Is Your Choice of Browser Putting You at Risk?

France and Germany have warned web users against using ALL versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer in the wake of the recent attacks against Google and other sites where vulnerabilities in the browser have been implicated. One of the attacks allowed hackers in China to gain access to email accounts of human rights activists. Although Microsoft admitted that its browser was the weak link in the attacks, it rejected the warning as too strong saying that the security threat was low. It has since urged users to upgrade their browser to Internet Explorer version 8. Microsoft also recommends users set their browser security zone to "high".

In order to change settings for Internet Explorer, select Tools then Internet Options...

Select the Security tab. On this tab you will find a section at the top that lists the various security zones that Internet Explorer uses. For each of these zones, you can select a Custom Level of protection. By clicking the Custom Level button, you will see a second window open that permits you to select various security settings for that zone. The Internet zone is where all sites initially start out. The security settings for this zone apply to all the web sites that are not listed in the other security zones. I recommend the High security setting be applied for this zone. By selecting the High security setting, several features including ActiveX, Active scripting, and Java will be disabled. With these features disabled, the browser will be more secure. Click the Default Level button and then drag the slider control up to High.

It is also imperative to be very diligent in keeping your browsers fully patched. Most internet attacks via the browser are preventable as these attacks target vulnerabilities for which patches are already available. The victims simply have not installed them. If you use Internet Explorer, Microsoft puts out patches once a month. Your system should be set up to automatically download these patches and notify you or install them.

As to abandoning Internet Explorer, will this call be echoed my other countries ( including the US), I doubt it. Most non-technical users aren't following this story. Those on whom this may have a effect have most likely grown to prefer Mozilla's Firefox or Apple's Safari browser anyway. Maybe this will increase their market share, but for now Microsoft is still King of the Hill.

William McBorrough is an Information Security Practitioner, Researcher, Consultant and Educator with over 10 years of Experience Managing, Designing, and Implementing Physical and Information Technology Security Solutions. He currently works as an IT and Security Consultant with SecurNetworks Consulting, LLC focusing on IT integration and Security Architecture and Implementation. He is also a Network Security Engineer responsible for design, implementation, improvement, and maintenance network security solutions in a fast paced, multi-campus environment with over 30,000 users. He is also an IT/Security Consultant and an Adjunct College Professor teaching System Architecture, Networking, Network Attacks and Defense, and Security Program Development courses. He is a Certified Information System Security Professional, Certified Information Systems Auditor, and Certified Ethical Hacker. He blogs about information security at InfoSec Tools, Tips & Thoughts. http://www.securnetworks.com/blog

Safety on the Internet

Safety on internet is a major concern to people nowadays. As it has become a very important aspect of our lives. When considering safety on internet we have take issues from protecting your child from pornography to protecting your computer from viruses and from hackers. To cover this broad issue in a short article is not possible. I will point out the most important and easy to implement tasks to ensure your safety on internet.

There is a simple trick to save your child from pornography. Windows operating system allows you to filter the websites that has pornographic content quite easily. Follow these simple steps:

1. Go to "Control panel"
2. Then go to "Internet Options"
3. Click on "Content" tab. Then enable the content adviser. Put a strong password that your child cannot guess.

Doing this will ensure your the safety of your child on the internet. You can also restrict websites with which your child is obsessed. You can play around for while to make more restrictions.

To protect your computer form viruses and hackers you will have to take many precautions. There are new viruses being continually developed and hackers are continually finding new ways to hack into unauthorized computers. But taking the precautions will keep your computer safer and will make it harder for hacker to hack your computer. Check out the list below.

7 tips for safety on internet

1. Use Anti-virus software. Although there are many types of malicious software you can keep your computer safe from them using anti-virus software. I recommend using a internet security suite from a reputable organization.
2. Turn on the firewall of your computer. Firewalls are like guards, they blocks or open data flow into your computer. Unblock only those software that you trust.
3. Use a proxy while connecting to the internet. This will make sure you are autonomous on the internet. Nobody will get your IP address (only way to track a computer on the internet) because you connect only to proxy and the proxy will do all other jobs of connection to the internet.
4. Do not use same user name and password on multiple accounts and change your password form time to time.
5. Beware of malicious cloned websites. Always check the domain name before you give away your personal information like credit card information.
6. Keep your system updated. Update your anti-virus program daily, install new service packs for your operating system and use latest version of browser.
7. Do not type your user name and password in all the websites. Instead use a password memory software. This will ensure that even if your computer will key logger viruses your user name and passwords will never be logged.

For more information visit: change mac address.com
Here is a free to use Proxy