Monday, September 27, 2010

Internet security

So my second post was about tools and what people can use to keep their computers safe.  But how important really is internet security?  If someone like Sarah Palin can get hacked, how safe is the average joe surfing the web?  What's cool about knowing your way around the web, is that you  can prevent most of the "hacking" that goes on. I've already covered passwords.  for this post, i wanted to talk a little about hiding yourself, and your computer from black hats and identity thieves. 

There are a couple of programs, and sites which can help keep you safe. as well as some common sense, but i'm guessing that most people have a little bit of that to go around so i'm not gonna get into it.  But yeah, first things first.  You need a firewall.  Internet security is based on pretty much protecting your computer not only from viruses and malware, but from would be intruders,  and that's where a firewall comes into play.  It basically keeps unwanted connections out, and if you've gotten yourself infected with some sorta remote access tool, it can keep those from "phoning home."  one that i've used pretty much since the dawn of the internet is Zone Alarm. It's free for personal use, it blocks unwanted connections from coming in, and keeps unwanted programs from connecting to the internet.  simple enough.  Install it, give it permissions for your trusted programs, and then forget about it. 

Another thing that you can do but i'm not going to get into right now, is to use internet proxies.  Which basically hides your computer from the websites you visit.  But that's for another post.  For now, i just want to say, get your ass behind a firewall and keep it there. Good night, and good computing.

5 comments:

  1. Thank you. I've been using Comodo for a while. You ever heard of it?

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  2. great tips, can't stand all these lame viruses and malwares, some people just like to ruin lives.

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  3. I've been using zone alarm for a while but it keeps giving me notifications...

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  4. I'm looking forward to that proxxy post, I've never really understood that stuff.

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