Security


 * Below is a list of tips and suggestions that you should consider to be secure when you use the Internet. You may already do some of these things and you should continue to stay vigilent with secure practices when using computers. **

1. Do not open emails from unknown sources. Your email can be obtained from a variety of sources so it is good practice to ignore emails from people you do not know. An example is emails from a person claiming to have money for you.

2. Sometimes hackers can access the accounts of people you know. Be careful about opening any links within an email, even from people you know.

As long as you do not open the link in the email, you will be safe. If you get an email from someone you know but there is no salutation and no explanation about a particular link, do not open the link. Also, when you are not sure if an email was sent by someone you know, contact them to verify that they actually sent the email. In many cases, people do not know that they have been hacked.

3. Strengthen passwords.

Do not use passwords that are based on personal information that can be easily accessed or guessed. For example, using 1234 as a password would not be a secure password. Do not use familiar items such as mother's maiden name. Create a password that is at least 8 characters. The password should have a combination of letters, symbols, & numbers. Use lower case and upper case letters in your password. As you increase password length with a combination of letters, symbols, and numbers, you exponentially increase the security of the password.

4. Do not use the same email and password for multiple accounts. Create a different username and password for different accounts you create.

5. Use your credit card or debit card as little as possible for online purchases. When available, use gift cards or a credit card that allows you to put cash on the card as needed. For example, if you use itunes, you can purchase an itunes card to avoid entering credit card information to make a purchase.

6. Do not open e-mail attachments and do not click web pages in strange e-mails. If it sounds crazy or too good to be true, it is.

7. Turn on Windows automatic updates. Updates help protect you against vulnerabilities. If you are MAC user, you will need to do the same. In the past, MACS were not considered to be vulnerable to attacks by most people; however, this is not the case. MACS are vulnerable to attacks. Attacks were not prevalent in the past because the market share for MACS was low. Because PC's had the largest market share, it was more fruitful to attack the PC. As the MAC gains in market share, it also becomes attractive to hackers. Attacks on the MAC are still minimal; however, there are cases of 'spear phishing'. The bad guys create targeted attacks that require you to do something such as open a link.

8. Invest in quality antivirus software with spyware and malware protection. Scan your systemt frequently. Some recommend a daily scan. ESET makes a good tool for both the MAC and PC. For the PC, microsoft provides a [| malicious software removal] tool that is free. Another tool is [|malwarebytes].

9. Limit what you do on a public computer such as online banking and lock your home networking system.

10. If you have an account with a company, always check with them if you get emails asking for any information. Thieves will try to attack you while posing as the company with whom you have an account. (Wolf in Sheeps Clothing)

11. "Web of Trust – This browser plugin, available for IE, FireFox, Chrome, and Opera, is a community driven site advisor. Any known “bad” or malicious sites reported to WOT are pointed out by this program when browsing the internet. It uses a traffic light system for warning before clicking (red, yellow, green) as well as a inline warning that prevents a page from loading if it has a particularly bad reputation." http://www.mywot.com

 12. On your personal computers, you can use a service such as [|LastPass]. LastPass is password manager that provides a master password. Lastpass does not know your ma s ter password.

13. Use the US-Cert link to learn about cyber security and common security issues for non-technical computer users. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">[|US-CERT]