Cyber Defense
The Bear Joke

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There where two guys in the woods when a bear came running after them. They both started running. "Are you crazy we can't outrun this bear!" one shouted. "I don't have to outrun the bear", the other replied, "I just have to outrun you". The bear is like a hacker. If he sets his sights on you he's going to get you but you don't want to be the easiest target.    Defending your computer against hackers takes a little work but it is well worth it. Here are five important topics about defending your system. 1. Play Hide and Seek  2. Be Offensive! 3. Loose Lips Sink Ships 4. Taking a Hit 5. Stay Alert     Hideand Go Seek in Cyber Space To discourage hackers, you want to make it hard for them to find you.  By remembering to follow a few tips, you can make yourself harder to find than most.  That's important since hackers are usually looking for the easiest targets. Some easy things you can do are: * Turn off your computer when you are not using it. This is especially important if you have an "always on" type of connection * Get a firewall if you have DSL or a cable modem * Don't visit chat rooms unless they are closed and you know the chat room administrator You can find out in seconds if you are an easy target. Just click this link  to go to GRC.com.  IT'S EASY!! When you run the program, your computer will be rated for security in several different areas. It only takes a few seconds to get the results. Be sure to also run the "Probe My Ports" utility to find out how secure your computer's ports are..        The Best Defense is a Good Offense VIRUS PROTECTION - If someone does break into your home computer, almost always it is through a Trojan horse type program. A Trojan is a program that appears to do one thing, but also has an unwanted activity hidden inside. The most dangerous Trojans to the home user are remote administration programs.  Many serious problems can be avoided with a good anti-virus program like Norton Anti Virus made by Symantec and Virus Scan, made byMcAfee. These programs automatically check any new files or programs as they are loaded onto your computer. You can get regular updates from both companies over the internet. These are very good programs but they are not foolproof. The very latest viruses are sometimes not detected right away.  A free antivirus program that will protect you from most break-ins is InoculateIT Personal Edition. Updates are also free.   According to Sébastien Sauvage "Their support is first class and free (I got an answer and program update in less than 24 hours !)". (Important Hint - it is usually a good idea to only use one anti-virus program on your computer since these types of programs use the same system resources.). FIREWALLS - One way to protect yourself from hackers is use a Personal Firewall.  The term "firewall" is used to describe some of the walls inside commercial buildings. These walls are required by most modern building codes. These firewalls are designed to keep a fire from spreading inside the building.  A  computer firewall works in the same way.      Click Here to see a list of the 10 most popular sites for firewalls.   E-MAIL - The most common way that viruses are spread is through e-mail.  Usually the virus is not in the e-mail message itself, but is in a separate file that is attached to the e-mail. The virus is activated on your computer when you open the attachment, You will not be infected by just reading the message. Recently,  some viruses have been designed in a very clever way.  When the attachments are opened, the virus program sends itself as an e-mail message to everyone in that person's address book.  This can be devastating because people receiving these messages think they are from a trusted source and so they open the infected attachment and the cycle keeps repeating itself.  You can be sure that you will never send your friends an e-mail with a virus attachment by NEVER, EVER opening an e-mail attachment that ends in .DLL or .EXE., even if the message is from your best friend. The only time it is ok to open one of these attachments is when you are expecting it and you know exactly what it is!  OUTWITTING SCRIPT BASED VIRUSES - Here's an easy way to protect against VBScript-based viruses such as ILOVEYOU: Change the Open action for VBS files as follows: . In Windows Explorer, select View | Folder Options . Next, select File Types then scroll down to locate the entry containing the VBS extension. Probably,  VBScript File.   Click Edit, then double click  the Open action Next, under the "Application Used To Perform Action" dialog box, use the Browse tool to select Notepad (or Wordpad) and click  OK. Most legitimate sources will not send a VBS script in e-mail so you are not missing much, but if you still need to run a VBS script you can do that by  entering WSCRIPT thefilename.vbs in the Run dialog. You also need to change the settings for other script file types, such as Windows Scripting Host Settings File (WSH extension) and JScript File (JS extension) the same way you did the VB Script extension. Now, if you get an e-mail with a VBS script attached, it can no longer do it's dirty work.  Instead, it opens up in notepad and you can get someone who knows about Visual Basic to look at it before running it.   TURNING OFF FILE AND PRINT SHARING -  You need to make sure that you are not giving everyone who as access to the Internet, access to your printer and files!  Follow these easy steps to turn off file and print sharing: Step 1- Go to Settings and open the Control Panel  Step 2- Choose Network and then choose File and Print Sharing. Step 3- Uncheck both boxes.      Privacy Is The Best Policy   Loose lips sink ships and being careless with your passwords can give hackers access to very confidential information.  It is very important to choose a good password and then keep it secret. Click HERE to learn more. KEEP YOUR INFORMATION PRIVATE - Click HERE to learn about encryption     When you think you have a virus There is not a whole lot you can do after a virus enters your system. One thing you can do is check out some of the anti virus software that is on the market.  Some of these programs have a rescue disk that might allow your computer to start. If your computer will start, the anti virus software will probably be able to identify the virus and maybe even kill it.     Stay Alert!     A good thing to know: If your not actively surfing and you notice your modem lights are flashing you could have a hacker testing for your system's vulnerabilities.   Be sure to visit these Microsoft sites for help in keeping your system safer from attack. "Ten Laws of Security" Screen Saver Microsoft Security Page Sign up for Microsoft Security Bulletin   "Come this way to the next page!"