This article is aimed at those who want to have a broader understanding of many of the Internet Security issues that effect us ALL in today's Internet age.

Understand the Internet Security risks!

The term Internet Security means different things to many people. However there are some common topics under the heading of internet security that EVERYONE using the Internet should be aware of.

This article will identify some of the main topics and attempt to explain them in easy to understand language.

These Internet Security issues include:

• Firewalls
• Anti Virus software
• News Groups
• Chat Rooms
• Spyware
/ Adware software
• Home Page Hijackers
• Scum Ware
• Pop Ups
• Messenger Service Spam
• Windows XP Updates

The above list is NOT an exhaustive list of Internet Security related topics, NOR is it aimed at the more complex needs of business.

However, the above list of internet security topics DOES serve as a very useful primer and will arm the reader with much practical information that they can apply to their own computer!

Firewalls

What are they?

The term firewall is often mentioned in the press and computer magazines. You may even have one on your computer.... BUT what exactly are they?

Well, a firewall is a piece of hardware or software that protects you form intentional hostile attacks on your computer. For most home users this will take the form of a piece of software installed on their computer. This kind of defence is VITAL in supporting your Internet Security.

However with many small business running from peoples homes these days, some may have a small hardware firewall that all their computers will use to protect them.

What do they do?

Basically a firewall examines ALL the "traffic" (the name given to all the bits of electronic information entering and leaving your computer) when you are connected to the Internet.

Firewalls use "rules" to determine if they are going to:

Refuse "traffic" from certain internet addresses.
Refuse certain types of "protocols" e.g. Telnet or FTP (ways of accessing a computer over distances).
Refuse suspicious looking traffic".
Refuse attempts to probe your computer for information.
Refuse certain files types e.g. MP3 files.

These are a few of the things a firewall can do..

Anti Virus Software

What Is A Virus?

You can not escape the fact that at some point you are going to get infected by a computer virus if you have no up to date Anti Virus protection on your computer! These "Viruses" are basically little software programs that can be spread in many different ways. Anyone serious about Internet Security MUST take this onboard!

The difference between a computer virus and other programs is that viruses are designed to self-replicate (that is to say, make copies of themselves). They usually self-replicate without the knowledge of the user.

Viruses often contain 'payloads', actions that the virus carries out separately from replication. Payloads can vary from the annoying messages that display on your screen, to the disastrous which attempt to overwrite the Flash BIOS and cause irreparable damage to YOUR computer...

The best way for users to protect themselves against viruses is to apply the following anti-virus measures:

• Make backups of all software (including operating systems), so if a virus attack has been made, you can retrieve safe copies of your files and software.
• Be aware that the risk of infection grows exponentially when people exchange floppy disks, download web material or open email attachments without caution.
• Have anti-virus (AV) software installed and updated regularly to detect, report and (where appropriate) disinfect viruses

Different Types Of Virus.

These programs that can infect your computer are split into various different types called:

• Viruses
• Trojans
• Worms

It is NOT possible for any individual to remain uninfected for long, without any reliable Anti Virus software. But it is NOT good enough to just have the software on your computer. It ALSO needs to be updated on a regular basis - so that it can keep up to date with the latest viruses. This last point lets many folks down in their fight against Internet Security threats... They simply forget to update the software!

News Groups

Internet News Groups are a place for

online discussion of topics of interest. These are usually text messages placed by their writers into the newsgroup where other people can read and reply to them. The groups are public, open to anyone to read and write messages, and often also share computer files such as photographs and sound files. Over the years, the number of such newsgroups has grown to many thousands, covering a huge range of subjects.

Newsgroups can be very useful and entertaining, as a place to talk to experts and share ideas and experience. For example, if you want to find out about a holiday destination, you can probably find people who have been there who will share their opinions and knowledge. There are also groups devoted to Music and particular bands or artists, a kind of disorganised fan-club, and the groups specialising in computing technical support are heavily used by people who have problems using their computers, printers, software, etc.

While there can be lots of valuable information taking place in newsgroup discussions, there can also be a lot of useless content too and they form part of your Internet Security awarness!

Obscene material is common in some newsgroups, while other groups have been used for criminal activity such as exchange of child pornography.

Don't believe everything you read online. For example, there have been cases of criminals trying to affect share prices by spreading false information in newsgroups.

Schools usually deny most pupils access to Newsgroups, on the basis that there is a lot of undesirable content found there and that taking part in the discussions has limited educational value. Community venues such as public libraries may take similar action.

If you have children using your computer then you need to be aware of News Groups!

Chat Rooms

Ask most young teenagers if they have ever used a Chat Room they will answer yes.

But do you know what a chat room is and the dangers involved? Are they an Internet Security risk?

Internet Chat is a way for people to communicate live with each other by typing text messages which are seen immediately by everyone present in the online chat "room". It is a sociable activity, and very popular with young people as a way of meeting and talking to friends and establishing relationships.....

BUT you have NO real IDEA who is in the chat room..... people lie about who they really are and many paedophiles use chat rooms to talk sexually to youngsters! very disturbing!

Spyware / Adware

What Is Spyware?

Spyware is Internet jargon for Advertising Supported software (Adware). It is a way for shareware authors to make money from a product, other than by selling it to the users. There are several large media companies that offer them to place banner ads in their products in exchange for a portion of the revenue from banner sales. This way, you don't have to pay for the software and the developers are still getting paid. If you find the banners annoying, there is usually an option to remove them, by paying the regular licensing fee.

Why is it called "Spyware" ?

While this may be a great concept, the downside is that the advertising companies also install additional tracking software on your system, which is continuously "calling home", using your Internet connection and reports statistical data to the "mother ship".

While according to the privacy policies of the companies, there will be no sensitive or identifying data collected from your system and you shall remain anonymous, it still remains the fact, that you have a "live" server sitting on your PC that is sending information about YOU and YOUR surfing habits to a remote location.....

How Do I Remove It?

There are some great programs out there to do this for you! And the best one in my opinion is FREE. It checks for over 7,000 of these privacy concerns and removes them from YOUR computer.

Home Page Hijackers

What Is A Home page Hijacker?

Once one of these nasty programs gets onto your computer, it will constantly reset your homepage (and maybe Search, etc.) to where they want you to go. You can't change it back!

Typically, hijacker programs put a reference to themselves in your StartUp folder or Registry Run key, so that the hijacker runs every time the computer is started. This kind of activity does still present as an Internet Security risk, after all THEY have now taken over part of YOUR computer!

If the user tries to change any of these settings, the hijacker changes them back, sticking the user with the hijacker's site unless the hijacking software can first be found and removed.

Scum Ware

What Is Scum Ware?

Ezula's TopText is a virus-like collection of programs that gets installed onto YOUR computer when you download and install programs such as the new KaZaa system which has replaced the popular Napster program. (This allows people to download pirated copies of MP3 music files.)

Download.com shows that KaZaa has been downloaded over 7 million times just from their site. If you read the user reviews for KaZaa you will see that most users are very upset about the programs installed that do not relate to file sharing. They don't like the programs that spy on you while you are online and send the data back to the media companies wanting to sell your private information with advertisers.

What happens with Scum Ware is that you visit a reputable site but certain keywords on that site will be underlined as a link. When YOU click on them YOU are taken to an advertisers website... (These can be pornographic websites.)

Now the company/person that created the website did NOT put these links there. It is the Scum Ware software sitting on your computer that is doing this.... Most folks are shocked when i explain this to them! This may seem a low Internet Security risk, and it probably is.... BUT it is not an activity that ANY IT security expert would condone...

Messenger Service Spam

When Microsoft released it's Operating System "Windows NT" it included a "service" that runs in the background. This was then included in Windows 2000 and the recent Windows XP.

No one knows exactly why Microsoft enabled this service to be running when you install the Operating System. BUT because it is running, Spammers have the ability to send you annoying adverts every time you are connected to the Internet! This is an Internet Security threat...

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