Choosing Anti-Virus Software
There are a number of companies that provide software solutions to virus, Trojan, and internet worm attacks. It can be really confusing when you compare three different software packages from five different companies trying to find the one that is right for you. With that in mind, there are several very important things that you need to consider when choosing antivirus software: 1) How often/fast are the virus definitions updated. You want the answer to be “As soon as a new threat is found”. 2) Are the virus definitions updated automatically by the software? You want the answer to be “YES”. 3) Can you configure the software to check for updates every time you go online? You want the answer to be “YES”. 4) Is the software “smart” so that it can find viruses it doesn’t even know about yet? You want the answer to be “YES”. 5) Can it scan incoming and outgoing email automatically? You want the answer to be “YES”. 6) Can you configure it once to perform automatic scans of your entire computer on a regular schedule? You want the answer to be “YES”. 7) Does it provide a way to ‘clean out’ any viruses etc. that are found? You want the answer to be “YES”. Are upgrades to the software package performed automatically, regularly, and at no cost? You want the answer to be “YES”. There are a few major players in the field that you should know about in order to make an informed decision about which antivirus software solution to buy and use. There are Norton Antivirus, Trend Micro’s PC-cillin, and McAfee Antivirus. Sophos and Grisoft?s AVG are also very god choices. All of the top antivirus solutions will provide each of the eight points above (and more). There are quite a few smaller players on the market as well. In many cases they are quite good. However, most of the smaller players in this market don’t have the resources (yet) to keep up with constantly changing virus threats. For now I would recommend staying away from them. Not because they are poor products, but simply because they aren’t able to consistently provide each of the eight requirements above. The first few days after a new virus appears are often when it can do the most damage. The sooner you get an update the better. The big 3 will provide automatic updates to new threats usually within days of a new virus being found. Sophos and AVG are similar. Smaller players may take several days to provide updates, which are often not automatic. This should be enough basic information to help you on your way to choosing a good antivirus software. If you?d like to learn more first, there is plenty to read at http://www.antivirus-report.com/antivirus-software.html Learn about <a href="http://www.antivirus-report.com/antivirus-software.html">antivirus software</a> & how to protect your pc against trojan horses, spyware, computer viruses, etc. in the future. <a href="http://www.antivirus-report.com/nortons-anti-virus.html">Nortons anti virus</a>
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Keeping Your Kids Safe From Online Trouble
It seems the more advanced the online technology, the more trickery there is online. It may be hard to believe, but there are people who spend their time dreaming up ways to hack into strangers’ computers to swipe their identities and simply wreak havoc with their files. What is even more upsetting, is that a lot of times these troublemakers target youngsters and it is not their accounts they are looking to corrupt, but the kids themselves. What do online predators actually do? Basically, online predators scope out internet chat rooms, message boards, emails, and instant messaging to find vulnerable children. When they find a likely target, they will contact them and do whatever it takes to capture their attention and earn their trust. For example, they will find out the child’s hobbies, the kind of music they like, and they express an interest in the kid’s problems at home and at school. Then as soon as they have established a relatively strong bond, they will change the nature of the conversation. The safe and mundane topics of conversation will eventually become more intimate and sexual in nature. As a parent, how can you protect your children when they are online? The easiest piece of advice we can give is to monitor your children’s computer use whenever possible. We know that it is not possible to keep an eye on your child 24/7, so here are some additional tips: -Tell your kids in advance about the danger of online predators. Keep an on going dialogue and encourage your entire family to ask questions about online safety. -Keep the computer in a common area rather than in your kid’s private room. -When your child is online, take a seat next to them and watch what they are doing. If any website or email looks suspicious, divert their attention or delete the message together. -Tell your kids not to respond to any emails or instant messages that are from strangers. -Until your children are old enough to truly comprehend the dangers that exist online, do not let them participate in chat rooms or discussion forums. -Likewise, until the kids are old enough, have them use a family email that you can easily monitor. In addition to these tips, there are online tools that will help you keep your kids safe online. To find these tools check out your Internet Service Provider (also called an ISP), which often offers security devices for free. Next, try your local computer store and ask about the types of software they have that will block and filter unwanted messages and websites. And also check out your web browser, which may have parental controls that you can manually switch on and off. Unfortunately, even if you have done everything imaginable to protect your children from online trouble, sometimes a predator will slip through the cracks. If this happens, do not blame yourself or your kid. Take a deep breath and approach the problem with a level and logical head. Some warnings signs to watch for include: -Your child may spend a crazy amount of time online. -You are suddenly fielding phone calls from strangers who are asking to speak with your child, or your child is suddenly receiving packages in the mail from strangers. -Pornography pops up on the family computer. -You notice that your child is withdrawing from his or her usual activities. -You find out that your kid is using someone else’s online account. Finally, there are a lot of helpful services on the internet if your kids do wind up having trouble online. The best advice is to deal with the problem directly and as soon as you can. Madison Lockwood is a customer relations associate, specializing in small business development, for Apollo Hosting. Apollo Hosting provides <a href="http://www.apollohosting.com">website hosting</a>, ecommerce hosting, vps hosting, and web design services to a wide range of customers.
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There be Spyware here, Captain!
The ships bell had just sounded the dogwatch as Captain Skag began to check his email. He had just began to read his favorite E-zine, “Pirates gone wild” when his first mate burst into the cabin. “Captain, a dark ship approaches!” He cried. The captain, after running up on deck, examined the ship with his spyglass. “Shiver me hard drives” he bellowed as he saw the lay of her jib. “Shes a wardriver! ” (Note of historical Interest, a Wardriver is a term used to describe a way of searching for unsecure wireless networks.) “They be after plundering information on the ships server! Quick me mateys, prepare to repel boarders.” The crew scrambled to turn their laptops off while the Captain rushed to turn the wireless router off. Up on deck, the crew watched as the dark ship faded into the night. The Captain had no sooner settled back at his computer when again the cabin door burst open, this time it was the cook. “Blimey Captain, all my recipes files are gone!” This was bad news because the cooks famous secret recipe for chile con carne was highly sought after since winning 1st place at the Pirates ball last year. Thank the Kraken we have our backups” the Captain growled. The cook, cursing, left. Well, back to my email the captain thought. He pushed the send/receive button on his email client. “Blow me down” he bellowed, (Pirate Captains bellow a lot) “Whats all this SPAM mail doing in my inbox?” This was getting as back as a case of scurvy. As he sat, his rage boiling, he became aware of a lot of yelling coming from the crews quarters. “Now what” he cursed as he made his way forward. Upon entering the crew area he was assailed by a thunderous din of curses. (Pirates curse a lot) The Spainiard was yelling he couldn’t get his new game, “Pirates Revenge ” to load. The Italian couldn’t get into his stock portfolio. (Yes pirates have retirement plans too). The others were drowned out by the first mate yelling about his Blog being Hacked. As he surveyed the carnage, the captain noticed one of the crewman sitting calmly, using his laptop with apparently no problems. Bellowing loudly for quiet, he asked the crewman who he now remembered came from the land of Unix, why he was not upset. He looked up, and said “Why Captain, I’ve got a AntiVirus program along with good AntiSpyware and a reliable Firewall. I’m protected from brute force attacks, Phishing emails and drive by downloads.” He went on to say that it looked like the ships server was accessed through the wireless router, which was not secured with WEP (wired/wireless equivalent privacy). “Arrrgg”, he bellowed, the IT dogs back at the Island hideaway had told him all was peachy with the network when they sailed to pilage and plunder. The crewman whose name was Billy said he could get things ship shape by giving the other crewman the CD’s of his AntiSpyware, AntiVirus and his 3rd party Firewall…. for a price! “Aye,” the Captain replied wit a feeling of dread, “Whats your price?” Soon all onboard were back online and secure. Billy had his pockets stuffed with pieces of eight and of course, was wearing the Captains hat, looking mighty pleased with his bargaining skills. The Captain headed back to his cabin, worried that mutiny may be afoot. He had heard Billy telling the crew about those cursed Macs! The lesson learned here was obvious; You need to secure your network. AntiVirus and AntiSpyware is a must, So is a reliable Firewall. Anything less, you might as well be walking the plank, Matey! Arrrrgggg! About the Author: Doug Woodall has a website at http://www.spywarebiz.com There he provides free information and recommended products to combat Spyware, Viruses and other Online Nasties.
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