Safe Internet Blog

The shopping season is over and the new year has begun. But keeping safe online is more important than ever. Internet is still something very scary for many users and experts believe that 2010 will be the year of the cyber criminal. The staff at digital defender would like to share some simple tips that anyone can use and that we use in our daily work and private lives to stay safer online.

1. Better be safe than sorry

If something looks too good to be true it probably is. Emails offering to enhance body parts, make you lose weight or offering you the chance to untold riches are 99,99% untrue. Do not answer these emails, just remove them or add them to your spamfilter’s blacklist.

2. Always protect your identity online

Create an email account at gmail, hotmail or whichever free email provider you prefer that you can use when you need to sign up to a services you are not 100% percent sure about. If the site owner starts to spam you or send a lot of unnecessary information then it will intrude in your daily life. You should be very careful whom you share your personal mail address with.

3. Google it before you try it

If you have found a new software that sounds really interesting or a website for that matter and you would really like to try it out, then Google it before you try it. If there are no negative reviews then you are a little bit more safe then before.

4. Https is your friend

When you are paying for something online and it says https and a padlock in the browser line then you are using an encrypted connection. This will make sure that you send the information to the right party and only the people you want to send it to.

5. Never, ever open attached files if you are not 100% sure of what they contain

I remember once I worked at an IT-company where the boss for some reason opened an attached file that was called openme.exe, which was obviously not good. The attached virus destroyed his computer more or less.

6. Create good passwords

Typically most people have one password that they try to use whenever they can, since it is easier to remember that way. But imagine that you would have just one key that would open anything that you owned or worked with. I would not be comfortable with that. There is a lot of good software out there that will help you store multiple passwords and you only need to remember one to access the rest.

7. Keep a backup

When disaster strikes, it’s good to be able to get your valuable pictures, music and other things back. Backup systems today can be used by anyone without any special knowledge and they are getting cheaper by the minute. Online and offline backups have their advantages and disadvantages. Choose one that you like and stick with it.

8. Update your drivers and software

There is no such thing as a 100% secure software. Software is always updated to ensure that any discovered security holes are patched. Having the latest version of your software and drivers also ensures that your computer runs smoothly. If you think this is a lot of work, there are various kinds of software that can handle this for you.

9. Use a good antivirus and antispyware software

This is a hard one. There are a ton of software out there. There are free versions and paid versions, some are included with your computer and some are not. Our recommendations from digital defender is that you should run a software that you feel comfortable with. It should also as a minimum have: a real-time element that always monitors your computer, frequent update and an easy to use interface. Our experience is that if you do not understand your software then you will not use it.

10. USB drives

We move, more and more data around with USB drives and their storage capacity is growing exponentially while prices drop at the same rate. What many people forget is that if you use your drive at a couple of different computers it is a very good change that you have picked up what ever was on that machine (good or bad). Different computers, with different users pick up different sorts of bugs. If move or share information with your USB drive frequently then ensure you scan it.

Cybersecurity is an enormous are and it is impossible to become an expert overnight. We would like to share these simple things to help you surf safer. We hope that you make use of them and wish you a safe online experience in 2010.

Greetings from the digital defender team

http://www.digital-defender.com

Safe Internet Blog antispyware, antivirus, computer protection, cybercrime, cybercriminals, internet, internet security, online, online security, viruses

The shopping season is over and the new year has begun. But keeping safe online is more important than ever. Many experts believe that 2010 will be the year of the cyber criminal and Internet is still something very “scary” for many users out there. The staff at digital defender would like to share some simple tips that anyone can use and that we use in our daily work and private lives to stay safer online.

1. Better be safe than sorry

If something looks too good to be true it probably is. Emails offering to enhance body parts, make you lose weight or offering you the chance to untold riches are 99,99% untrue. Do not answer these emails, just remove them or add them to your spamfilter’s blacklist.

2. Always protect your identity online

Create an email account at gmail, hotmail or whichever free email provider you prefer that you can use when you need to sign up to a services you are not 100% percent sure about. If the site owner starts to spam you or send a lot of unnecessary information then it will intrude in your daily life. You should be very careful whom you share your personal mail address with.

3. Google it before you try it

If you have found a new software that sounds really interesting or a website for that matter and you would really like to try it out, then Google it before you try it. If there are no negative reviews then you are a little bit more safe then before.

4. Https is your friend

When you are paying for something online and it says https and a padlock in the browser line then you are using an encrypted connection. This will ensure that your information is only sent to the party you are trying to send it to.

5. Never, ever open attached files if you are not 100% sure of what they contain

I remember once I worked at an IT-company where the boss for some reason opened an attached file that was called openme.exe, which was obviously not good. The attached virus destroyed his computer more or less.

6. Create good passwords

Typically most people have one password that they try to use whenever they can, since it is easier to remember that way. But imagine that you would have just one key that would open anything that you owned or worked with. I would not be comfortable with that. There is a lot of good software out there that will help you store multiple passwords and you only need to remember one to access the rest.

7. Keep a backup

When disaster strikes, it’s good to be able to get your valuable pictures, music and other things back. Backup systems today can be used by anyone without any special knowledge and they are getting cheaper by the minute. Online and offline backups have their advantages and disadvantages. Choose one that you like and stick with it.

8. Update your drivers and software

There is no such thing as a 100% secure software. Software is always updated to ensure that any discovered security holes are patched. Having the latest version of your software and drivers also ensures that your computer runs smoothly. If you think this is a lot of work, there are various kinds of software that can handle this for you.

9. Use a good antivirus and antispyware software

This is a hard one. There are a ton of software out there. There are free versions and paid versions, some are included with your computer and some are not. Our recommendations from digital defender is that you should run a software that you feel comfortable with. It should also as a minimum have: a real-time element that always monitors your computer, frequent update and an easy to use interface. Our experience is that if you do not understand your software then you will not use it.

10. USB drives

We move, more and more data around with USB drives and their storage capacity is growing exponentially while prices drop at the same rate. What many people forget is that if you use your drive at a couple of different computers it is a very good change that you have picked up what ever was on that machine (good or bad). Different computers, with different users pick up different sorts of bugs. If move or share information with your USB drive frequently then ensure you scan it.

Cybersecurity is an enormous are and it is impossible to become an expert overnight. We would like to share these simple things to help you surf safer. We hope that you make use of them and wish you a safe online experience in 2010.

Greetings from the digital defender team

http://www.digital-defender.com

Safe Internet Blog antispyware, antivirus, computer protection, cybercrime, cybercriminals, internet, internet security, online, online security, viruses

Recent online surveys show that having and using computers are now considered as necessities in everyday life.  Today, there are millions of people who own their respective computers, and many of them have access to the Internet.  Since computers and the Internet go hand-in-hand in making life easier for people, it is but necessary to protect the computer while you are surfing the Internet.   Antivirus programs are the key in order to achieve computer protection.  One must choose carefully when picking what antivirus program to buy.

In choosing Antivirus Software, the initial thing to do is to check if your computer possesses the necessary system requirements in order to run the program.  Modern antivirus programs do not support older versions of the Windows platform any longer.   Any version older than Windows XP is no longer supported thus you have to make sure that you have the latest version if possible.  Antivirus programs also have minimum memory requirements that your computer must at least have in order to run the program.  A large chunk of memory is allotted for these kinds of programs, so it is but necessary to have at least the minimum requirement.  Upgrade your computer before installing the newest antivirus programs available in the market if your computer is already slow or old.

The Antivirus Software must also be flexible in the customization of its features in order to satisfy the different needs of different users.  The different settings that are available for the users’ utilization must be easily understandable hence the antivirus program must have an easy-to-understand user interface.  In short, the antivirus program must be all about ease of use.  Whether the person is a computer or technical expert or a total beginner, the antivirus program must be able to meet their different needs.

Thirdly, daily updates must be available in the Antivirus Software.  {This feature is usually termed as “daily update” or “daily software update.”  This is commonly known as “daily update” or “daily software update” feature.}  The only requirement must be an active Internet connection and with this the antivirus program must be able to update itself in order to protect against new viruses that come out everyday.   This is a necessary and critical function to watch out for when purchasing antivirus programs. Necessarily so if the program has an automatic update, then it must feature a manual update as well. This is an extremely useful feature to protect a computer running day trading software.

Fourth, the Antivirus Software must have a good detection rate.   Different websites are accessible for people who wish to have an antivirus program reviewed or tested.  All the user has to do is to submit a request for what antivirus program to be rated and tested, and the result of the test will be emailed to the one that requested the testing.  If the antivirus program already has an existing review, then the result of that review will be sent to the one that submitted the request.   If the antivirus program has an update, or a new version of it is released, then it can be submitted again for a new review. If you are using best forex software, this is a must.

The annoying third party programs such as adware, spyware and pups or potentially unwanted programs must also be blocked by the Antivirus Software.  These are nuisance programs that keep on trying to infiltrate one’s computer and cause damage.  Your computer can get infiltrated by these programs by merely browsing a website.   Hence, the antivirus program must be able to block these programs from entering your computer system even while you are surfing the Internet.   You certainly don’t want someone invading your investment software and stealing all your information!

Safe Internet Blog antivirus software, computer protection, computers, forex, forex software, investment software, software, stock software