| Topic: |
Sociology > Depression |
| User: |
"David" |
| Date: |
08 Jan 2007 06:35:40 PM |
| Object: |
OT: Read at your own risk - Computer Virus Related |
Ten computer related safety tips when online
1. Keep virus definitions up to date
2. Use a firewall, free ones are available, though a hardwall firewall is
helpful
3. Follow Symantec and Others for virus instruction removal
4. Try if posssible to avoid chatrooms and public places, where revealing
information may be possible
5. There may be malicious programmers online
6. A registry cleaner and spyware program may be needed
7. Things may not seem as they are
8. If you suspect you've been comprimised, please contact your ISP
9. There are hoaxes around, paticularly those that imitate mental illness
symptomology
10. Viruses may be more evident on or after the New Year
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| User: "Franz Bestuchev" |
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| Title: Re: OT: Read at your own risk - Computer Virus Related |
08 Jan 2007 09:41:48 PM |
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David wrote:
Ten computer related safety tips when online
1. Keep virus definitions up to date
2. Use a firewall, free ones are available, though a hardwall firewall is
helpful
3. Follow Symantec and Others for virus instruction removal
4. Try if posssible to avoid chatrooms and public places, where revealing
information may be possible
5. There may be malicious programmers online
6. A registry cleaner and spyware program may be needed
7. Things may not seem as they are
8. If you suspect you've been comprimised, please contact your ISP
9. There are hoaxes around, paticularly those that imitate mental illness
symptomology
10. Viruses may be more evident on or after the New Year
21. Don't listen to that idgi
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| User: "Charles" |
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| Title: Re: OT: Read at your own risk - Computer Virus Related |
08 Jan 2007 07:13:20 PM |
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On Mon, 8 Jan 2007 18:35:40 -0600, "David"
<davidd2394@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote:
Ten computer related safety tips when online
1. Keep virus definitions up to date
2. Use a firewall, free ones are available, though a hardwall firewall is
helpful
3. Follow Symantec and Others for virus instruction removal
4. Try if posssible to avoid chatrooms and public places, where revealing
information may be possible
5. There may be malicious programmers online
6. A registry cleaner and spyware program may be needed
7. Things may not seem as they are
8. If you suspect you've been comprimised, please contact your ISP
9. There are hoaxes around, paticularly those that imitate mental illness
symptomology
10. Viruses may be more evident on or after the New Year
From an email I just received:
Are You Suffering from Securanoia?
I came across this neologism, coined by Brad Dinerman as reported in a
recent article about IT buzzwords at
http://www.wxpnews.com/OVQI7S/070109-Neologism
Combining the words "security" and "paranoia," it means the condition
of being concerned about security to the detriment of everything else.
Most of us who've worked with computers during the last few years have
encountered it - sometimes even in ourselves. And just as regular
paranoia can sometimes go so far that it makes the paranoid more
vulnerable instead of more safe, securanoia taken to the extreme can
end up leaving your systems more likely to be attacked successfully
rather than less.
A common example where securanoia often rears its head is in regard to
password policies. We all know that password cracking is one of the
most common ways for hackers to get into computers and networks
without authorization, so it's important that passwords be difficult
to guess.
Users' passwords should never reflect easy-to-discover information
such as a spouse's or child's name, your phone number, your social
security number, or the once-popular mother's maiden name. In fact,
strong passwords should be real words at all, since the bad guys have
software that can quickly try random words from the dictionary.
This has led many IT administrators to set up stringent password
policies: no names or dictionary words, long minimum lengths (such as
14 characters), complexity requirements (must contain both lower and
upper case alpha characters and numerical characters and symbols),
etc. Then, for good measure, you may require that all users change
their passwords every two weeks, and prohibit using the same passwords
over again. In theory, this makes for passwords that are about as
secure as you can get - but it fails to take into account one very
important security element: human nature. By making the passwords
almost impossible for users to memorize (and about the time they do
finally get them memorized, it's time to change them again), such
policies may encourage those users to write their passwords down and
keep them close by the computer - a security breach that completely
defeats the purpose of having strong passwords in the first place.
I'm not criticizing the intent of those who want to keep their systems
and networks as secure as possible; we're bombarded every day with new
stories of operating system security flaws and new viruses and attack
methods, and it's hard not to get a bit paranoid about computer
security. But when our security measures start to interfere with our
ability to use our technology for what we want, maybe it's time to
pull back and temper it with a little common sense.
A reader recently wrote (tongue in cheek) that "The Security People
have a secret society that meets in deep dark places so they can dream
up new ways to protect us from ourselves." I'm a "security person"
myself, and sometimes it even seems that way to me, too.
I live in a home with a beautiful lakefront view, and consequently, we
have picture windows along the back of the house to take advantage of
that view, which adds a lot to our quality of life. Now, it would be a
lot more secure to put bars on all those windows, even more secure to
live in an underground shelter with no windows at all, but I don't
want to go that far in the interests of security. And just as we must
balance security and livability in our living quarters, we need to do
the same thing when it comes to protecting our computers.
Do you suffer from securanoia? Do you know somebody who does? Are
security concerns making it more and more difficult for you to get
anything done on your computer? Do you think the quest for the
perfectly secure system can be taken too far? Let us know your
opinions at feedback@WXPnews.com.
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| User: "slunky" |
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| Title: Re: OT: Read at your own risk - Computer Virus Related |
08 Jan 2007 06:46:40 PM |
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_/ David wrote \_
9. There are hoaxes around, paticularly those that imitate mental illness
symptomology
Like you.
--
-slunky
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| User: "%" |
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| Title: Re: Read at your own risk - Computer Virus Related |
08 Jan 2007 06:38:07 PM |
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have you been tested for stiffening of the arteries
"David" <davidd2394@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1168303022_1721@sp6iad.superfeed.net...
Ten computer related safety tips when online
1. Keep virus definitions up to date
2. Use a firewall, free ones are available, though a hardwall firewall is
helpful
3. Follow Symantec and Others for virus instruction removal
4. Try if posssible to avoid chatrooms and public places, where revealing
information may be possible
5. There may be malicious programmers online
6. A registry cleaner and spyware program may be needed
7. Things may not seem as they are
8. If you suspect you've been comprimised, please contact your ISP
9. There are hoaxes around, paticularly those that imitate mental illness
symptomology
10. Viruses may be more evident on or after the New Year
.
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