Week of December 10, 2004

Last week's Tips

Be wary of calls 'from Visa'

Beware of emails from relatives seeking accident money 

General word to the wise

Cyber scamsters are getting better at dreaming up innovative ways to take our money. The only real advise to be given is: "watch your back". It's ugly out there. If you have a tendency to be the nice, trusting type- your days of solvency are numbered.

Read every e-mail you receive (at home and work) as if Bin Laden might have sent it. Study the 'subject' line for hints that it is not what it seems to be. Ask friends and colleagues not to send you email with oblique- 'could be from anyone' subject lines. Use a personal code where you can. Just don't click on every old thing that flashes past your eyeballs. And never open unknown attachments - if in any doubt - hit delete.

The worst that can happen is that if it was legitimate, it will be sent again.

If chastised for deleting an email from the CEO demanding your immediate attention- assume your most ethically conscious and innocent face and point to the acceptable use policy/email policy, and numerous threatening emails from IT (saying not to open attachments). Sob to HR about the inequity of the situation, etc.

Almost certainly it will be the CEO who has breached protocol by sending dodgy looking attachments to security conscious staff...

Xmas Resolutions

You have a bit of time over the holidays to spend on the home PC. What are your priorities?

Probably to spend 20 hours on eBay trading baseball cards, or Elvis memorabilia.

Perfectly understandable, but do yourself a favour, and devote a few hours to protecting yourself online. Read the Home Users section for an overview of some of the threats.

And if you are still not convinced, at least do the following:

1) install anti virus software and a firewall.

Trend Micro have free stuff for trial download (PC-cillin product- anti- virus and a firewall in one) - get a free anti virus scan to put you in the mood.

2) Get a free scan to check your system for spyware, and download a free spyware product - there are several free products (Spybot, Adaware), but this one (Giant Software) has got good write ups, and free is free. I noticed an annoying pop up, but still might be worth a shot.

(Microsoft recently bought Giant and will probably work out the kinks I noticed above. See their web site to download free anti spyware software from Ad-aware and Spybot. In a few weeks, MS will release their version of the Giant product. It may not be free anymore, but will probably be worth buying. We will keep you posted. (This link also takes you to an MS page where you can free trials of various firewall and anti-virus products.)).

Note : Many spyware products you must pay for have not been shown to be any more effective than the freebies. Read a review.

3) If you have Microsoft Windows and MS Office on your PC- you must go to their site regularly to get 'Updates' to the software - this is generally speaking a euphemism for patches to security holes that can expose you and your data. New ones are constantly emerging (some found by MS geeks- many by good natured outsiders, and several by hackers).

Both Windows and Office need to be 'updated' on a regular basis - maybe set aside one day a week when you do this, or at least do it monthly.

Have the Windows and Office CDs handy, as you will probably need to use them to get the 'updates'. The first time you do this- if never done before, count on it all taking a while- especially if you only have a dial up connection. You will also have to restart your computer (then or later, but sooner is better) for it all to come together.

4) Back up your computer if you have anything you care not to lose if your computer crashes- and it will. Don't keep the Great New Grisham novel you have worked on for 5 years on a PC you never back up.

Be super careful about copying work files onto the (unprotected) home PC.

If there is no fine print in your employment contract/workplace security policies, or elsewhere, warning you against copying work files to home PCs (with the threat of instant dismemberment if found out), rest assured- if critical company data is lost or stolen because you left it on an unprotected home PC, you will be fired.

Keep a copy of crucial stuff on CD, on a USB memory card (like a key chain - 128 bit/256 bit cards with tons of memory are now cheap at Best Buy etc). If it is highly sensitive - encrypt it.

You can get tips on going a basic backup at the Microsoft site, and there is plenty of free backup software about.

(If any of these products are no longer free- you can usually at least get a free trial).

Call to Action To all you frustrated, under appreciated security programmers and developers out there in your Dogbert infested pens, now is your chance to do something noble for mankind. Send us your ideas for Tip of the Week and we will publish the best. It must be in language that your granny would understand and be able to follow. Assuming your granny is not an MIT graduate.

We are trying to build a body of knowledge that helps the average user, as well as more sophisticated folk who already have wads of techno babble infested sites to turn to.