What Are the PC Security Tools That I Need?

PC security is very important for those who have a PC and internet connection.

In year 2000, the Byzantine Bloomberg network was attacked by two Kazakhstan hackers and demanded that Bloomberg pay $200,000 if they want their data back.

Byzantine Bloomberg can easily pay the ransom, however, the CEO decided that they cannot follow the hackers demand and brought with him undercover officers to where he would hand the money and the hackers were caught during the transaction.

Most companies are willing to pay high amount of money just to protect their data.

Computer and the world wide web certainly made any job easier, but it also created a new type of criminals.

So, in order to keep you and your computer safe from online threats, you need to have a few PC security tools software inside your computer.

1. Firewall

You need a firewall in order to monitor your ingoing and outgoing traffic. You can search the Google to find free firewall and install it into your computer.

2. Anti-Virus

Anti-virus is one of the important tools that you will need. However, most of the people didn't install any anti-virus and even if they did, they seldom update the virus definition. Updating the anti-virus definition is very important in order to keep you up-to-date with new viruses.

Please keep in mind that you can only have one anti-virus installed in your computer.

3. Anti-Adware and ant-spyware

Adware and malware are software with malicious intent. Created by hackers for their own use, these two types of malware are dangerous to your PC. Therefore, you need anti-spyware and anti-adware software.

Different with anti-virus, you can install more than one in your computer. However, please make sure that you have one anti-spyware or anti-adware software with real-time protection.

4. Site-Advisor

Seldom people know about site-advisor and I decided to put this type of software as one of my must-have list PC protection tools.

Site advisor can warn you if you're visiting websites that contain malware or phishing websites. So, it's a very important tools to have if you're going online.

These four types of protection software are the must-have protection tools in your computer. I didn't expect you to have the knowledge of a computer expert to protect your computer. But, at least, by installing these software, it's better rather than having a "naked computer".

Azwan Asmat is the author of Chuang Computer Tips - http://chuangcomputer.blogspot.com - Online threats have become a major computer security issue. Would you like to know the secret of securing your PC from dangerous spyware, adware, and malware programs that can ruin your PC, your finances, and your sanity?!! Visit http://www.chuangcomputer.com/5day/ for more info.

Secure Your Computer Today

Why was your computer infected with a virus? I can tell you right now, you went to a site that was low security and it jumped onto your computer, you may of even executed a file you downloaded which contained a virus.

Computer viruses are like fleas, they jump from computer to computer, infecting everything they touch. I have been down this road before, I got a serious problem with my computer, it kind of almost ruined my business, all my details were exposed, it was like being burgled online, all my personal data read and used, I didn't go online for a long time, you could say I was afraid, could this happen again, my computer was violated and I couldn't stop it.

Well it didn't take me long to venture back online and I came armed, I got myself a great program that watches my back, I mean my computer system. It just sits there waiting for any intruders to try and take over my computer, as soon as I was set up with my program, it went to work. Within minutes of being online my computer was attacked, it detected, stopped and quarantined the virus, I have got this program running always and my computer is safe.

If you want peace of mind or you have had the same problems, then don't delay. You really need a program like the one I am using, it will give you peace of mind and it is very easy to set up, I had mine running in under 5 minutes.

http://internetsecurityinformation.blogspot.com/

What is Hacking?

What is your definition of hacking? Most people think of the news stories that relate to big companies having embarrassing problems as their data is compromised. But in truth, hacking goes a lot further than this.

It doesn't always have to be someone you don't know who hacks into your systems and causes problems for your business. It could equally be someone who works for you that doesn't have your best interests at heart. This is because the basic meaning of hacking is when someone accesses some or all of your computer systems without permission. And it doesn't just happen over the internet.

Quite often, many people don't see how widespread computer hacking can be. Assuming that they are only in danger from internet based attacks means they may not be covered for all risks. Even those companies that do all they can to prevent hacking which occurs online may have unwittingly turned a blind eye to other dangers.

This is why an understanding of what hacking is and what it involves can help you to protect your own business more fully. But what do you do if you don't know all the ins and outs of the threats posed?

The easiest solution is to rely on an expert to make sure every potential hole is plugged, and no one can break into your systems. Network penetration testing is one of the best ways to see how good your computer network really is. If you do have vulnerabilities it's best to find out via someone who is honest and is looking for them to benefit you. If you assume everything is okay and it isn't, you could be in for a nasty shock at some point in the future.

It is probably because people limit their definition of hacking that some businesses are more in danger than they realise. Everyone likes to think that all their employees are working honestly and for the company's good, but it doesn't always pan out that way.

Supposing an employee was given notice to leave but they had until the end of the day to clear their desk. They could potentially do a lot of damage to your computer system before they left, if the mood took them that way. Even though you could have them arrested for their actions, the damage would still be done and it would take time to rectify.

An expert in the field of ethical hacking would be able to highlight any potential problems and solve them before anyone else had a chance to exploit them. And that is certainly a service that is worth paying for.

Don't make the mistake of thinking this should only be done once though. Hackers are constantly finding new ways into previously secure systems. If you employ a company to see how up to date your security measures really are, make sure you do it on a regular basis. If you don't, you still run the risk of being caught out.

Pure Hacking helps protect your Internet security by providing world-class penetration testing and ethical hacking risk management services. For a free consultation, please visit Ethical Hacking.

Credit Card Users Need to Be Careful With Their Computers

If you, like most of us, own a home computer it is likely that you have used it to store personal information, perhaps done some internet banking, saved the addresses and names of family members for your Christmas card list...

It is unlikely that you would imagine yourself leaving this information out on the front door step for anybody on the street to come across, and we all know that we need to shred our personal information before we put it into the litter, but there are more aggressive identity thieves out there who are determined to get their hands on your information.

Personal computers are the new hot target for the thieves after your personal information, and they're stopping at nothing to get hold of them. If you decide to get rid of your computer for any reason, make sure you wipe the hard drive of every single thing on it otherwise you risk making it easily available to thieves. Identity fraudsters are looking specifically for used personal computers so they can harvest the information still on the hard rive.

If they can't get hold of your computer information this way, they will use a more aggressive approach and simply break into your home and steal the computer from you. There are a rising amount of theft victims saying that little more than the home computer has been stolen.

If you have any saved bank statements, pin numbers (a surprising amount of us keep these codes in a word document!) photographs of you and your family, passwords to bank accounts online etc all of this is going to in a neat little package waiting for the thief. It is so important to remember to password protect these files, if you must have them on your computer.

If you are going to get rid of your computer, take it to a responsible location and remember to destroy the hard disk inside. This way the computer can be recycled and its parts used without being a risk to your identity being stolen.

For credit cards be sure to make sure you look into all of the different credit card deals available. 0% credit cards can really make the difference on the day you are caught out on a payment you can't ignore.

Security Features You Should Know About If You Are Printing Your Own Checks

Hackers, spammers, and scammers are constantly surfing the Web looking for unwary victims. More and more people are falling victim to financial crimes such as check fraud, which is the number one crime in the financial sector.

In order to safeguard against check fraud, checks are being updated to contain enhanced security features. The increased security features help to prevent common crimes such as tampering, photocopying, and counterfeiting. Checks that lack security features can be readily altered by criminals.

It is common for checks to use one or more enhanced security features. One way to provide check security is by using special types of paper. One example is controlled paper stock in which checks are printed on a special, high-quality paper. Another way to provide security using paper is by printing checks on chemical sensitive paper. Checks are printed on a special paper that resists chemical alterations. Any type of chemical alteration will result in the destruction of the paper.

Another way to add security to checks is by using special printing techniques. Micro printing is an attractive security feature that places a small border around the check. To the naked eye, the border appears as a broken line but it is actually a series of words that cannot be duplicated by a photocopier or scanner. Prismatic pantographs are another printing option. This process employs a multicolor background with frequent changes in density. This makes the color impossible to duplicate. Watermarks are a type of security feature in which white ink is used to print the back of the check. The ink can only be seen using a black light thus the check is impossible to duplicate.

Other security features that can prevent check fraud include:

• Copy-void pantographs in which checks contain a series of dots on the backside. They are invisible to the naked eye but when photocopied or scanned, the word "VOID" will appear on the duplicate.
• Light-sensitive material known as fluorescent fibers can be used in check paper. These can only be seen in black light and they cannot be duplicated.
• Endorsement pantograph is a feature that prevents duplication of the check issuer's signature.
• Signature security is a feature in which there is a pantograph built in to the area surrounding the check's signature line. The pantograph interferes with scanners and copiers making it impossible to reproduce.
• Anti-fraud printing is a feature that uses MICR toner to create a stain to appear on any check that has been subjected to chemical tampering.

Learn more about secure check printing with MICR Toner and MICR Toner Cartridges by visiting the Inkcarts website.

Countering Credit Card Fraud With a Cool Head and Common Sense

In March 2008, Maine-based supermarket chain Hannaford Bros. admitted that credit and debit card numbers were stolen from its systems during the authorization transmissions. In what the Massachusetts Bankers Association (MBA) called a "large retail data security breach," over 4 million credit and debit card numbers may have been taken. By the beginning of April, nearly 2,000 instances of fraud had been reported as a result of the breach.

"We sincerely regret this intrusion into our systems," Hannaford Bros. President and CEO Ronald Hodge said at the time, "which we believe are among the strongest in the industry." In a "customer Q&A" document posted on its website, the company insisted that its security measures were "above and beyond" industry standards.

For its part, the MBA released a statement assuring New England consumers "that this was not a problem caused by banks."

The security went "above and beyond." The banks were not at fault. So who, then, is responsible for protecting the customers' credit card information? And what exactly were these standards that Hannaford Bros. went "above and beyond"?

You are responsible, period

It's simple: If your firm handles a customer's credit card transaction, you are responsible for protecting the information. The standards to which Hannaford CEO Hodge was referring are embodied in the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

For small and medium-size businesses (SMBs), compliance costs are proportionately higher than for Fortune 500 firms, and "regulatory burden" is a familiar (and unpopular) concept. However, as a comprehensive standard designed to help businesses proactively protect consumers, the PCI DSS is a good investment. With over $3 trillion in credit card purchases in 2007, there is a lot of protecting to do.

Like other payment processing companies, SecureNet Payment Systems and Sage Payment Solutions both have very "safe" sounding programs, Credit Card Vault and Sage Vault, respectively. The programs allow you to store credit card, electronic check and other sensitive data in a secure, reliable, PCI-compliant environment without having to store this data on your local servers. The technology can be seamlessly integrated into your current applications. But the real solution involves "low-tech," too.

First line of defense: awareness

In this web-wild, computerized world, it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that all the thieves' tools are high-tech, as are the precautions and defenses. Not so, according to Ricardo Harvin, website development manager for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "Despite the real threat of theft by outsiders," he writes in Uschambermagazine.com, "in most cases when company information is stolen, it involved either someone working for the victimized company or a nonemployee who has access [to] that data."

Protecting your customers and their credit card data is a multifaceted endeavor. Depending on the nature of your business, it can include analysis of Web assets, database design and administration, network access control and more. It may seem a daunting task, but you will go a long way toward safeguarding your customers and your business by

• cultivating a company environment of alertness and care;
• having strict, enforced policies for card processing;
• storing only the data you need, only for as long as you need it, and offsite if possible;
• providing access to customer data only as required to transact business; and
• maintaining both high- and low-tech security measures.

It is a combination of technology and common sense that will help your business avoid fraudulent transactions. The role of merchant today is more complicated, certainly, but you are not alone in this challenge. Small-business associations and industry trade groups can be a great source of information about what is working for other businesses like yours. And there is one more underutilized tool: pressure tactics.

MasterCard is now publishing the interchange tables, the byzantine formulas and rate structures that set merchant processing costs. According to a study by Amy Dawson and Carl Hugener of Diamond Management & Technology Consultants*, "Once transparency comes to credit card pricing models ... merchants will use the information to force an unbundling of interchange fee structures. The interchange structure as we know it will disappear." (Report is titled, "A New Business Model for Card Payments.")

SMBs can use their aggregate strength to force some overdue revisions of the pricing structure of credit card processing. Once a candid, open negotiation on these matters can commence, savings in this area can be redirected to creating ever safer systems, onsite and off, for the protection of your customer's credit card accounts.

This article provided by Scott McQuarrie who has devoted a lifetime to developing his world-class expertise in electronic security, video surveillance and the myriad technologies involved in both fields. His firm has its major web presence at Video Surveillance Systems, although he maintains several other security related websites.

Scott has a comprehensive knowledge of the design and installation of large commercial video surveillance, alarm and card access systems, which made him a top professional at Honeywell. Among his numerous accomplishments, then and since, are the complete system design and project management for various universities, prisons, airports and corporations. Top clients have included Lockheed, L3, ATK and 3M.

In 1990 Scott founded his first security company, going on to build several security-related firms into regional and national powerhouses over the years. In 2000 he turned his focus to the Internet, which opened up a national and international market for his talents. Scott has other security related websites, including Security-Guy.com, which you can visit for more information.

Working Proxies and Why Free Proxies Break

If you want to obscure your identity and IP address from a particular web site you visit, then you'll need to find some reliable working proxies. there are lots of reasons people use proxies they are surprisingly useful servers and have all sorts of cool uses.

The main difficulty with free working proxies is because generally the administrators of these servers don't even know their server is being used as proxy server. Often these boxes are just misconfigured internet facing servers which have been left open by mistake. It doesn't take long for people to find them and they start getting added to the endless lists of free anonymous proxies on the internet.

It doesn't usually take long before they are completely overwhelmed with surfers bouncing off these proxies and browsing via them becomes a painfully slow process until they either fall over or an embarrassed systems admin realises his mistake. But never fear there will always be a new batch of proxies along very soon.

Whatever your use for using a proxy server, whether you want to bypass your work or schools proxy to access restricted sites or just you believe in privacy and freedom of speech. You should be extremely careful what you use these servers for - many, many free anonymous proxies are set up for the purposes of identity theft and stealing data. When you use a proxy all your web browsing goes through that single point first and as most html traffic is in clear text then obviously identity thieves, hackers and all sorts of spyware is usually found or installed on them.

Unless you know all about who runs a particular free proxy server, then never, ever use it to pass any sort of personal or private information. Personally I would never go near a free anonymous proxy partly because I know exactly the sort of people who target these servers to steal information.

If your goal of protecting your identity and privacy on the internet then a free anonymous proxy is about the worst thing you could use. Sure it will likely block your IP address from the web server you are visiting (if it's configured correctly) but all your data is in the clear before that point and your ISP has a complete list of every server you are visiting anyway (unless you use end-to-end encryption). That's before you include the distinct possibility of Mr Identity Thief sitting on that proxy server with a sniffer capturing every single piece of data both ways!

Free anonymous proxies are extremely costly to run and less face it you never get anything for free. If you want real privacy, real anonymity and to surf at super fast speeds you are either going to have to seduce a systems admin at your local University or use a paid service.

The good news is that it doesn't cost too much if you pick a professional product.

If you want to read about some of my thoughts on using anonymous proxies and how you can surf without being spied on, try the link below. You can also download an exclusive demo version of the most secure way of surfing the internet currently available.

Secure Proxy Surfing