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Tech safe 2004

Keeping your computer and your personal financial data safe in an increasingly intrusive world.

These days, we rely on our personal computers for a great deal of things that involve very personal financial data… tax returns, online banking and investments to name just a few. It is easy to just cruise along thinking that as long as you are scanning for viruses, everything is okay. This Information Bulletin will provide some of the basic steps you should take to keep your personal computer humming and keep its contents safe from the outside world.

Monthly

Clean the hard disk. For each set of instructions, let it scan for and remove the recommended files.

In windows 95/98: Start>programs>accessories>system tools>disk cleanup

In windows ME/XP: Start>all programs>accessories>system tools>disk cleanup

Defragment your hard drive. If you haven't defragmented your drive in some time, it can take hours; so allow plenty of time before you have to use your PC.

In windows 95/98 and windows ME/XP: Start>accessories>system tools>disk defragmenter Click defragment and let it run.

Update your virus software. There are many virus scanning packages your computer may have installed, and you generally have two options for free updates:

Start the virus scanning software and ask it to check for an update (while connected to the internet) or

Go to the vendor's web site, and download the most recent update file for your software.

Be sure and scan for viruses once you have updated your software.

Quarterly

Scan for Spy ware.

Spy ware! What on earth? Spy ware is software installed on your computer that keeps an eye on what you are doing. Some of it installs with other software like kazaa. If the kids have been downloading files or music, chances are you have a hard drive chock full of spy ware.

The easiest way to rid your self of spyware is with software like lavasoft's Ad-Aware, available at www.lavasoftusa.com . Download, install on your PC, and update the reference file after starting the program for the first time (click check for updates now on the main page of the software). After you have updated the software, choose the "scan now" tab and click perform smart system scan, and next. Follow the steps. You can quarantine something so you can get it back if you need to. If you quarantine the questionable items highlighted you are in good shape. Be forewarned, though, some software you may have downloaded for "free" will not work without its spyware component. An example of this is Eudora's "free" email client that has a sponsored mode that flashes advertising.

Backup critical data

Computers are so reliable these days that no one backs up their home computers. This is a mistake. Think for a minute... if your PC was gone and not coming back, what would you be missing? Tax returns? Digital pictures of Annie's first birthday? The screenplay you have been working on? Each quarter take some time to burn those critical files to a CD and label it with the date, and stick the CD in a file cabinet (or wherever you keep critical records.) Do this every quarter backing up everything you might need. Not the software, but the files. One day you may be glad you did.

Other items to consider

Firewall for broadband users (DSL or Cable Modem). Firewalls prevent unauthorized access to a computer or computer network from outside its network, such as the internet. Hardware firewalls are best; don't rely on a software firewall or one provided with Microsoft windows. Getting a firewall is as easy as spending $50 at Best Buy (we recommend Dlink or Linksys) and plugging it up in between your modem and PC.

Spam, i.e. unwanted junk email. If we had a fool-proof system to eliminate spam we would patent it and sell it to the world. A couple of things can help. First, be stingy with your personal e-mail address. For contests and other online stuff consider getting a "public" email address from a free service like yahoo.com or hotmail.com. Next, use all the tools available from your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to block spam. Large ISP's like EarthLink have proprietary methods to reduce some of the spam you receive. Use them!

Final Precautions-bogus email (paypal, ebay, credit cards) called phishing (like fishing)

Never, never, never give your mother's maiden name, your social security number or ANY CREDIT CARD information over the internet to anyone who is contacting you via e-mail. Some credit card users were duped by an e-mail scam that asked them to verify the number on the number on the back of their credit card in the signature line. Those who replied then received a response saying that number didn't match the "company's" records, please provide the account number. Bamm! They had been had. We personally were faced with a very clever fraud under the guise of Ebay! An e-mail asked us to verify our Ebay information because of a problem with their records. If you didn't you would be "cut off from Ebay!" The link provided in the email looked very official (www.ebay.etc.com). You even had to log in with your user name and password (it let everyone it regardless of what was typed) and requested personal info and credit card info. Before complying we googled to see if there was any news about Ebay email fraud, and there was! Beware!