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We all know about SPAM—unsolicited and unwanted email that can fill up your inbox or a junkmail folder provided just for this purpose.
At CCSF about 80% of all email is filtered out as SPAM before it reaches you. Our SPAM-fighter is a program called barracuda that lives on its own server. We have a separate document [pdf format] that explains how you can respond to your SPAM summaries and tweak your barracuda SPAM settings. |
SPAM can be the vehicle for almost all the horrors outlined here: Viruses, Spyware and Adware and Phishing scams. Other evil invaders may not depend on your opening an attachment or even an email. Protect against these threats with a firewall.
Summary document: Protecting yourself online: [Word file] [PDF document]
Protect yourself from attacks that don't rely on your opening an email or attachment—they just enter your computer and deposit a program. This could be something that wakes up on command, gathers information from your computer and transmits it to the bad guys' servers, or a program that sends out spyware, using your computer as a relay station. Protection—a firewall that stands as a sentinel between your computer and the internet and blocks unwanted intrusion. It may also prevent unauthorized transmissions from your computer:
- Get and configure a firewall on your home computer
For the strongest protections, you may want both a hardware and a software firewall
- More firewall information for Windows XP, Mac OSX and Linux from Penn State.
Summary of dangers connected to SPAM [Word] [pdf]
PowerPoint summary presentation on computer/Internet dangers and solutions [Powerpoint show] [pdf]
Programs, mostly reaching your computer through email attachments or Web downloads, that have effects ranging from annoying (popups, weird changes to text), to disastrous (data loss, disabling your entire system).
At CCSF we are pretty well protected from viruses:
- Both CCSF Macs and Windows PCs have McAfee virus protection installed and set to update automatically. Laptop users may have to manually update if they don't often connect to a fast Internet connection.
- Our firewalls and email servers provide additional protection.
But no virus protection is perfect: you have to be informed and vigilant. Here are some tips on preventing viruses from getting to you at home as well as at work.
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A while ago, a colleague came to me complaining that his Windows computer had slowed down and that he kept getting advertising popups that took over his workspace - sometimes when he wasn't even on the Internet!
As unfortunate as his experience was, he could have done worse. He was the victim of Adware: advertising software secretly installed on his computer. He could have gotten Spyware, also secretly installed software, but much more malicious. Spyware can lurk in the background, trap logins and passwords as you type them and send them back to their masters' servers. It can capture your bank or credit card login and enable the bad guys to siphon money or to launder stolen funds through your account.
- Stop spyware with a program that, like virus programs, requires regular updates. The top-rated spyware costs about $30 a year: go to http://www.webroot.com for SpySweeper. You should ALSO have one or more free Spyware programs on your system and make sure to update them.
- Microsoft's Windows Defender is a good free program for Windows. Its download page also has links to the other two major free anti-spyware programs, Ad-Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy (the pioneer).
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Phishing is a subset of SPAM. These emails try to get you to supply SS#'s, ATM PINs, passwords - whatever will get the criminals sending the fake emails into your private finances, or allow them to steal your identity.
Test your instincts for spotting phishing at http://survey.mailfrontier.com/survey/quiztest.html. The answer page, with its explanations, is a fun way to learn how to identify phishing emails.
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For firewalls:
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