. Many people need to access their work computer when they are in a remote location and this action requires traveling over strange networks. Some people only need a command line client to be able to access the office server. The SSH  protocol allows a command line client to be able to access a work server securely through encrypted data packets. Let’s explain how the program works and why it is one of the best solutions out there. SSH The SSH protocol has been around for a long time. It started in 1995 as a small free project but turned out to be so useful that the project just grew and grew. When the idea of networks first came about, the thoughts of security were secondary to thoughts about the speed of the network. People would use programs such as Telnet to access from remote locations and transmit data back and forth. Then in the late 80’s and throughout the 90’s security proved to be a real big issue and tools were created to address that issue. A replacement for Telnet, which was lacking encryption and other secure features, was needed. This created the desire for a program such as SSH. SSH is just the security protocol and there are plenty of clients that make use of that protocol. The most popular being the putty program. It has gained the respect of the security community and seems to be the favorite by a large margin. Once you have installed a client such as putty you just put in your log in information and pick which type of encryption you would like to use. After that is done you can now use it to log into your server. You can now transmit your data back and forth without the gnawing feeling that somebody can be easily dropping in on your communications. The use of SSH to log into your remote server is one the best ways to make sure that your data stays secure. If you in any way concerned about a network that you are using remotely then make sure that you pick the best way to keep your communication secured. How To Communicate Securely Through A Network With SSH is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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How To Communicate Securely Through A Network With SSH

Understanding Encryption

November 29th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

Encryption takes data in its original (plaintext.) form and uses a mathematical algorithm (cipher) and an encryption key to transform it into an unreadable form (ciphertext). Decryption takes ciphertext and transforms it back into plaintext, which once again uses the cipher in conjunction with a key. What do you think of when you hear the word encryption ? Is it spies sending their superiors information in secret code? Perhaps you visualize windowless rooms in some secret government facility where pale, bespectacled code-breakers pour over ss of secret messages and try to decipher them? This might happen in the movies, but the code-breaker today is just as likely to be a 14-year-old script kiddy , and the secret facility his bedroom. He enjoys a slice of pizza and listens to his pirated music collection while he uses tools written by a real hacker to crack the encryption on your network. Encryption is an incredibly useful security tool. It can prevent crackers from sniffing information on your WLAN, it secures authentication of computers and users, and it can protect data on hard drives. However, not all encryption is created equal. Some methods are stronger than others, and even strong encryption can be undermined by poor implementation or improper use.

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Understanding Encryption

Protecting Your Computers With A Personal Firewall

November 28th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

A firewall protects your network from unauthorized trespassers. Many routers have firewall functions built in to check traffic leaving or entering the network, but you also should run a personal firewall on each client computer on your WLAN . Personal firewall software usually costs around $40 and it is often bundled with antivirus software. A personal firewall is an application that runs on your computer and protects it against unauthorized access. Like a hardware firewall, it’s configurable to allow or disallow different types of traffic to enter and leave your PC. Personal firewalls monitor ports, which are numbered software addresses that your computer uses for different networking tasks. For example, a Web server communicates through port 80, an e-mail server through port 25. Many of these ports aren’t needed by your PC, and a good personal firewall closes or blocks unused or unneeded ports to prevent an intruder from accessing your computer through one of them. A personal firewall also can monitor activity on your PC and alert you when an application attempts to reach the Internet or your WLAN. This is important because some worms and Trojan horse software attempt to use your computer to infect other computers, or to “phone home” to a cracker so that he can get into your computer. Personal firewalls are an effective way to protect individual computers on your WLAN. Read more on Firewalls .

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Protecting Your Computers With A Personal Firewall

The Tell-Tale Signs That Your Computer May Have Become Infected With A Virus

November 27th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

These days most people use their computers on a fairly regular basis. I would even go as so far to say that most people may be on their computers for at least up to an hour a day. That figure would be people that are using the computer strictly for recreational purposes only. We would have to add to that figure if we included people who are using their computer for work and play. It has become the center of our entertainment and work place universe, so most people get to know their machines very intimately. When you use any kind of tool on a regular basis you start to get a feel when something is wrong with it. You may not be able to tell what is exactly wrong but you may have a gut feeling that things are not right. Viral Infection When it comes to using your computer there are signs that it may be infected by a virus without running a virus scanner. Lets go over a couple of those signs. Keep in mind that this is not a surefire list that will reveal a virus on your system. Some viruses are sneaky and do their best to make sure that you do not know that they are on your system. They want to be able to collect data or use your computer resources without you knowing about it. That is why it is still a good ideal to run an antivirus scanner on a regular basis, with or without signs of foul play. Others times some of these signs that I am about to mention may show up but there is no infection on the computer. There may be a program running that you do not know about or a problem with the hardware. Signs Of An Infection Either way the signs that we are going to discuss are just that, signs. They in no way mean that you definitely have a virus. It means that you should do a quick scan with an antivirus program because there is a possibility that you may have a bug in your system. The first sign that you may have a virus or other infection in your system is that you might have a lot of activity going on in your Internet connection. Your computer connects to the Internet and your home network a lot in the process of everyday computing. Most of the time it is connecting for things that you do not know about but they are of a legit purpose. It may connect to the ISP to update its status or it may be even talking to your router to pull information from it. So just because you are not actively browsing the web and you see the light become active does not mean something is automatically wrong. The time to be worried that something is wrong is if the Internet light that you have on your router is going crazy all day long. If there is a constant sending of data packets out your computer and your browser is not open, now it may be time to be concerned. Slow Responses Another sign that you may have an infection on your system is when at certain times your computer may slow to a crawl while you are using it. This is especially noticeable after you start up the computer and only have certain programs open and you are not actively using them. If there is nothing running on your computer, and yet it is still moving very slowly, then there may be a good chance that there is an infection somewhere on your computer. You can click cntrl-alt-del and call up the task manager to see if you can pinpoint the problem. If there is a task taking up a lot of the CPU time and you or Google do not recognize the name then it is definitely time to run an antivirus check. Pop Up Plague Another sign that is not so discreet is the emergence of pop ups on your system when you are not connected to the Internet. This is most likely the sign of malware that has been planted on your computer and not necessarily a virus. You will still want to run an antivirus check to make sure that there is no infection. After the antivirus scan, make sure that you run a spyware analysis program on your computer as well. I have shown you several signs that may indicate that you have a virus or other infection on your computer. If you are a frequent computer user then keeping a look out on any kind of abnormal computer behavior can be the first step in not becoming a victim of the bad guys.

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The Tell-Tale Signs That Your Computer May Have Become Infected With A Virus

How Can I Help My Elderly Friends And Relatives Protect Themselves On The Internet?

November 24th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

For many of us, we have grown up in an age of computers and electronic devices all around us. So when the era of the internet came to pass, there was a leap of knowledge that was needed to adjust but the divide was not that great. For the elderly among us, they can remember a time before the digital age and some of the new technology can seem enticing but yet strange and alien at the same time. Most scams run on the internet today are perpetrated against the elderly. Hopefully I can give you some tips to protect your loved ones. Protecting Your Loved Ones Some people will make a joke and say if you want to protect people from the dangers of the Internet then get a Mac or Linux box and tell them not to use Windows. This is funny but not true especially these days. Macs are becoming more and more popular and everyday new exploits are being found that can be used against them. Exploits are becoming more common and big business on all systems so security is a top priority for all of them. The fact is that most people use a Windows version operating system so you will have to show them how to protect themselves on such machines. Email Security The first thing that you will want to tell them is to be skeptical when it comes to email. People believe that it takes a highly technical genius to scam people on the internet. This is simply not true. Most attacks on people, especially the elderly, are low tech email scams. They will either involve sending a link to a person to get their information through phishing or just a straight out direct scam to get the person to send them money. A lot of the elderly believe everything that they read in their emails and have to be told the many, many different ways that people can be scammed through them. Malicious Programs Another thing that they must be instructed on, is not to open any programs that are sent to them outside of their family or friends. Scammers will send friendly looking e-cards and other digital goodies through an email attachment. Most people would not think that an e-card with hearts and flowers on it would hold a digital ticking time bomb. Looks can be deceiving though. The elderly, just like everyone else, must be taught that attachments, no matter what they look like, can be dangerous. Safe Communications A new attack but one that is growing everyday is the use of the software program Skype to send links to a phishing site. There are a lot of elderly people that use Skype as a cheap and easy way to talk to and see videos of their loved ones. Their relatives might set it up for them so they can be confused as to who is sending a link to them. Skype has a lot of spammers now and the elderly must be warned that it has become just like their emails so they must remain vigilant. Hopefully I have gone over several ways that you can help protect the elderly in your life when they use a computer. It is a new world that they are in so maybe you can help them navigate it.

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How Can I Help My Elderly Friends And Relatives Protect Themselves On The Internet?

How Do I Secure Windows 7?

November 23rd, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

All computer users should aspire to work in a safe environment. Regardless of what your profession is, and the purpose behind using your computer, you should always be aware of the dangers and be on the lookout for the means to keep the data stored in your computer secure from all possible external dangers. Since Microsoft have recently released their latest operating system,Windows 7, you may be wondering how you can make your new operating system more secure and safer. Microsoft was mentioning the robust security related features of Windows 7 long before its launch. So, if you can make the best of the features and options offered by Windows 7, you can make your computer much more secure. Below are some of the ways that would enhance the security levels of your computer powered by Windows 7 – Shield your computer with an updated and robust Antivirus program (most preferably Internet Security Package) protection system. This is the first and foremost thing to do while you are trying to keep your computer safe from all the cyber threats regardless of the operating system you are working on. Since the biggest threat for any computer is viruses, malware, Trojans, and other malicious program, you need to be smart while making a choice. Windows 7 offers an amazing data protection scheme namely BitLocker Drive Encryption. Using the BitLocker scheme offered by Win 7, you can either choose to protect the data on the partition of where the operating system is installed or all the partitions. BitLocker will not allow anybody to access the files until and unless they enter the correct password. It is just like protecting your money in a safe protected by a number lock system. Use User Account Control (UAC) as Microsoft have made huge improvements in the system. Depending on the type of the user (Administrator or Normal user) UAC pre-sets the security features of the operating system. If you have logged in as a normal user, then you will be served with the most secured settings whereas the Administrator has the right to tweak the security settings as per his requirements. Windows 7 offers Internet Explorer 8 as the default web browser. So, if you are using IE 8 make sure that you enable the SmartScreen Filter option. SmartScreen is directly connected to Microsoft and their local database which educates and warns you about malicious web sites which could harm you computer. Like any other natural calamity, computer crashes can be unexpected and also destructive in many aspects. So, the wise thing is to be prepared for the worst. Navigate to “Control Panel > System and Security > Backup and Restore” to back up the data on your computer . Always enable the Automatic Updates from Microsoft. This will not only enhance your operating system’s performance but also updates it against all the latest threats and loopholes. The increasing popularity of the internet has led to a larger number of crimes being committed on the web. Only by being proactive about your own security can you minimise the risks of you becoming the next victim.

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How Do I Secure Windows 7?

Using A Virtual Machine To Protect Your Computer

November 22nd, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

If you are a person who works with a computer on a daily basis then you will gather a lot of data on your computer that you are going to want to keep secure. The first level of protecting your data is to create back ups that will make sure that your data is available if anything goes wrong. Also, if your operating system supports it, you can create a kind of restore point for your data and installed programs on your computer. This will create an image that will bring your computer to its form on the date of the restore point that you set. Virtual Machine If you do not have time for that or a back up, a great way to protect your data when you are surfing the web or doing other dangerous activities is to use a virtual machine. A virtual machine is a program that you can set up on your computer that will allow you to use another operating system on top of the one that you are already using. It will give you the same rights and abilities that using the host operating system gives you. You can run programs and surf the web, all in an protected environment. There are ways for hackers to get around this security blanket but they are very complicated and not widely distributed. With software like this you can now run a Windows machine and if you feel an operation is not safe for that machine you can open up the VM and run it in Linux. VMWare The most popular virtual machine that is out there right now is called VMWare . This is the leader in the world of Virtual machines as of right now. They give you a very good free version of their software that you can run indefinitely. This is great when you already have a VM Image already set up. If you want to create your own virtual machine then you will have to use the paid version of the software. Alternatives Other companies that are in the same space include Microsoft and several open source versions that are available on Linux and Windows. The Microsoft version is called Virtual PC. They also give away a free version that will allow you to run other operating systems. There are several different variants of virtual machines on Linux. The most popular being Xen and Virtual box (which also runs on Windows). Also if you want to run a VM without a lot of hassle, there is a Linux distribution that is call Wubi. It is sort of a virtual machine but instead of being a program that runs an operating system, it is itself the operating system. You can install this on Windows just like any other program and when you open it up it will be running the Ubuntu distro of Linux. This is also a very reliable way to keep your data secure from any dangerous operations. I have given you several ways that you can keep your computer’s data secure from any unruly virus that might infect your computer. If you have important files and you need to go the extra mile past antivirus then running a virtual machine is a good way to go.

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Using A Virtual Machine To Protect Your Computer

Using Software To Recover Your Data

November 20th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

Data recovery can be a really hard process if you don’t understand or know what it is that you are doing. When a person is having to perform data recovery that means that either their folder or file has become encrypted. After your file or folders are encrypted, it can cause damage to your computer and you must take certain steps to get the data back that was lost. There are lots of ways that you can recover data from your computer. Some people download freeware that walks them step by step on how to recover their data while others do it straight from their computer. If you decide to do it yourself you will find that the method of data recovery will vary depending on what kind of computer that you’re using. Mac, Windows Vista and Windows 7 are all a bit different when it comes to this process. That’s another reason why people decide to use a free program to recover their data. For beginners, the best way to go about getting your data back is using the free software program. Most of the programs require you to download the software. Before you begin, they usually ask for your email address. Once you provide them with your email address you can review the directions that they give. When you have problems, you can contact customer service and they will be there to help. That is another reason why downloading and using software to recover data is a really good thing when you are new. If you decide to do this by yourself, you won’t be able to have any help. In order to make sure that you have a really good program, do some research on it first before you decide to download the software and see what people are saying about it. After you have downloaded and finished the data recovery, make sure that you back things up. You can back them up with buying a flash drive or floppy disk. If you haven’t backed up your files and pictures, you should do it soon. Mistakes can happen at anytime and they are called mistakes because we didn’t plan on them happening. Another word of advice is to make sure that your computer is password protected and that you have your firewall on plus virus protection turned on too.

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Using Software To Recover Your Data

Cyber Security: Why Is So Important?

November 19th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Do we actually need cyber security? I strongly believe that we do. Everybody has their own thoughts on cyber security, some of which are valid facts, and some of which are misconceptions. The Internet is a dynamic technology and you can never predict the changes that are constantly occurring. Furthermore,  every change can lead to more dangerous threats that had not been previously imagined. That is why there have been number of incidents in the past where the Internet has been used as the medium for some serious crimes which are named as ‘Cyber Crimes’. If proper means are not used to tackle this problem then the rate of cyber crime will just continue to increase. Below are some of the reasons behind the need for cyber security – 1.) Who are hackers and what do they do? We all are aware of hackers . But do you actually know how they operate? A hacker could be anyone. He might be your business rival, your friend or any other person who is trying to hijack your computer’s resources. They somehow enter into your computer with the help of many malicious programs and scripts, all of which can be found on the internet or easily coded by someone with a little know how. Once he succeeds in hijacking your computer, then he can misuse your confidential information such as e-mail accounts, bank accounts, credit cards and any other useful information he finds stored on your system. 2.) Online fraud and identity theft. Cyber criminals follow a number of techniques in order to acquire e-mail Ids, credit card numbers, bank account numbers and passwords which are then misused by them. These kinds of scams are known as ‘ phishing ‘. These criminals cheat people by pretending to be spokespeople of big organisations or deceased millionaires and sending emails to their victims which will try to trick them into revealing confidential information. 3.) Cyber thefts are increasing daily. Conventional thefts can be compensated by insurance cover but once you lose your confidential data from your computer, no-one can help you. These kinds of incidents are not only restricted to individuals but huge companies and institutions are falling prey to cyber theft too. 4.) Computer viruses can really mess up your system. Viruses can not only slow your system down, they can make it crash too. There are number of ways in which viruses can enter your computer. One of them is through accessing insecure web sites and downloading infected files. Its not only household computers that can be infected as even big business can be affected too. For example, in 1999 the Melissa virus lead to the termination of many services in Microsoft and other huge companies. 5.) Spyware keeps tabs on your activity. Spyware is a form of malware that can enter your computer and install itself automatically. It is not only meant to spy on you but also steal information from your computer. The dangerous part is that people do not even realize its presence on their computers. Some reports suggest that about 92% of computers are infected by spyware and that users are unaware of it! 6.) Adware is annoying. The main purpose of adware is to pop up unwanted ads as you are surfing the Internet. This can quickly become extremely annoying and frustrating. Nowadays adware is often integrated with spyware in order to exploit your computer to great heights. These are just some of the different ways cyber criminals steal your resources and information. They are always a step ahead and the security industry is forever trying to keep up with their new plans and codes. Therefore, it is very necessary to protect your system for all the threats caused by cyber criminals. Wouldn’t you agree?

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Cyber Security: Why Is So Important?

Security – Windows 7 Vs Mac OSX

November 18th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Comparing the relative levels of security between two vastly different operating systems is, of course, a rather subjective matter. After the much hyped, and sometimes maligned, Windows Vista the spotlight has once again been placed over Microsoft who have recently released Windows 7 . This is hot on the heels of Apple’s latest operating system for the Mac, Snow Leopard. Nowadays security is one of the biggest concerns for any operating system. According to security experts Secunia, Mac OS X is much safer than the Windows operating system as they found only 9 security issues with Mac OS X compared to 29 issues with the Windows product. Does this paint a fair picture though? Everybody knows that the Windows operating system is installed on many more computers than Mac OSX and that makes it a big and lucrative target for malware authors. Therefore isn’t it just a case of scale that makes Windows appear to be less secure on first glance? Windows 7 is, in my opinion, a far better product (in terms of security) than its previous versions. A whole host of features, such as Biometric Framework, fingerprint scanners, BitLocker and others make Windows 7 an amazingly secured operating system. At the same time, the smaller market share of Apple Mac OS X, and the absence of third party programs, makes their operating system harder to hack (or less appealing at the very least). For this reason, systems powered with Mac OS X suffer less attacks than their Windows counterparts, making the Mac appear to be extremely secure. On the other hand, Windows 7 comes with dozens of security tools but its openness makes it’s monster security system look like an ordinary one. Recently Windows Vista post-Service Pack 2 has been named as the safest operating system on the planet. And it is quite obvious that Windows 7 will incorporate all the features of it’s successful predecessor. If you are not satisfied by the security parameters of Windows 7 then you can tweak it further by using third party firewalls, antivirus and other protection programs whereas such a feature is absent in Mac OS X. But, Windows Operating Systems are easily undone by hackers , so the story MIGHT remain the same with Windows 7. So this might compel you to use Mac OS X. Comparing the security levels of Windows 7 and Mac OS X is difficult as both have their benefits and weaknesses. Although operating systems have a major role to play in the security of your computer the ultimate responsibility lies with you, the user. Having a secured Internet connection and good surfing habits are probably a more important consideration than which operating system you use. Which is the most secured Operating System, Windows 7 or Mac OS X? That is a never ending debate and one that can get quite emotional, as evidenced by the comments last time I wrote on the topic of whether an Apple Mac was more secure than a Windows machine . What do you think?

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Security – Windows 7 Vs Mac OSX

How Do I Configure Windows 7’s Firewall?

November 17th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

Since the addition of a Firewall in Windows XP, Microsoft has been working to improve it with each new version of their operating systems. Windows 7 is expected to the best operating system designed by Microsoft so far. Windows 7 comes with a robust firewall included and this can be tweaked by the user according to their needs and computer resources.. Firewall plays a huge role in protecting your computer from external malicious programs. So until and unless you grant permission, external programs will not be able to use the resources of your computer. Like Windows Vista, the fundamental (basic) settings of the Windows 7 firewall can be configured from Control Panel. But unlike Windows Vista, Windows 7 allows you to tweak the advanced settings of it’s firewall directly from your Control Panel, instead of accessing empty MMC. Manually Configure Your Windows 7 Firewall Below is the procedure to manually configure the firewall Settings of Windows 7 – Step 1: Click on the START button and then click on the CONTROL PANEL option. Step 2: Now, in the Control Panel window, locate System and Security and then click on it. Step 3: Once you open the System and Security window from the Control Panel, you can see a direct link to Windows Firewall. Click on it. Step 4: Now, you will be able to access the Windows Firewall window. There, you can see number of options like Turn Windows Firewall on or off, Change notification settings, Restore defaults and Advanced settings on the left side of the panel. And on the right side of the panel you can alter the type of network associated with the firewall settings of your computer which are Home or Work (Private) networks and Public networks. And the Firewall will be ON / ACTIVE for both the networks, which is a default setting. Step 5: Now, you can see the Change Notification settings link on the left side of the panel. Click on it. You can use this option to Turn OFF the firewall settings of your operating system by simply clicking on Turn off Windows Firewall button. Step 6: If you are unhappy with any settings you have selected you can retrieve the default settings by clicking on the option labeled as Use recommended settings which can be located on the right side of the panel or by clicking on the Restore Default link on the left panel. You need to confirm your choice once you click on the Restore Default button. Step 7: You can also alter the Advanced Setting of the Local Computers by clicking on the Advanced Settings button visible on the left panel. Step 8: If you want to tweak the inbound rules, you can click on the link labeled as Inbound Rules on the left side of the panel. If you click on Disable Rule, it will disable the selected rule and if you click on Enable Rule, you can choose the actions you want from the list displayed in Actions Pane. Step 9: You can even keep an eye on the things like Logging settings, General Settings, Firewall State, Active Networks by clicking on the Monitoring option on the left side of the panel. I hope this guide has given you a basic idea of how to set up your firewall in Windows 7.

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How Do I Configure Windows 7’s Firewall?

What Is Disability Fraud?

November 15th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Its a sad thing to say but it seems that earning money illegally is becoming easy these days. One such method I’ve noticed, and it really upsets me, is disability fraud. Personally I think it is right that we, as a society, look after those who are unfortunate to be disabled. However, there are many individuals who feel that it is ok to play the system and claim benefits for disabilities they do not have . In both legal and medical terms disability does not mean that a person is physically handicapped. Just because a person is able to do all the things that a normal man can do it does not really imply that the person is not disabled. There are a number of medical conditions which are not physically visible but they are still termed as disabilities. Invisible Disabilities Such disabilities are known as “invisible disabilities”. This is the area in which criminals are taking advantage of the system and literally cashing in. Below are some of the common types of invisible disabilities – Chronic Dizziness: This kind of disability is related to an improper functioning of the inner ear. Such a problem would cause problems to a person whilst performing some of the basic tasks like walking, sleeping or working. Chronic Fatigue: If a person does not feel like working and always feels totally tired, then he might be suffering from Chronic Fatigue. This can have a very negative impact on the person’s daily life routine. Mental Illness: Some forms of this disability can make a person mentally so vulnerable that they find basic and common daily tasks very had to perform. Disabilities like agoraphobia, depression, lack of concentration and schizophrenia are categorized under mental illness. Chronic Pain: Some bone or physical injuries and back problems can lead to chronic pain. This kind of pain or disability might not be visible to everybody but people linked with the medical fraternity will easily detect such disability. Of course there are a great many people with invisible disabilities such as those above who are perfectly genuine and who are suffering. Unfortunately, however, there are also many people who fake such conditions for financial gain. Types Of Disability Fraud Below are some of most common types of disability fraud – Doing legitimate work despite claiming to be suffering from disability: It has been found that people suffering from various invisible disabilities are working in jobs they claim they cannot do while enjoying the benefits offered for the disabled. Pretending to be suffering from any kind of Injury: People do pretend to be suffering from some kinds of illness and even doctors can’t prove that wrong. So they intentionally pretend to be disabled, in order to enjoy the benefits offered to them by various agencies. Continuing to claim benefits even after recovering from disability: Not all disabilities are permanent and people are cured every day. Some, however, continue to claim benefits for many years afterwards regardless though. Tackling Disability Fraud Disability fraud is extremely hard to prove and prosecute. Many governments have already initiated various methods to tackle disability fraud but cynics, such as myself, wonder if they are doing enough, especially when recategorising such people as being merely unemployed could prove detrimental to their boasts of keeping jobless figures to a minimum. Doctors cannot always detect whether a claim of disability is genuine or not and the politically correct society we live in now means you really ought to be very careful about questioning whether benefits claimants are legitimate or not. Having said that, here in the UK we are encouraged to grass on our neighbours (another ploy designed to destroy society no doubt) but could you tell whether the disabled person living next door to you was faking it? Probably not. I don’t know what the answer is but I do know that we need to cut out disability fraud. I’m of the opinion that far too many people claim benefits for fake disabilities in order to avoid working and we really ought to get them off their lazy backsides and into work so that they can contribute to society, allowing us to divert the money saved to those who really need it.

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What Is Disability Fraud?

What Should I Do If My Website Has Been Hacked?

November 13th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

If you paid attention to yesterday’s post about website security then you should have already minimised the chances of having your own site hacked . But what if it has already happened? How Would I Know That My Site Has Been Hacked? You may have had your web site hacked if one or more of the following is true – The search engines now says you run an attack site You’ve noticed spam email being sent from your account When you search for your own site (yes, we all do it!) your antivirus program suggests it may be being used for phishing You now have some political statement or graffiti all over your pages Of course there may be other signs but the above are the main ones that I can think of. What now? Change Them There Passwords Do it. Do it now. Assuming you still have any kind of access to your website then you need to change all of your passwords – cPanel, email, admin passwords, etc. Remove Old Scripts Next, go through your hosting space and remove every old script installation that you find. Also, update or remove old plugins too because they are also at risk of being hacked. Check Your Error Logs By checking the Error Logs in cPanel you may be able to discover suspicious requests. Typically, a hacker will give themselves access to your website by adding code or files so look for such within your public_html folder. If you find any code or files then take a note of the details, such as date and time that the file was uploaded, the file name, folder it was in, etc and then inform your web host as they may then be able to offer some assistance. Of course it goes without saying that you should then also delete said codes or files. Minimising Risk Web sites are hacked all the time and all you can do is ensure that you have made it as hard a task as possible and then hope that the hacker moves on to an easier target. By keeping your files up-to-date and secure you will have increased the workload for a potential hacker . You then just need to cross your fingers and hope that encourages them to pass you by.

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What Should I Do If My Website Has Been Hacked?

Protecting Data With Encryption Or Lockout Software

November 11th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Most people have introduced encryption as a way to secure communications on your WLAN. You can also use encryption to secure at-rest data or data that is located on a hard drive or similar storage medium (CD, DVD, and tape). There are several software solutions available to encrypt your data, whether you choose to encrypt the entire contents of your hard drive or just specific folders. Note: An easy-to-use’ effective utility for encrypting your files and folders is File Warden , available for download from the utilities section of the PC Magazine Web site: www.pcmag.com One thing to consider before using encryption is that it takes a lot of CPU horsepower. If you encrypt your entire hard drive you may notice significant slowing when you use your computer. You might consider only encrypting the contents of a couple of folders and storing all sensitive files in those. Smaller devices like PDAs and smart phones lack the horsepower to use significant encryption. There is effective security software for locking a PDA after it’s turned off or after it spends a certain amount of time idle. This software locks all unauthorized persons out of the device and prevents wireless connections, synchronizing, or beaming of information. Whichever device you use, install either encryption or security software to lock down your data if your computer ever falls into the wrong hands. Always set up your device so that it asks for a password and use a security screen saver with a strong password to make it harder for criminals to get to your data.

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Protecting Data With Encryption Or Lockout Software

I’ve Been Infected But My Antivirus Program Isn’t Working – What Do I Do Now?

November 10th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

You are up late at night, finishing your latest presentation for the boss. You then decide that you need more information to go with what you already have, so you decide to do a little surfing on the Internet through Google. A site pops up on Google that shows some promise, so you decide to click on it. The next thing that you know, your computer is going crazy and there is a load of pop ups that are now appearing on your pc. Your worst fears have now been realized, you have been infected with a new virus on your system. You try to run your resident antivirus program that is installed on your computer but it is not working. So what do you do? This is what I hope to answer here. Scareware There are certain types of viruses or malware out there that will take control of your computer and not release it until you perform a certain action that they request. It is a scam to make you buy a fake antivirus product or get your credit card number. Most of the time they will not even release your computer even if you do go through with it. The best thing to do at this point is to bypass the system. You can do this with either a live CD or hooking your hard drive to another computer. I will go over both solutions – Use Linux When you use a live CD of what is normally a Linux distro, this allows you to be able to boot up your computer and run an operating system on top of it. (Usually through your CD/DVD player or the USB port of your computer). This operating system, usually Linux, can see your hard drive and other hardware that you may have on your system but the operating system itself is not connected to it. You will have to run a Linux command called ‘mount’ to have access to your hard drive to be able to scan it. Once you mount the disk, there are several antivirus programs that will run on Linux, and will see a virus on a Windows partitions as well. Run this antivirus and disinfect all of the viruses that it sees. There are ways to be able to update and save the antivirus database so that it sees newer viruses but you will have to look that up. It is different in each live CD distro that you may use. This solution is the best solution when you are dealing with a nasty virus on your laptop. Connect Your Hard Drive To Another Computer If you are dealing with a nasty virus that is on your desktop that will not let you access your antivirus program, a good solution is take out the hard drive and connect it to another computer. You can look up several places online that will give you a walk through on how to disconnect your hard drive and then connect it to another computer. Once you have connected this second drive to the other computer you can now look at the files and folders just like you would do on any other drive. You will have to be careful while this second drive is connected to your computer – you do not want to click on any files and infect this second computer! So as soon as you get the second drive working on the computer make sure that you scan it right away. Once all infections have been found and removed you can reconnect the hard drive back to the original computer. Hopefully these tips will help you solve your virus problem on your computer. A nasty bug can ruin your day, especially when it will not let you do anything on your computer and scareware is an altogether different type of annoyance.

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I’ve Been Infected But My Antivirus Program Isn’t Working – What Do I Do Now?

The Top Reasons For Hardware Failure And Data Loss

November 9th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

Aside from impact damage and electrical spikes, there are sources of hardware failure that can arise from lack of maintenance or through improper maintenance. Different sources rank these threats differently, at some point touting each of them as the number-one threat or cause of hardware failure. I haven’t ranked them in any particular order, preferring that you consider each and protect yourself from all of them. Electrostatic discharge Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can destroy components within your computer. A common way for ESD damage to occur is when you open your computer case to install new hardware (drives, RAM, and so on). If you don’t properly ground yourself, any electrical charge that your body carries will jump from your fingers to conductors in the computer, such as chips. The same thing happens when you rub your feet on a carpet, generating an electrostatic charge. When you reach out to touch another person or a metal object, sparks fly. Unfortunately, when the sparks fly from your fingers to a computer component, you may destroy the component. You may not think there’s enough power to do any damage, but there is. A static discharge from your hand can be quite powerful at times – maybe even in the kilowatt range! The best way to prevent ESD from occurring is to use a grounding wrist strap or stand on a grounding mat if you have to open the computer’s case. You can also make sure that you are at “zero potential” by constantly touching a bare metal surface. Damage from ESD only occurs if you are working inside a computer or handling a component like a RAM chip or video board, not when you are touching the case. Dust Accumulation of dust can damage some components and cause your computer to overheat. It doesn’t take a thick layer; even a thin layer that you can barely see can raise the temperature in your computer a few percent. That small raise in temperature is enough to shorten the life of your components. Heavy dust buildup can also short out components and damage hard drives. Heat Overheating damages many computers. Excessive heat increases resistance in semiconductor materials, which in turn produces more heat. This heat buildup and increase in resistance causes logic circuits to behave erratically and ultimately fail to function. Heat can also destroy data on hard drives by causing the metallic layer to expand, potentially putting data tracks out of alignment. Repeated heating and cooling can compound the problem until the drive fails completely. It doesn’t take a lot of heat to do this, either. The CPU of your computer is especially susceptible to heat damage. Because of the number of circuits on the CPU, it generates a lot of heat. CPUs have a heat sink that helps radiate heat away from the CPU, and most computers have one or more fans that cool the CPU and other components. Bad Hard Disk Sectors Occasionally, sectors on a hard disk fail due to physical problems on the disk. These problems can result from dust infiltration, heat, or degradation over time. Your computer cannot write or read data from a sector that has failed, and any data already written to that sector is lost. Through proper maintenance, however, you can prevent hard disk damage and detect failing sectors before they fail completely.

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The Top Reasons For Hardware Failure And Data Loss

I’m Scared Of Getting A Virus – What Sort Of Sites Should I Be Wary Of?

November 8th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

Most people, when they get on the Internet, do the same thing that everyone else does on it, and that is surf. People may have a couple of sites that they go to on a regular basis but for the most part they surf around the net. This, of course, is the best part about the Internet – the ability to travel around the different web sites and see places and things that you may have never known before. There is a dark side to all of this wonderful discovery that you can do on the Internet though. The dark side is that when going to sites that you don’t know you can always pick up a virus or some other type of malware. Of course this can happen on any type of website but is more likely on some types than others. Whilst many of the following can be perfectly safe, the risk of picking up a virus may be higher from these types of sites – Beware Of Adult Sites The first type of site that can cause you damage whilst you are surfing the Internet are adult sites . Maybe 99% of adult sites are safe but there are a minority that can cause your computer to have serious troubles. Adult sites are known to attract very high amounts of traffic so they are a favorite of Hackers trying to target innocent victims. Another attack vector that has been used lately is planting viruses in the adult tube sites that have popped up in increasing amounts lately. The technology that runs the site and shows the video is known as Flash. This technology is known to have serious exploit problems if the right safeguards are not in place. Make sure that you are extra vigilante when surfing adult sites. Beware Of Warez Sites The second type of site that is known to cause a lot of trouble to a person’s computer are sites that are known as warez sites. Warez sites are web sites that people go to to get pirated software, serial numbers, etc. These types of sites are breeding grounds for malicious hackers trying to inject very nasty software into your computer. When you are visiting a warez site you are generally asking for trouble, not only in terms of copyright violations, but from malware too. Not only can the site itself  pose a security risk but any software you download may well do so too. Beware Of Credit Card Offer Sites The third type of site that can be a potential problem for your computer when you visit are credit card offer sites. These sites set up a sweet attractive low interest offer and then in the background can download a Trojan onto your computer. A relatively new attack phenomenon, these sites are increasingly becoming more dangerous. These sites are being used more and more by Hackers for phishing schemes and planting Trojans onto your computer. These types of site attacks are increasing all over the Internet. This is a fairly new attack vector but with credit cards now a little bit harder to get people are falling for these traps more readily. Stay Safe I’ve showed you several different types of sites that you must be aware of when surfing the Internet. For the most part these types of site are safe to visit. But… When a Hacker decides to strike, these types of site are usually on the top of the list.

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I’m Scared Of Getting A Virus – What Sort Of Sites Should I Be Wary Of?

Backing Up Your Computer Data Online

November 7th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

Having your computer data backed up is vital these days. A lot of us store up really important information on our computers and would be at a total loss if that data were to become corrupt or otherwise inaccessible. Some people think that you can only backup your data with CD’s or Floppy discs but they are wrong. Online Backups Not only can you back up your data with CD’s but you can also backup all of your files online without ever using a CD. You will find that there are many websites that you can join that will allow you to log in whenever you want to store and retrieve your data. There are some sites that are free and other sites that you have to pay for. A lot of businesses are backing up their info online just because it’s more convenient. When you decide to back up your computer data online, make sure that you trust the website. Review the policies and see what people say about them. Email the company online before you make your decision as to whether you would like to go with them or not. Another reason why this might work for someone is when they don’t know how to back up the data themselves and need help. A lot of the websites online love helping and will answer any of the questions that you have. Don’t Forget Basic Security Procedures Though Never place data onto a third party website that is really personal or critical though because people do occasionally hack into websites online and could then get all of that information. This doesn’t happen a lot but you should still remember that there is a chance of that happening. The other downfall is if you don’t have another computer in the house, and if you don’t have anyway of getting online, you won’t be able to access your data. If you feel uncomfortable with backing up your data online, you can still back it up yourself with a USB drive or with CDs. With so many options available to the public right now, there isn’t really any excuse for people not to backup their data. No-one wants to think about their computer crashing but the thing is it can happen regardless of how protected your computer is.

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Backing Up Your Computer Data Online

The Top 5 Antivirus Programs For Windows 7

November 6th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

The most important and challenging thing for computer users is protect their computers against all threats like viruses, worms, and other malware. There is an old saying that ‘prevention is better than cure’ so protect your computer with the best antivirus you can get now . Many viruses, worms, and other types of malware are released every day and most target machines that run Microsoft Windows operating systems. As you are probably aware, Microsoft has just released the newest version of their operating system – Windows 7. As ever, it promises to be more secure than previous versions but which are the best antivirus programs you can use with Windows 7? AVAST! Windows 7 Anti Virus: Avast! antivirus is one of the top antivirus programs that is known to be compatible with Windows 7. Avast! is offering full desktop security including a resident shield. Besides good performance it also offers the following – It is very easy to use and doesn’t take up too much system resource. Comes with changeable skins so you can customise a look you feel happy with. Anti-spyware protection is included. All Avast! products are available to download for a free 60-day trial period. Trend Micro Antivirus for Windows 7: Trend Micro Antivirus is one of the top 5 antivirus programs which is compatible with windows 7. Trend Micro is an antivirus company based in Japan ant they offer some exciting features – Trend Micro provides security for your computer against computer viruses, worms, Trojan horse programs, and related security threats. It blocks virus infections that arrive via emails. It provides excellent protection for your PC. This groovy antivirus program protects your files from being sent without authorization. Trend Micro Antivirus does not interrupt playing games or watching videos while scanning. Take 10% Off Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware 2010. Coupon Code: trendtav AVG Antivirus for Windows 7: The most familiar antivirus program for many computer users is AVG, a product from AVG technologies. AVG is compatible with Windows 7. Many people use AVG because of its excellent features such as – Having a good user interface that is simple to understand. Having a quick installation time that doesn’t require your system to be rebooted. AVG has come up with three new components called Web Shield, Link Scanner and AVG Toolbar. Link checker is from Exploit Prevention Labs – the main advantage of this technology is to block dubious content in websites. Kaspersky Antivirus: Kaspersky, the Russian security specialist, offer an antivirus program with the following benefits – The new Kaspersky is attuned for Windows 7. Kaspersky provides real time scanning of files, web pages and e-messages. It scans and protects your PC against all viruses, spyware, phishing attacks and identity theft. Has an excellent look, very ease to use and has a good user-friendly interface. The newest feature is Kaspersky Toolbar for Internet browsers to warn you about infected or unsafe websites. Check out the Kaspersky Lab Online Store for more information. AVIRA Antivirus Software: Another windows 7 compatible antivirus is Avira antivirus. This program offers the following features – Avira is provided with a free version option. Good user-friendly interface.. Virus database is automatically updated. Automatically blocks websites which may harm your PC. Overall the new Avira is compatible with windows 7 without any problems. Which is your favourite antivirus program for Windows 7?

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The Top 5 Antivirus Programs For Windows 7

Cyber Security For Families

November 5th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Hopefully you strive to keep your family safe and protected in every possible way. Sometimes there are risks on the Internet that are greater than those you may come across in the real world. For that reason you need to be vigilant and cautious at all times and that means becoming wise in the ways of cyber security. Cyber security not only allows your family to protect itself from the dangers involved on the Internet but also ensures that your computer is safe from your family. Just by altering the ways in which you use your computer you will enable yourself to stay safe and secure from online dangers. Kids are usually inquisitive and curious about all the things that they find new and interesting. So, as a parent, it is your responsibility to ensure that your kids are able to learn about new technology but at the same time you also need to take care of their safety. You need to balance things out for them by trying to keep your kids away from the things that you think might be misused whilst not blocking them from the Internet or computer completely. Your kids could be using the Internet to work on their homework or project or for playing online games which are all valuable pursuits in their own ways. However their lack of knowledge, or other peoples’ devious ways, could cause them to find themselves on malicious sites that could install malware on your computer, or porn sites which you simply wouldn’t want your children to view. Of course if that were to happen then your children might not tell you about the incident, fearing punishment and so you would have a hard job ensuring that it didn’t happen again. Malware and porn aren’t the only threats though – the Internet has become a huge platform for people who look to cheat and swindle others. There is a certain level of anonymity on the Internet still and this fact encourages cyber criminals to deceive people on the Internet in order to take as much money as possible from them. Even well educated adults fall prey to such online predators. Below are some of the ways which will help you to protect your family from cyber dangers – Stay With Your Kids While They Spend Time On The Internet Make sure that you stay with your children while they are using Internet. It might not be possible for all parents to get involved with their kids while they are on Internet because we all have busy lifestyles nowadays but you can certainly keep a casual eye on what they are doing at the very least. You can view their browsing history to check the web sites they have visited. You can also ensure that your kids do not get involved in activities such as sending emails to, and chatting with, strangers. Educate Your Children About Online Dangers It is necessary to educate your kids about all the risks and dangers involved with the Internet. Once they get to know such facts, they will be more vigilant and careful. Make them clear of the sites they should visit and the types of sites which are not meant for them. Do not frighten them but set limits to their Internet usage so that you can keep things under control. Create Separate User Accounts To Keep Your Data Safe Recent operating systems, such as Windows 7, allow you to create individual accounts for all the users of the computer onto which they are installed. You can opt to create separate accounts for your kids. This is one of the ways to keep your files and data protected from the mischievous activities of your children! If you do not prefer to create separate accounts then it is advisable not to use add-ons which are meant to remember passwords and other important information (which can be accidentally used) leading to serious loss. There is a wise saying that “Prevention is always better than cure.” So make sure that you use updated antivirus programs featuring utilities such as firewalls to ensure the safety of the data stored in your computer. You can use kid browsers which ensure the safety of your files while your kids are accessing Internet or you can edit the options of your default browser to ban the web sites which you feel would be harmful to your child. Here is how – Tools> Internet Options> Content> Click on ENABLE under Content Advisor. The powers that be have understood the need for cyber security and so they have come forward to offer their services to ensure your kids’ protection whilst they are using the Internet by blocking the sites that are not meant or suited for them. Open Communication Is Key If possible, set up your computer in a place where you can easily keep an eye on who is using it and what they are doing with it. This will surely make your children think before they do anything wrong on the computer. Having a flexible relationship with your family members is beneficial in all aspects of life – such a relationship will make your children come to you and tell about the things they have seen and done on the Internet. This kind of relationship not only enhances the cyber security of your family but also develops a strong bond amongst yourselves, helping you grow and stay safe and happy as a family.

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Cyber Security For Families

How Do I Restore A File That I Accidentally Deleted?

November 4th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

Recovering a file that you deleted from your flash drive can be really difficult if you don’t know how to do it nor have it saved anywhere else. This is another reason why it’s vital for you to back up all of your information and you should do it on a regular basis. There is a simple way that you can track your deleted files that a lot of people don’t know about. There are a lot of free programs that can restore any file on your computer. These programs don’t take up much space either. A recommended program is called REST2514. Its very easy to install on your computer. This program is designed to recover any file that was deleted on your computer. It guides you step by step on how to find that file and even lets you pick the drive that you want to search. This program allows you to restore any of the files by simply clicking on one and highlighting it when it comes up. You can find it on any search engine or you can look up restoration freeware programs. Whilst it’s very easy getting a file restored on your computer, it’s still recommended that you backup your information on a USB flash drive. You should update your flash drive once a week if you do a lot of work on your computer but if you forget, you now know how to restore a file so you won’t need to panic if it happens.

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How Do I Restore A File That I Accidentally Deleted?

Assessing The Security Risks To Your WLAN

November 3rd, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

The first step toward safe wireless networking is assessing the situation and determining just how vulnerable you are. I’m not just talking about your Wi-Fi hardware. You have to consider and examine all the elements of your network . That includes client computers, software, network hardware, and even users. Risk analysis is always a good place to start. After all, you can’t defend yourself against something if you don’t even know that it’s threatened. WLAN Risk Analysis A simplified risk analysis for a small network consists of the following steps – 1. Identify hardware and software assets. 2. Determine the value of each asset and cost of replacement. 3. Identify the threats to each asset. 4. Determine the vulnerability to threats. Note : Remember to keep this analysis simple. The goal is simply to get a handle on where you actually stand with regards to WLAN security. For your first task, you need to identify all the assets on the WLAN. Make a list of your hardware, operating systems, and software. The hardware should include computers, access points, routers, wireless NICs, and anything else that connects to your WLAN. Note the manufacturer and model for your entire hardware and firmware version (if known) along with a rough cost estimate for each asset. Next, make a list of software. This might include operating systems, personal firewalls, and antivirus software . For your purposes, you don’t need to check every application on all your computers even though it is good to keep your software patched and up-to-date. You just need to know the operating system and any network software you might be running, along with the approximate cost of each piece. You will learn about the threats that are particular to a WLAN. With this information, you will be able to determine your vulnerability to those threats. Once you have a realistic picture of how vulnerable you are, I’ll show you how to take the information you have compiled about your hardware and software and use it to secure your network.

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Assessing The Security Risks To Your WLAN

The Security Risks Of Facebook Applications

November 3rd, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

I think we all know by now what the most popular social networking site on the Internet is. Twitter is quickly making it’s way to the top of the heap but for now Facebook is still king of the mountain. One of the more popular features that Facebook has added in the past couple of years is the ability to create an application for the people logged into Facebook to use. There have been many companies that made a lot of money off of this feature. Unfortunately there has also been a lot of nefarious characters that have exploited this feature as well. They too are making lots of money from it. I will go over some of the risks of Facebook applications and how to keep yourself safe – Keep Private Information Private One thing that Facebook pulls out of people is their private information. On any other site people would never give the amount of information that they seem give on the Facebook platform. Through most people’s profiles you can find out their first, last and maiden names. You can also find out where they live, where they went to school, and even worse most people will offer up the information of where they lived in the past. A lot of these answers are the answers to questions that you will fill out any kind of credit check online. This is perfect for anybody looking to exploit your credit history or steal your identity. Facebook applications, if you allow them, have access to this information as well. Once you give them permission they can get all of the information that is about you from your Facebook profile. If a person that has evil intentions makes a Facebook app, they can now target all of the people who have allowed the application in their Facebook ecosystem and target them for identity theft . Make sure that before you give an application access to all of your information that you check on the company who has made the app. It is best to Google them to see if they are legitimate or not. Facebook Hackers Facebook applications, for the most part, run in a sandbox that is provided by Facebook themselves. A sandbox is when you have the ability to use a language but certain features of the language that might cause security problems are stripped away. The sandbox that Facebook gives developers to make applications is pretty secure but there have been holes found. So not only can the hackers use an application that was built for malicious use intentionally, they can also find holes in preexisting applications and exploit them too. If you install an application and it is doing anything weird be very suspicious and uninstall it. In the world of the Internet being paranoid is a good thing! So I have gone over a couple of ways that Facebook applications can be used to exploit the average user. I do not want you to get the wrong idea, Facebook applications for the most part are safe. Just like anything else on the internet they can be exploited so it pays to be careful.

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The Security Risks Of Facebook Applications

Internet Explorer 8 Privacy Features

November 2nd, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

Microsoft used to have a stranglehold in the Internet Browser market place. Just as much, or maybe even more, than they did the personal computer market. Now this is not as true anymore. They still have a dominance in the browser market place but the competition has quickly caught up. With newer offerings such as Firefox, Opera, and the new Google Chrome browser stepping up as quality alternatives, Microsoft has seen their browser percentage fall off dramatically. (There have also been issues in Europe that have led to Microsoft no longer bundling IE with new versions of Windows 7). This has arguably led to Microsoft increasing the quality of their internet browser offerings. One of the things that has greatly improved are the privacy features that the browser offers. Now I will take you through the enhancements of these features and why you should use them – Added Privacy Features The first thing that Microsoft has done to protect your privacy is to add a feature in Internet explorer 8 that will block out advertisements that are directed towards you. Ads are not necessarily a bad thing but sometimes they can become overwhelming and start to decrease your Internet surfing experience. On some sites, ad blocking technology can be just what the doctor ordered if the owner of the site has made the user experience miserable. Ad blocking counts as a privacy feature because a lot of these ads now have tracking technology behind them that can monitor your surfing habits. The ad blocking feature can reduce their functionality. To turn on the ad blocking feature, all you have to do is click the ‘Safety’ button that is on your browser. Once you do that, click on ‘InPrivate browsing’, and your ad blocker is now turned on. You also have a feature that is included in Internet explorer 8 that is called ‘InPrivate Filter’. This feature will do explicitly what I talked about earlier; stopping your private information from going to other sites. This feature goes a little bit further than just stopping the advertiser from sharing your information with other sites though. It will also stop web applications, analysis tools, and other such features that you may find on a web page from collecting information about you. If you do not want any web site to be able to gather information about you without first visiting that site, then this the feature is the one that you will want to go with. To turn it on just do the same as I mentioned above – Hit the ‘Safet’y button but instead of clicking ‘InPrivate Browsing’, click on ‘InPrivate Filter’. I have gone over the two main options that Internet Explorer has on keeping your web sessions private. If you are worried about all of the monitoring that goes on through web pages these days then these are great features to use.

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Internet Explorer 8 Privacy Features

Just How Secure Are PDF Files?

November 2nd, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

One of the great things about computers and the Internet is how easy it is to create document files and then share them between machines and users. There are several formats that you can use to create files, the two most popular being word documents and PDF files. Hacker Manipulation Over the past couple of years, however, hackers have found that they can manipulate these types of files. They are now able to hide exploits within these files that can compromise your computer. They also use the knowledge that since these files are so popular, they can disguise a harmful .exe file as a pdf file and people will not question whether it is safe or not. We will hopefully show you that for the most part PDF’s are safe but you still need to be careful with them. These types of files have turned into another attack vector for hackers. In the last 12 months Adobe has released patch after patch trying to protect new vulnerabilities found in pdf files. Buffer Overflow There was the vulnerability that was found that let hackers send an attack to your computer through the use of a buffer overflow created when the PDF file was opened. There was also an attack found a month after that that if you were looking at a PDF file in windows explorer, that was all that was needed for it to attack your computer. You didn’t even have to click on it to activate the attack. This is why you have to be careful with opening all types of files on your computer. Most people, even tech savvy people, have never heard that a PDF can be exploited. So people will download them from strange sites and never ever bother to run an antivirus check on them to see if they are secured. Hackers are using your trustful nature against you in this case. Exploited .exe Files Since people are more trustful with opening a strange PDF file more than .exe file there is an older attack that will exploit the trust factor that I talked about above. This is an old trick of hiding your exploited .exe files as PDF files. They shape the name of the file so that it shows up with an PDF icon on the file. This is an easy attack to spot if you have “show file extensions” turned on in your operating system. Just go into your control panel and then go into the file manager. You will then see the option to turn this feature on. Also you can avoid being trapped by this attack by running a virus scan on the file. Any file that you get over the Internet you should run an antivirus scan on anyway, just to be on the safe side. So I have gone over how a PDF file can be dangerous to your system. Now that you know that there is a risk, hopefully you will not take any file lightly.

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Just How Secure Are PDF Files?

How Do I Backup My New Windows 7 Computer?

November 1st, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

In this day and age people are relying more and more on their computers to be able to do their jobs but they are still not paying enough attention to backing them up. Yet every computer user’s worst fear is that something will mess their computer up and they will not be able to access their files. That is why cloud computing is perhaps becoming such an attractive offer. It allows you to back up your files on a remote server. This lessens the chances that all your data will be destroyed by a catastrophe as it won’t all be kept in the same one place. For other people local back up storage may be an alternative for them to consider. Backing Up With Windows 7 Windows 7 offers you several different ways to back up your files. I will go over a couple of them now – If you hit start and look to your right you will see the button that will lead to you to the control panel. Click on it and then look at the top where it says ‘System and Security’. Here you will see the option to back up your computer. Click on this and it will take you to the backup area of your computer. Once you are there you will see that two options are being given to you. The first option is to back up your computer, which is what you want. The second option is to set a restore point on your computer. (This is similar to backing up your computer but instead of just certain files this option actually creates an image of how your entire computer looks at that moment in time). If you subsequently had a problem you could then restore your computer back to how it was at the time you last created a restore point – a very useful feature but not what we are looking for right now. So now that we are again looking at the back up option lets go ahead and press ‘Set up backup’. Once you click that button it will ask you where you want to save your back up to. Pick the drive or Network that you want to save your file information to. After that, Windows will ask you if you want to choose exactly what is backed up or whether you would like windows to choose for you. It is up to you which option is best for you but just remember that if you let Windows pick the backup then it will skip formatted Fat files, and files that are in the “program files” folder. After Windows 7 asks you whether would you like to review the files or not, you can then watch as it starts to backup your files. When it finishes the backup the data will be stored in a backup folder and you will be able to access it anytime you need it. You can either restore all of the files that you backed up or you just a single file. Hopefully the short tutorial above will give you a good idea how to backup your computer using Windows 7 . The backup feature is a great way to feel secure about your data, knowing that it is safe. How Do I Backup My New Windows 7 Computer? is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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How Do I Backup My New Windows 7 Computer?

SpamWeed – An Innovative Spam Filter

October 31st, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

Email spam is one of the biggest concerns in present scenario for many home as well as business users. Past records show that email spam has been used to spy into your computer to steal your personal details and spread deadly computer viruses, apart from keep annoying you constantly. For this very reason, many computer users feel the requirement of a highly effective spam filter , which can kill the spam before reaching our inbox. SpamWeed is the new innovative spam filter that combines many state of the art spam-filtering technologies to achieve a high rate of filtering. Features of SpamWeed It uses statistical techniques to identify spam SpamWeed is a highly accurate and an intelligent spam filter SpamWeed works with many email clients like Outlook, Thunderbird, Outlook Express, Eudora and various POP3 email clients. The software even supports different webmail accounts like Hotmail and Yahoo. SpamWeed is designed to prioritize your email communication thus saving a lot of your precious time. One can classify the email according to the sender and the keyword. It has a superb feature of recognizing emails in more than 25 languages and you can even block foreign language spam A perfect solution for people who have to deal with thousands of emails daily so that your inbox is less cluttered It protects your computer from email viruses as it scans your mails before opening them, not matter who is the sender SpamWeed is the only spam filter in the market, which can be programmed for more complex spam filtration rules. Only thing you need is to know programming The program has a very simple user interface, which is very easy to install and use Thus if you are looking for a spam filter then SpamWeed is your best bet. You can try the demo version before buying the full program. SpamWeed – An Innovative Spam Filter is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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SpamWeed – An Innovative Spam Filter

Protecting Your Computer With Backups And Antivirus Programs Is Essential

October 30th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Backing up data is really important and not enough people do it. It’s really easy to back up your data. If you don’t back up your data, you could get into major trouble later. The reason why you must back things up is because it will help protect your data, including those pictures you love and all those mp3s you play. Backing Up Data Should Be A Habit Many people make the mistake of only backing up their data once. After they back it up, they think that they won’t need to do it ever again. You should at least back up your data once a week or more. Whenever you save a lot of pictures or files, back it up right away. It’s not very expensive to back up your data. All that is required is for you to get a USB drive, floppy disk, CD or DVD. After you have one of those items, put it in your computer and then you can drag and drop the files you wish to keep onto the media you have inserted. Saving your files on the computer is not the only way that you can back up data and protect it. There are a few other things that you can do in order to protect it so hopefully nothing won’t happen. Protect Your Data By Having An Antivirus Program Installed One thing that is very important is that you must have antivirus virus protection on your computer. If you don’t have money for a virus protection you will find that there are many who offer a free edition, such as the ones in my list of the best free antivirus solutions . If your antivirus program detects a virus it will show you how to remove it from your system. If you see that you are having problems and a virus scan does not help, try doing a SpyWare and MalWare scan. There are free programs for these too that work great and you should do a scan at least every other day. The other way you can protect your data is by having your files and documents password protected. If you have more then one person on your computer then it’s vital that you do this if you want to save your documents. Make sure that you choose an effective password that you can remember. Writing passwords down in a private notebook is one way to help you remember them. When you are having problems with your computer, don’t put off fixing it. Some people think that the problems might go away in time only to then find out the next day that their computer is ruined.

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Protecting Your Computer With Backups And Antivirus Programs Is Essential

Protect Your Kids With PikLuk

October 29th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

More and more people are connecting to the worldwide web every day. The internet provides us with many opportunities including education, entertainment, jobs, banking, shopping, paying bills and much, much more. Unfortunately, however, the internet also has it’s fair share of problems too. There are many unsafe, unauthorized and adult websites and predators, too, who are looking to connect with your children. Therefore, every parent needs to be wary and look out for their kids’ safety. One way in which you can do this is through using or installing a special web browser that has been designed with kids in mind . One such browser, the one I am looking at today, is PikLuk which allows your kids to learn, laugh and grow. How do I get started with PikLuk?? There are three simple steps to be followed – 1. Sign up for a PikLuk account: Here you can directly log on to the PikLuk website and sign up for free. The Dashboard is very user friendly and it enables you to configure your children’s online experience. 2. Add children to your account: You can add your kids to your account using the dashboard and configure their web sites and email contacts. 3. Download and install the PikLuk Browser: Now download the PikLuk browser from the website and then install it. This PikLuk browser will allow your kids to access the website and email contacts that you added in your dashboard. Features of PikLuk: • Safe web browsing for your kids: Parents can choose and list safe and healthy websites on the dashboard. Your children then only have access to those particular websites and all others are blocked. • Safe email; no unwanted messages: Do you want your child to be able to email you and your family but not strangers? If so, PikLuk will provide you with such a feature that allows your kid to email only those people whom you have chosen to add through the dashboard. • Keep your computer safe: PikLuk will provide you with an additional feature which prevents your child from accessing the other files and folders of your computer while they are using the browser. This allows you to keep your computer system safe whilst your kid learns. • Provides an excellent user interface: PikLuk provides an excellent and colourful graphical interface for your child to use. Your son or daughter will be able to use it very easily as it also has an inbuilt audio command. When your kid rolls the cursor over anything the browser will tell them what it is. In some respects Pikluk is much like a cartoon channel. • Drawing: PikLuk provides a drawing tool for your kids, where your kids can bring out their creativity. This tool is very simple to use and your kid can draw anything and can save their pictures onto the computer. • PikLuk Multimedia: PikLuk will allow your kid to access Games, Movies, Music, Ask Earl, Sports, Ecards , Horoscopes, Study Zone, etc. All these things are comprehensively designed for kids and are 100 % safe. This package will feed your child with all his or her entertainment needs besides learning. When your children are using PiKLuk you can sit back and relax, safe in the knowledge that they are laughing, learning and growing in a safe, healthy environment.

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Protect Your Kids With PikLuk

Phishing – What Is It?

October 28th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Phishing is an illegitimate method of extracting the personal and other financial details of a person. Basically, it is a process of tricking a person on the internet to retrieve their banking passwords, bank accounts, phone number, credit card details, etc. This practice has grown over exponentially over last few years. The imposters send you emails that can lure you into entering your personal details somehow into the mails sent by them and once they get what they want, they will raise a toast and have a bash on your hard-earned money. The laws and police have become very vigilant and tough to nail these kinds of fraudsters. Fraudulent E-Mails The preferred mode of Phishing is via sending fraudulent emails. Note, though, that reputed organizations like Amazon, eBay and banks never ask anyone for their password in their emails. Next, whenever you open a phishing email, then the link in that mail will always open a site that has no security encryption. For instance, the valid url of the site will not have HTTPS at the beginning and many email links have some other extension like .rs at the end of the email. Moreover, the format of the email is very generic whereas the reputed organization always refers to you with your customer id number in their emails. The most effective manner to remain protected from phishing scams is that you have enough knowledge to recognize one instantly. However, installing pop up blockers and spam filters in your browser is yet another step you can follow.

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Phishing – What Is It?

How To Avoid Viruses That Come In The Mail

October 27th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

There are dozens of attack vectors that people must look out for when they are surfing the Internet. One of the oldest but still effective vectors of attack that you must look out for is the use of email. People still tend to treat email very casually and are not on their guard when they use it. I will show you how email can be used against you and what you can do to keep from getting infected. Beware Of Email Attachments There are many things that you must look out for when you open your email but the number one thing that can get you in trouble is by opening up your attachments. Email attachments are files that are sent to you when you receive an email. They may be in the form of a music file, a pdf, a word document, or a funny little video. All of these types of files can be classified under the term of “attachments”. These files while overall harmless can also be used to send a virus to your computer. Some of these files such as a pdf or a flash file have known exploits that can be taken advantage of to infect your computer. Other files can be disguised to look like one type of file such as a mp3 music file but in actuality be an executable file. This is known as a Trojan. An executable file is a file that runs an actual program on your computer. This program can be the virus or a Trojan itself and you will never know that it is running. Also an email can be used to send a link to someone to direct them towards going to another web page. This can also be used as an attack vector against an unwitting victim. Most links that you will be sent in an email are harmless, but some are not, so it pays to always be prepared. Once the person clicks the link in the email, they will be sent to a web page which can either load a virus onto their computer or ask them vital personal details in a technique called phishing . This is a very popular attack vector and one of the most easiest to implement. You can avoid getting a virus onto your computer several different ways. Some techniques include common sense, others include outside program that will help keep you safe. The first step is to make sure that you only open attachments and visit links sent by people that you know. This is not a hundred percent effective method of avoiding getting infected but it does help slim down the chances. Strange emails that send attachments and links are always a sure sign that someone is up to no good. Avoid clicking these types of emails whenever possible. If you receive a link from a friend, email them back first to verify that they did indeed send a link and their email is not being spoofed. Once that is verified it should be pretty safe to go to that link. Some email programs such yahoo and gmail come with virus scanners already attached but it helps if you have your own anti virus already going on your computer. This is the most effective way to avoid getting attacked. When someone that you know sends you an attachment in your email, just download it onto your computer, and scan it with your antivirus program before you click on it to run it. Always Keep Your Antivirus Program Updated An updated virus scanner is a great way to beat the scammers at their own game. An updated anti virus program is the number one protection. Hopefully we made you more familiar on how people will try to attack your computer through email and have given you the means on how to defeat such an attack. Remember that an updated anti virus program is your best bet. An updated antivirus and the use of your own common sense is the best way to go.

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How To Avoid Viruses That Come In The Mail

The Tools You Need To Connect To Your PC Remotely And Securely

October 27th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

One of the things that the Internet has made easier is the ability to work from home. There were private networks that allowed you to do this before but these were only available to the big time people at your company. The cost was simply too great for the company to allow just anyone that worked for them to have this ability. Time To Relax Work But with the advent of the Internet all you now have to do is just have a couple of different pieces of software to securely connect to your work computer from home. After that you are now working from your home office (aka the couch) . I will go over a few of the tools that you will need to allow you to work from home securely. Some you already have on your computer, others you will have to download. The first thing that you are going to want to do after you have decided that you want to work from a remote location, is to decide which software that you will need. The software that you choose will have to have a mixture of security features and ease of use. There are several solutions on the market that will allow you to set up what is called a VPN (virtual private network) . Go To My PC One of the most popular is a piece of software called Gotomypc . It is a VPN solution that has been heavily optimized to allow you to easily and swiftly create a VPN for your business needs. This software receives rave reviews from the tech press and is known as being fairly secure. Tight VNC A popular open source solution for a VPN connection is to use TightVNC . This software is free, provides encryption services, and is fairly well maintained by the people who own it. It is not as easy to use as gotomypc in my opinion but it is still a pretty good option. Windows Remote Desktop Last but not least is Windows very own software that is already installed in your system. This software is simply called Remote Desktop and it will allow you to connect to your computer the same as all of the others. It is not, perhaps, the most elegant solution but it gets the job done. Finish Off With A Strong Firewall Even though you may have a VPN going, you will still need to secure the rest of your network. Some people believe that if they have the VPN working on their network that it is all they need to keep the network secured. This is very wrong. You are still going to need a firewall to keep your network secured as well. You will need to have them work together , as that is how you maintain a secure connection. A strong encrypted VPN along with a good firewall will help keep your system as well as your data transmissions safe. I have walked you through several software solutions that you can use to securely connect to your computer or network remotely. I am sure that you will like the ability to work on your computer remotely when you give it a chance.

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The Tools You Need To Connect To Your PC Remotely And Securely

Web-based Email Solutions Offer Backup For Cell Phone Contacts

October 26th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Because most mobile devices have at least a WAP browser, one alternative to the e-mail service provided by your cell carrier is to use a Web-based e-mail client. You can access your e-mail, and many Web-based e-mail services will send alerts to your mobile phone to let you know when you have new e-mail. Both Yahoo! mail and MSN Hotmail support mobile devices. A Web-based e-mail service also solves another problem for many mobile users: storing contact information for a large number of people. While some devices, a PDA for instance, can store a large number of contacts in great detail, the average cell phone is limited in the amount of contact information it can store. Some cell phones don’t store e-mail contacts at all. A Web-based e-mail client usually enables you to store and manage your contacts on the Web site and to access your address book from your mobile device when you are composing e-mail. Some of the e-mail accounts provided by cell carriers also have a Web-based interface where you can manage your e-mail and address book. Storing and managing your contacts via a Web site is also safer. If your mobile device is lost or stolen, your contact information isn’t on it. Your information will be safe and sound on a server, and you won’t lose a thing. This also is more convenient when you are switching to a new phone; you don’t have to re-enter all of your contacts on a new device. Just use the new device to access your online address book.

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The South American Blush Spider – The New Florida Toilet Killer!

October 25th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Do you remember the hoax I wrote about 2 years ago? It was about a spider… If not, check this post out first – The Two-Striped Telamonia Dimidiata Spider – as you’ll then see the similarities between that and the email I recently received which claims similar goings on in a restroom in Florida – Don’t forget to look !!! This is really scary . . . According to an article by Dr. Beverly Clark, in the Journal of the United Medical Association (JUMA), the mystery behind a recent spate of deaths has been solved. If you haven’t already heard about it in the news, here is what happened. 3 women in Chicago, turned up at hospitals over a 5 day period, all with the same symptoms. Fever, chills, and vomiting, followed by muscular collapse, paralysis, and finally, death. There were no outward signs of trauma. Autopsy results showed toxicity in the blood. These women did not know each other, and seemed to have nothing in common. It was discovered, however, that they had all visited the same restaurant (Big Chappies, at Blare Airport), within days of their deaths. The health department descended on the restaurant, shutting it down. The food, water, and air conditioning were all inspected and tested, to no avail. The big break came when a waitress at the restaurant was rushed to the hospital with similar symptoms. She told doctors that she had been on vacation, and had only went to the restaurant to pick up her check. She did not eat or drink while she was there, but had used the restroom. That is when one toxicologist, remembering an article he had read, drove out to the restaurant, went into the restroom, and lifted the toilet seat. Under the seat, out of normal view, was small spider. The spider was captured and brought back to the lab, where it was determined to be the South American Blush Spider (arachnius gluteus), so named because of its reddened flesh color. This spider’s venom is extremely toxic, but can take several days to take effect. They live in cold, dark, damp climates, and toilet rims provide just the right atmosphere. Several days later a lawyer from Los Angeles showed up at a hospital emergency room. Before his death, he told the doctor, that he had been away on business, had taken a flight from New York, changing planes in Chicago, before returning home. He did not visit Big Chappies while there. He did, as did all of the other victims, have what was determined to be a puncture wound, on his right buttock. Investigators discovered that the flight he was on had originated in South America. The Civilian Aeronautics Board (CAB) ordered an immediate inspection of the toilets of all flights from South America, and discovered the Blush spider’s nests on 4 different planes! It is now beleived that these spiders can be anywhere in the country. So please, before you use a public toilet, lift the seat to check for spiders. It can save your life! And please pass this on to everyone you care about. If the story doesn’t sound fishy enough to tell you its a hoax then the request to pass it on to everyone you know should be a big hint. As I mentioned at the beginning, this storyline has been used in hoaxes before. This particular one about a spider in the toilet must be at least 10 years old, though the specifics, such as names of people and the locations involved, always seem to change each year. If you receive this email then there is no need to panic about any spiders at all – just delete it and don’t clog your friends’ inboxes up by sending it on.

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The South American Blush Spider – The New Florida Toilet Killer!

Stop the forces stealing freedom

October 23rd, 2009. Published under Tea Party. No Comments.

I am amazed at the real news I receive from Canada, the BBC, and the internet every week. I cannot believe this government has become so openly against freedom, Christianity, free enterprise, good mo

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Stop the forces stealing freedom

Windows 7 Has Improved Security Features Built In

October 22nd, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Microsoft has brought a new entrant into the operating system wars and it’s name is Windows 7 . After Windows Vista has pretty much turned out to be a dud, even though the security in the system proved to be much improved over previous version of Windows, Microsoft seems to have found a winner in Windows 7 and especially in their expanded security front. The tools are now easier to use and the capabilities of the security that are built in has been expanded as well. I will go over with you, the built in tools that you should be utilizing to keep Windows 7 a fun experience. User Account Control (UAC) The first thing that the people over at Microsoft have done to make the dealing with security of Windows a better experience is to make the UAC (User Account Control) a more pleasurable item to work with. The UAC now allows less software events to make it create a pop up. This will cause more users to not want to turn it off so they will have a sane computing experience! The main problem in Windows Vista was the fact that this pop up would go off an insane amount of times, causing many of the complaints that Vista received. The new UAC also has four levels of security warnings, ranging from “always notify” to “never notify”. “Never notify” is a better option than to turn it off completely. Even though you do not see the pop up warnings, UAC is still working in the background, allowing you to still be protected. BitLocker Encryption An innovation that Microsoft introduced in Vista was the BitLocker feature. This allowed you to encrypt and protect your hard drive. This feature was limited in Vista to protecting your main partition and other drives surrounding it. Now you are able to encrypt and protect portable media as well. This is a big improvement and will allow you to feel safe if you ever lose your thumb drive while walking around your city or neighborhood. Also Microsoft has allowed BitLocker to be used without the TPM chip being built onto the computer motherboard. This allows everyone to have the option of having their drives protected. It is not the default choice and you will have to activate the ability to use Bitlocker without the chip. Additional Security Features Microsoft has many more new and improved security features that have been built into Windows 7. This list includes the new Direct Access, which allows workers to seamlessly connect to their work network automatically and securely, as well as Applocker, which prevents unauthorized scripts and programs from running on the machine. These are mostly security features that will interest IT administrators so I will not go into detail about them here. Overall Microsoft has done well in improving their security features in Windows 7. Being built upon a decent security scheme, such as Vista, and making it more user friendly as well has created a better overall experience. It has really brought them into the world of having a grade A security system.

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Windows 7 Has Improved Security Features Built In

How To Lock Your Network’s Front Door

October 20th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Securing your network The following security measures are relatively easy to implement, provided you read the manuals that came with your wireless devices. “The manual?” you ask. Yes, the manual. You know, it’s the thing propping up the short leg on your computer desk. Take it out for now; you’ll only have to deal with the wobble until we’re done. None of the measures described here are particularly dramatic, and there are ways to get around them. But, doing so requires some skill and understanding of networking. In this case, they serve as a sort of “intellectual firewall ” that prevents script kiddies from cracking your network. These steps include the following: 1. Change the default SSID. 2. Disable SSID broadcast. 3. Change the default IP subnet. 4. Consider disabling DHCP. 5. Enable MAC address filtering. 6. Change default administrative passwords. 7. Change default user names. 8. Enable WEP or WPA encryption. 9. Adjust broadcast power. 10. Set minimum connection speeds. 11. Set access times. Change the default SSID The first step toward making a WLAN reasonably secure is changing the default SSID. This is important because anyone using a wireless sniffer can determine what sort of access point you use by looking at the default SSID. Knowing your access point model allows the cracker to guess the rest of the default settings and attack your WLAN that much easier. Don’t change the name to something obvious like your street address (I have actually seen this done) or your name. Consider using random numbers or even changing it to something tike “NOTPUBLIC” or “NOTRESSPASSING” just to make a point. Disable SSID broadcast Wireless access points are set to broadcast the SSID by default. Turn this feature off to make it harder for casual wardrivers to discover your network’s name. It won’t stop a determined cracker from discovering it, though, because wireless NICs always broadcast the SSB3 when communicating with the access point. The procedure for disabling SSID broadcast is different for each manufacturer, so consult your access point’s manual. Once you turn off SSID broadcast, you have to configure each NIC manually and input the new SSID. Change the default IP subnet The next thing you should consider doing is changing the default subnet IP addresses. Each manufacturer has a default IP subnet, and this can make it easy for an attacker to discover the IP address of your access point. Consider also disabling DHCP and assigning static IP addresses. Consider disabling DHCP Most access points support built-in DHCP service. This allows the access point to assign IP addresses dynamically to new computers as they connect to the network and to computers that are reconnecting after a shutdown or reboot. This also allows an intruder to connect to the WLAN and have the access point assign him an IP address, which makes the intruder’s computer a legitimate member of the WLAN. By disabling DHCP, you make this far more difficult. You have to assign permanent (static) IP addresses to each computer on your WLAN and manually configure them. Once again, this is an extra step, but it is well worth the effort. Insider insight : Without DHCP enabled, an intruder has to monitor and analyze network traffic in an attempt to determine the IP subnet and addresses in use He can then assign himself an IP address and attempt to establish a connection. This makes it difficult for casual sniffers and neophyte intruders to access your WLAN. Enable MAC address filtering Another step that you can, and should, take is to enable MAC address filtering. Remember that each network device has a unique MAC address assigned by the manufacturer. Many access points have an option that allows you to restrict access to specific MAC addresses. This should block any MAC addresses that are not on the “allow” list from connecting to the network. This is effective, but it is not perfect. An intruder can monitor network traffic and discover the MAC addresses of legitimate computers on the WLAN. He can then change the MAC address of his NIC, which allows him to masquerade as a member of the network and connect even when filtering is turned on. Change default administrative passwords Change the default administrative passwords on all access points. Once again, these are public knowledge, and, if a cracker knows what type of access point you use, he’ll know the default password. This will aid him in attacking your access point. Caution : Write down the new settings and passwords, and store the list in a secure place. This will be helpful if you forget this information and need it at a later date. Change default user names Likewise, the tips above apply to your username too as these are also common knowledge. Enable WEP or WPA encryption As I mentioned earlier, even though WEP encryption is flawed and vulnerable, you should use it. Enable 128-bit WEP on your WLAN, and use it. With the relatively low traffic on a WLAN in a home, it could take a cracker several hours to collect enough packets to crack your WEP key. Again, each step you perform just adds another piece to the intellectual firewall you’re building. As a whole, these measures with discourage most script kiddies and casual wardrivers. Adjust broadcast power On some access points, you can adjust the broadcast power of the unit. I recommend that you experiment and turn this down as low as you can while still maintaining decent connection speeds between computers on your WLAN. The idea is to keep the signal within the confines of your house rather than having it reach across the street. This makes the signal more difficult to receive for outsiders. Wardrivers can use directional antennas to pick up weak signals at a greater distance, but doing this will at least make it harder for them. Set minimum connection speeds On many access points, you can set a minimum access connection speed. The further away from an access point an intruder is, the weaker the signal will be (both ways). Therefore, if you set the minimum connection speed higher, computers will have to be closer to the access point to connect and stay connected. Once again, this makes it harder for an intruder to access your WLAN because he will have to be closer to connect. Anyone standing on your lawn with a wireless laptop is probably up to no good unless he’s the water meter reader. Set access times Lastly, some access points allow you to configure the times of day to allow access. If it supports this, consider using it. If no-one is home during the day, consider configuring it to block all access between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

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What Exactly Is The Koobface Virus?

October 19th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Brief History Behind Koobface If you were to utter the word ‘Koobface’ for 10-15 times then you would probably realize that it has something to do with Facebook . That is because Koobface is actually an anagram for the word ‘FACEBOOK’. Even though it has got a cute name, Koobface is a highly dangerous computer worm. Koobface made its first ever impact on the Internet back in December of 2008. It then disappeared for a while but came back with a vengeance in March 2009. And this time it has gone big, in fact, very big. Where does Koobface hang out? As mentioned before, Koobface is most commonly associated with Facebook but it also targets other social networks, such as – hi5 Friendster MySpace and even Twitter. According to an official report by Facebook somewhere around 120 million registered users have fallen prey to the Koobface virus at some time. The Different Versions Of Koobface Even though Koobface only came to prominence in December 2008 it has in fact been around for much longer than that. Previous incarnations have been known by the following names – Net-Worm Win32.Koobface.a Net-Worm.Win32.Koobface.b WORM_KOOBFACE.DC and W32/Koobfa-Gen Over time this infectious virus grew more deadly until it became one of the largest threats on the internet today, garnering a similar amount of attention as the Conficker virus has. How can I spot the Koobface virus? You may be wondering about the way in which Koobface could find it’s way onto your computer. Well, by deception is the answer, much like most other computer viruses. You would get some messages or video links from your friends, or their friends, with catchy titles like “Look you were filmed all naked!”, “My friend catched you on hidden cam”,  ”You look just awesome in this movie” and “My home video :)”. Once you click on those links, you would be asked to download some plug-ins like Flash Player. And if you did exactly that then you’d be in trouble! According to many Internet Security experts, Koobface is one of the most deadly and viral infections of all time. Kaspersky Lab, which stands out among the best of the antivirus organizations stated that “the worms transform victim’s machines into zombie computers to form botnets.” The most important reason is that it has targeted the social networking websites which have become an essential part of the lives of people in this cyber age we live in. Although all the Social Networking websites are enhancing their security parameters to ensure safety to their users accounts you still need to be aware of all the consequences of this deadly computer worm. There are a number of methods which can help you to keep your computer free of this particular infection – more on that in a couple of days. Stay alert and avoid clicking on links posted by strangers because prevention is always better than cure. Follow this link to discover how you can remove the koobface virus .

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What Exactly Is Scareware?

October 19th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

The term ‘Scareware’ is often applied to software that is in some way deceptive. (Scareware can also be known as fraudware and includes rogue scanners) A future article will look at how scareware has evolved into ‘ransomware’. What Is The Point Of Scareware? The aim of scareware is quite simply to frighten people into buying something that they otherwise wouldn’t want. In many respects scareware acts like a Trojan, deceiving recipients into installing an unwanted program. Whilst scareware can refer to many different types of products it is typically associated with antivirus scams in which the tactic is to suggest that your computer is either at risk or already infected. Naturally, the scareware then offers the solution – a highly overpriced piece of software which offers to right all the wrongs that have been identified on your system. In fact, only today, I read an interesting article on the BBC website which claims up to 40 million people have fallen victim to such scams in the last year! Its no surprise then that scareware scams are a growth industry – too many internet users have insufficient knowledge to protect themselves and are easily duped by such schemes, spending their money on fake antivirus products that either do not work or, in some cases, actually install Trojans and viruses themselves. How Does Scareware Work? There are 3 main ways in which scareware will trick you somehow – Getting you to pay up – You buy the fake antivirus product, which is bad enough, but then the scammers take your credit card details too! Zombie time – Many scareware programs will ensnare the victim machines into a botnet which can then be used for sending spam or engaging in DDoS attacks. Identity theft – Scareware can install keystroke loggers and Trojans which will record what you do online and search your files for anything containing your private or financial information. How Do I Protect Myself Against Scareware? Avoiding scams isn’t so hard – common sense and inquisitiveness go a long way. If a popup window appears on your computer then you should question it and never, ever buy online unless you yourself have taken your browser to the page you wish to buy from. Here are 3 more tips for avoiding scareware and fake antivirus scams – Only use antivirus programs that have come from a legitimate security vendor – here are the best 10 free ones . Always read your email in plain text – this looks horrible but will display links as they really are, rather than disguised by fancy pictures. Be wary of email attachments – unless you completely trust the sender then do not open them and never be tempted by email offers of free antivirus programs from companies you’ve never heard of. Once again, only buy or download security software from trusted sources – here are 10 more that I trust – and stay safe!

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My Top 10 Internet Security Programs Of 2009

October 17th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

As 2009 draws to a close most security vendors have already released their 2010-branded products. Therefore I thought this was a good opportunity to look back over what I believe to be some of the best offerings of 2009. Sure, there may be newer versions of some of these available now (and I will be writing about those over the next few weeks) but guess what? These 2009 versions are typically just as effective, and can often be found for a fraction of the price, as retailers look to clear out old stocks Introduction to the best of internet security, 2009 Every person who uses a Windows computer on the internet needs to ensure that their system is well protected. The very first thing I do after installing the operating system onto a new computer or drive is install my security software and I would recommend that you do the same thing too. There is no point in having the latest and greatest laptop or desktop computer if you arn’t going to take care of it and that includes preventing malware from entering it, as well as blocking other threats too. How does an antivirus program work? After installing an antivirus program it will scan your computer, detect and eliminates potential virus threats in two ways – Firstly, the antivirus program scans your system files and looks for virus definitions that match it’s in-built and updated virus dictionary and if a virus match is found then it automatically alerts the user about the virus. The second method is to recognize other suspicious behavior, such as spyware or data capturing. When such behavior is detected the program will again alert the user and offer the means to put an end to them. There are many such antivirus and internet security programs available today and picking the right one can be quite a tricky prospect. In order to help you decide I’ve listed my own favourite antivirus/security programs from this year – 1. Bit defender Total Security 2009: Bit defender antivirus 2009 was one of the best antivirus programs of the year. It has also earned “Top Ten REVIEWS Gold Award” for being the best protection suite. Bit defender not only provides security to PC’s but also provides internet security as well. This version of Bit defender has new features, improved protection and performance. The main key elements are: • Easy to use. • Easy to install. • Automatic updates • Parental controls • IM encryption • Active Virus Control • Adjustable user interface 2. Kaspersky Internet Security 2009: Most of my friends, who are more casual users of the internet, have not heard of Kapersky who come from Russia. That is, perhaps, because Kaspersky are one of the younger companies featured here but they have already carved out a great name for themselves nonetheless. Kaspersky Internet Security isn’t my favourite on this list but it is a suite I’ve chosen for kids’ computers due to it’s simple and clean interface. It does offer strong protection and has also won many awards. The main features of KIS 2009 are – • Renowned antivirus scanning engine • Virus scanner • Effective anti-spyware tools • Popup blocker • Simple interface • A strong well protected firewall The ability to protect your computer registry and more. That’s why it received the “Top Ten REVIEWS Bronze Award.” Receive a discount on Kaspersky Lab products 3. Webroot Antivirus 2009: Webroot spy sweeper is a product of Webroot software INC, one of the leading providers for anti-spyware software. Webroot spy sweeper is a reliable and award-winning anti-spyware program that effectively detects and gets rid of the spyware and adware from personal computers and laptops. The main advantage of this spy sweeper is that it protects your computer from various consequences such as a slower Internet connection, pop-up advertisement problems, reduced computer performance or, in the worst case, the loss of private information and identity theft. The main features are: • Advanced Detection Techniques • Accurate Risk Assessment • Continuous Security Updates • Enhanced Blocking with Smart Shield Protection • Protection Made Easy 4. ESET NOD32 Antivirus 2009: ESET NOD32 Antivirus 2009 is one of the leading top 10 antivirus programs with some great features like – • Virus definition updates are very small in size compared to others antivirus applications. • Provides best protection against zero day threat and attacks • Multi layered protection including real time email scanning • Blocking all attempts to collect and forward your personal and confidential data 5. F-Secure Internet Security 2009: F-secure Internet Security 2009 is the one of the top 10 internet security softwares. I reviewed it very recently so check out my F-Secure Internet Security 2009 review for more detailed information. F-Secure Internet security 2009 has come up with many exciting features like antispyware, spam, antivirus, and a phishing filter. It also has a new feature called DeepGuard 2.0 cloud computing technology which provides automatic updates and protects your computer from severe threats which include terrors like root kits and malware. The main features are – • Protection from virus and spyware • DeepGuard 2.0 Enabled • Healthy and trustworthy Firewall • F-Secure Black Light which detects and eliminates the presence of root kits. • Spam Filter and Anti-phishing toolbar • Parental Control 6. AVG antivirus 2009: If I were to conduct a poll asking people which antivirus vendors they know of then AVG antivirus would probably come out at the top result. This would almost certainly be due to the fact that their free antivirus program is really rather good. It is very easy to scan your computer with AVG and for that reason it is what I am running right now whilst I choose another complete internet security package. Also, the user interface is easy to understand and installation is a breeze. Later versions of AVG come with a feature called core scanning engine which offers better performance with multi-core processors. 7. McAfee Antivirus 2009: McAfee is a well-known brand and the company always offers good quality products. Their 2009 Antivirus program offers some great features including a Script Stopper to prevent viruses from spreading from one computer to another via email, and WormStopper. It can automatically update its virus database regularly. And finally it has no support for p2p File Sharing and Registry Startup Protection. 8. Panda Antivirus Pro 2009: The new Panda Antivirus made it’s comeback with some new and excellent features. The best of those new features is the ultrafast scan engine that scan almost 30% faster compared to other antivirus applications. This is another easy to use program that my kids have had on their systems recently and it did a great job of keeping them safe. Other features of Panda Antivirus Pro are – • Inbuilt Personal Firewall • Panda Antivirus has an advanced heuristic scan which maximum possible identity theft • Identity protection through Anti-Phishing Filter and Anti-Banking Trojans Engine 9. Norton Antivirus/ Internet Security Norton Antivirus/ Internet Security is one of the most reputed antivirus application on the market today. This version of Norton has the ability to identify your wireless home network and protect it. Recently Norton has brought in a special version for gaming PCs known as Norton 2009 Gaming Edition. Here are some of Norton’s main features – • Very easy to use. • Updates take only 5 to 10 minutes. • Easy to install. • Uses less system resources. 10. Trend Micro Internet security 2009: Trend Micro Internet Security is an antivirus and internet security program developed by Trend Micro who are based in Tokyo, Japan. Trend Micro are growing fast and are quickly becoming a strong contender in the internet security arena. Here are some of the best features of Trend Micro Internet Security 2009 pro – • The programs boot times are 20 percent faster and use 40 percent less RAM. • The installation of the software is very easy and doesn’t take much of your time. After the installation is finished it performs a quick scan and updates the definition files. • So you can protect your personal information with ease and Surf the Internet without slowing down your computer. • Trend Micro Internet Security has a behavioral engine which is an exceptional tool for preventing malware. • Exciting new look and good user interface • Protect your children online: • Protection against web Threats (Take 10% Off Trend Micro Internet Security 2010 Now! Coupon Code: trendsecurity ) Which of the above is best for you is something I cannot really say – I use different products for different computers, according to their usage, and have chosen those with simpler interfaces for my kids regardless of the the rest of their features. The one certainty, however, is that all of the above are highly effective and will do a grand job of keeping your computer secure. Safe surfing! My Top 10 Internet Security Programs Of 2009 is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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What Are Trojan Horses And Worms?

October 16th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

What Is Meant By ‘Trojan’ And ‘Worm’? Trojans and Worms are small unwanted programs which hamper the performance of your computer to a great extent. But what do Trojans and worms actually do? These are designed to retrieve your confidential information from your computer which includes your passwords, bank account numbers, credit card information etc. Trojans do no spread whereas worms replicate vigorously and capture all the information available on your system. People who are new to the Internet, and sometimes even experienced users, download some strange and dangerous files which then turn out to be Trojans and Worms. The Klez, I LOVE YOU and SirCam viruses are few such examples. Trojans can also be carriers for different viruses so they can be termed as WRAPPERS too. On the other hand, Worms are small programs designed by programmers to capture the email IDs of  those they ensnare which they then usually sell to advertisers for the purpose of marketing their products, so they replicate very quickly. Once you think you have found any Trojan or Worm on your computer, I strongly advise you to use a good antivirus program to scan you computer in order to terminate their activities. You must also make sure that the antivirus program used by you is updated on a regular basis. Prevention Measures To Keep Your Computer Clean From Trojans And Worms Trojan.IrcBounce, IRC/FinalBot, WinHelp.a, VBS.Stages, love-letter-for you.txt.vbs,  MyPicture.bmp.vbs are some of the most dangerous Trojans and Worms. But by staying alert and by following preventive measures you can keep your computer system safe from harm. Below are some tips that will allow you to avoid Trojans and worms: Most importantly, always use a good antivirus program which would let you know whenever a Trojan or Worm enters into your computer and then ensure it’s removal. Always scan any email attachments you receive before downloading or opening them, even if they are sent by your friend. This is the reason that all email services provide in-built antivirus scanners . Only use reliable and trustworthy sources for downloading files. You need to be careful while you are downloading the files such as .EXE, .COM, .VBS, .BAT, .HLP and .DLL. Always use a strong and healthy Firewall. Many Operating Systems do provide their own Firewalls but using an external Firewall typically ensures better security and safety. It enables you to keep a check on the applications using your computer resources. Completely avoid using insecure Peer to Peer networks. Always delete your Temporary Internet Files, Cache and Cookies whenever you finish browsing. Play Safe To Stay Safe!

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What Are Trojan Horses And Worms?

What Is Spam, What Are It’s Effects And How Do You Prevent It?

October 14th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Over time the internet has become huge and it continues to grow at an amazing rate. Almost every person who uses the internet has their own email address, or perhaps even several. Therefore I would be shocked if you are unfamiliar with the term’ spam’ ,  though you may be unaware of it’s actual effects and the measures you can take to prevent it. On technical terms Spam is actually an Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) which refers to an email message sent to a person without his/her prior request. Spam costs virtually nothing to send and the costs are paid by the recipient (time lost in dealing with it) and the carriers (bandwidth used) rather than by the sender. This is the reason why advertisers use Spam to market their unauthorized products. Below are the different types of Spam that you should be cautious of: Phishing spam – a popular and heinous type of scam Foreign bank spam Get rich easily and quickly spam Illicitly pirated software News group and forum spam The effects of spam Individuals, or a group of users, are easily targeted by email spam. Spam usually arises as a result of giving out your email address on an unauthorized or unscupulous website. Here are some of the effects of Spam: Fills your Inbox with number of ridiculous emails. Degrades your Internet speed to a great extent. Steals useful information like your details on you Contact list. Alters your search results on any search engine. Spam is a huge waste of everybody’s time and can quickly become very frustrating if you receive large amounts of it like I do. Preventing spam There are some effective measures that you can employ to stop spam entering your inbox: Always use an updated and trustworthy antivirus program. Never share your email address and personal information like credit card details with an unreliable source. Avoid responding to any emails that you never asked for. If you receive such email then delete it immediately. Try to avoid emails with the subject “need assistance or some funds “, or any other catchy titles. And never, ever forward such emails since they could be targeted to obtain as many number of mails email addresses as possible. Whenever you need to forward an email to a group of people make use of BCC field which enables you to of hide the email addresses from each of the other recipients. Never mention your email address in newsletters or instant messenger chats. Switch off the reading pane in email clients such as Outlook. It can be done by View –> Reading Pane – Off. Hopefully the above will minimise the amount of spam you receive. If you still get too much junk mail then I would recommend getting a good email filter/blocker such as Spam Bully .

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What Is Spam, What Are It’s Effects And How Do You Prevent It?