As most of my faithful readers know, I am very concerned about Internet security and taking backups of your data. I recently helped a client with a hard drive problem; she was actually very "on the ball" about computers and software, but didn't have a backup device. She was able to get a USB attached 100MB Zip drive for well less than $100 - a great deal. I have also had a number of clients recently who had questions or were concerned about Internet security, prompting this column. Let's look at the primary issues of Internet security today.
1) Port probing - this goes on all the time, every second of the day. There are people who are running web robots (just called "bots" in the business) which continuously scan the Internet looking for, well, something. The something is usually YOUR COMPUTER. The bots are usually not malevolent (not yet), but are just looking for specific types of computers, probably for some future form of mischief, usually the launching of "denial of service" attacks. You want your computer to be as invisible on the Internet as possible - a condition called "stealthed", which means that your computer will not respond to these probes.
2) Viruses - the primary way in which viruses are transmitted these days is through e-mail attachment. The virus is either hidden in an e-mail attachment, or somebody may send you a program that is a virus. You can also get viruses via what are called "plug-ins" to your web browser, ActiveX controls, or Java applets.
3) Cookies - cookies are basically a way for web sites to store information about you on your PC. Some cookies are good, as they make your web surfing easier. But they can also be used to store unnecessary or sensitive information about you, and many are quite frankly an invasion of your privacy. You should be in control of which cookies are stored, and why.
OK, so what do you do about it? There are both hardware and software solutions to these problems and I will describe then. But first a caveat: These security tools do require some knowledge and effort on your part - they just don't magically sit there in your computer and work. You have to understand what they are doing and sometimes interact with them to make a choice.
First of all, you need a good virus checker. Good means a) one of the leading brands and b) regularly updated. I favor the Norton Anti-Virus (NAV) by Symantec, because it is effective and their automatic updating system (Live Update) is excellent. A virus checker will regularly check your hard drive for viruses and also check for viruses in incoming e-mail. It will not, however, check for viruses in ActiveX controls or Java.
To extend your protection of ActiveX controls, Java applets, cookies and port probing, you can install the Norton Internet Security (NIS) package. This package contains Anti-Virus, but adds to it almost all the other Internet security protection you need. You can control many aspects of personal security and privacy. A version even provides for parental control over web browsing by your kids. A free alternative is ZoneAlarm, available on the Internet at http://www.zonealarm.com. ZoneAlarm is reported to actually be a bit more secure than NIS, but is not updated as frequently. To me, the frequency of updating is very important.
A final step would be the installation of a Cable/DSL router (only if you have a permanent Internet connection such as Road Runner cable or DSL). These routers are external boxes that sit between your PC and your cable/DSL modem. They provide something called Network Address Translation (NAT), which hides your PC almost completely from the Internet. These routers also have built in Ethernet switches that facilitate home networking and sharing of your Internet connection. Depending on features, these devices cost between $80 and $130.
If you want to test some of the vulnerabilities of your computer, go to the Gibson Research Corporation website at http://www.grc.com and try their testing tools - VERY eye-opening!
(Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport / Oak Island area. You can visit his website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail him at bsc@bobseidel.com. Bob has no connection with Symantec Corporation, ZoneAlarm, or GRC.)