Looking for free computer security tools to use?
Got Spyware?
There is now a bill in Congress to make Spyware illegal. Good luck at catching the creators, in the mean time here are two links you can use to get started on your journey against Spyware.
http://www.lavasoft.com/ Ad-aware
http://www.safernetworking.com/ Spybot Search and Destroy.
Note there is better version available for a cost. There are many things you can also do to protect your computer Keep Automatic Updates turned on for all of your Anti-Virus Software, and operating systems. Clean out your cookies as well there is often cookies placed to track your whereabouts on the Internet.
Now the subject of viruses. There are commercial anti-virus scanner like Symantec Norton Anti-Virus and MacAfee in fact many new computers come with trial versions. Unfortunately when these versions run out users most of the time ignore it and wonder why do I have a virus? Let me explain something just because you have a antivirus software program on your computer you are not cured. Virus writers do just that write new viruses and edit old ones to do new things. You need to update your signatures of your anti-virus software continuously. Crafty virus writer’s code Viruses to disable your anti-virus software!
There is free anti-virus solutions one is called AVG http://free.grisoft.com/. I personally use this product and love It, it is not a memory hog like Norton. And you can also set up schedules to run and get updates.
A good firewall is a must especially nowadays. This is because everyone for the most part is running DSL and Cable modems. Which are great for connectivity horrible because it’s like leaving your front door unlocked.
Check out http://www.zonelabs.com/ They have a product called Zone Alarm. It is customizable and blocks allot of attempts of entering your network. It is shocking to see the amount of people trying to get into your network. Zone Alarm will alert you to programs trying to access the Internet. This is kind of annoying but can be a life saver if a program is dialing Kenya on your telephone!! Zone Alarm can remember certain programs.
Windows Service Pack 2 has a firewall in it and I recommend enabling it.
There are many web browsers that you can use. I love Open Source you can probably guess I’m using Firefox www.mozilla.org/products/firefox.com There are so many features that I can rave about like tabbed browsing, if your anything like me at home I have at least two or three browser running if using Internet Explorer, with Firefox I can have as many websites as I want open and tabs at the top with descriptions. it's ingenious in my opinion. I don’t have to switch browsers like I do with IE.
Internet Explorer is one of the most used browsers and most targeted. Mozilla Firefox has many advantages including security. It also does not use ActiveX.
Scan your own systems! To see what ports are open and running. DO you have services that do not need to be running?
Knowledge is power. I work for a technology company for three years and never have they trained any people in multiple departments on security that I'm aware of. I’m amazed to hear things from co-workers such as I don’t have an account with so and so bank but they wanted my information and I gave it to them! Corporate networks are and will continue to be infected by users that are untrained about computer security. People all the time open attachments that they do not know where they came from. Homes users are sometimes even more ignorant. That is not said in a mean way.
File Sharing programs are popular and an opening to viruses, Trojans and other lovely things you don’t want in your network.
For the best and current security tools, alerts and news use Google http://www.google.com/.
Orange County Computer Consultant
- Orange County Computer Security Consultant
- Orange County Computer Consultant helps small businesses with networking, installations and small business software.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Microsoft Internet Security Accelerator
Quick and Dirty Primer on Internet Security and Acceleration Server.
What exactly is ISA?
Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration server is a web-cache, virtual private networks and application layer firewall.
For vendor information check out www.microsoft.com/isaserver.
I went to a Microsoft security conference and this is what I picked up.
ISA can inspect traffic coming into your network and also do HTTP filtering. It is designed to look for directory traversing. YOu can customize protocolsand policies based upon your criteria.
ISA allows for better authentication thru RADIUS remote access dial in server. You can also use products from RSA such as secure ID, which I recommend.
VPN's can also be customized thru ISA. VPN's are virtual private networks to allow remote users to access your network thru encrypted tunnels using protocolssuch as IPSec.
Internet Security Accelerator can also be used with Microsoft Exchange server for better security.
Internet Security accelerator allows traffic thru that has been deemed ok by the firewall administrator without additional packet inspection increasing performance of your network.
ISA will also cache webpages to allow faster access over the network.
There are always open source alternatives such as Squid, http://www.squid.org which is a open source proxy. This is just a few notes I took down that I thought I would share with the internet community. I hope this helps with any IT decisions.
What exactly is ISA?
Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration server is a web-cache, virtual private networks and application layer firewall.
For vendor information check out www.microsoft.com/isaserver.
I went to a Microsoft security conference and this is what I picked up.
ISA can inspect traffic coming into your network and also do HTTP filtering. It is designed to look for directory traversing. YOu can customize protocolsand policies based upon your criteria.
ISA allows for better authentication thru RADIUS remote access dial in server. You can also use products from RSA such as secure ID, which I recommend.
VPN's can also be customized thru ISA. VPN's are virtual private networks to allow remote users to access your network thru encrypted tunnels using protocolssuch as IPSec.
Internet Security Accelerator can also be used with Microsoft Exchange server for better security.
Internet Security accelerator allows traffic thru that has been deemed ok by the firewall administrator without additional packet inspection increasing performance of your network.
ISA will also cache webpages to allow faster access over the network.
There are always open source alternatives such as Squid, http://www.squid.org which is a open source proxy. This is just a few notes I took down that I thought I would share with the internet community. I hope this helps with any IT decisions.
Making Money
It is Friday morning and I'm thinking about how to make more money on the Internet. There is allot of opportunities. I'm currently using Google Adsense and am constantly looking at ways to improve traffic to my website and total number of clickthrus. I run my own computer consulting company, which is fine. I would rather work fulltime from home because I have a baby on the way and would love to spend all the time I can with my girlfriend, child and my computers. I currently have two jobs. I like my day job, but hate my slow computer at work, it is also not as technically challenging as I would like.
Then there is affiliate programs. I like Amazon http://www.amazon.com because I can select what books amongst other items I want displayed.
The possibilities are almost endless. It takes allot of writing, even more research and link building to get the results I’m looking for. I would like to make a fulltime income of the Internet and not even leave the house unless there is some interesting security problem or technical problem to get into. I'm thinking about just writing more security articles on a daily basis as well. I do it for fun and to share knowledge.
It must be the Colombian coffee this morning because my mind is racing with business ideas of ways to profit and turn nothing into something. I don’t want to reveal too much though because there is always competition :) I’m looking forward to going to the USENIX conference in December it should be a blast. I will be blogging and taking photos of every bit as well. Then I and my pregnant girlfriend will be making a trip to San Diego to Sea world.
This February I should be going back to college, I have attended like 6 community colleges, various trade schools and I'm not even a PH.D.. I think my problem is that I focus on only technical classes and not the General Curriculum suggested. YAWN. The classes I’m looking at? Oddly enough more psychology and ecommerce, maybe a design class. I took Java and could not stand it. They don’t offer Python.
Then there is affiliate programs. I like Amazon http://www.amazon.com because I can select what books amongst other items I want displayed.
The possibilities are almost endless. It takes allot of writing, even more research and link building to get the results I’m looking for. I would like to make a fulltime income of the Internet and not even leave the house unless there is some interesting security problem or technical problem to get into. I'm thinking about just writing more security articles on a daily basis as well. I do it for fun and to share knowledge.
It must be the Colombian coffee this morning because my mind is racing with business ideas of ways to profit and turn nothing into something. I don’t want to reveal too much though because there is always competition :) I’m looking forward to going to the USENIX conference in December it should be a blast. I will be blogging and taking photos of every bit as well. Then I and my pregnant girlfriend will be making a trip to San Diego to Sea world.
This February I should be going back to college, I have attended like 6 community colleges, various trade schools and I'm not even a PH.D.. I think my problem is that I focus on only technical classes and not the General Curriculum suggested. YAWN. The classes I’m looking at? Oddly enough more psychology and ecommerce, maybe a design class. I took Java and could not stand it. They don’t offer Python.