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Best PracticesOver the past few years, the internet has gone from something that "showed the average person what some nerd thinks about Star Trek" to an invaluable tool for information, entertainment, and communication. Unfortunately, with the internet's increase in popularity has come a rise in the dangers of its use. Fortunately, you can help protect yourself from the malicious aspects of the internet by following our list of best practices. Protect yourself from virusesIt used to be that you had to go to some effort to infect your computer with a virus. Now, it is all too easy to catch a virus. Mostly, these are spread via email, though you can also be infected through downloads from the internet or from peer-to-peer file sharing networks. Your best line of defense is to use antivirus software, such as Norton Antivirus, McAfee VirusScan, or AVG. However, we must stress that it's not enough to have the software installed—you must make sure you keep it up to date! New viruses are discovered "in the wild" every day, and most antivirus software publishers release updates once a week, if not more often. Antivirus software can protect you, but your best protection is going to be being an informed, aware internet user. Don't open email attachments that you are not expecting to receive, even if it comes from a known source. We will never send you an attached file, so if you receive an email claiming to be from us that has an attachment, delete it right away. Be suspicious of software downloaded from peer-to-peer networks (like Kazaa or BitTorrent) or via IRC; the allure of free software may be great, but not only are you breaking the law, you're running the risk of the software containing viruses or other malicious programs that can give others access to your computer. Protect yourself from "malware""Malware" is a generic term that's short for "malicious software." Some types of these programs are also referred to as "adware" or "spyware." These programs are typically presented to you when you visit a website. They'll promise you some free, wonderful service, but all they really do are not-so-wonderful things like monitor your internet activity and report back to them so they can force you to view advertisements. Some programs are even more malicious than that, opening up "back doors" on your computer so that spammers can use your machine as a mail relay to send millions of junk messages to other people on the internet. Just as with viruses, your best protection is to be an informed, aware internet user. Remember the adage that there's no such thing as a free lunch. If you have to install a piece of software to use their service, it's likely that the software is going to be malware. If a website asks you to download and install something that you did not specifically request, do not install it! There are free programs that can protect you from malware. The two most popular, and the ones that we know to be trustworthy, are Ad-Aware and Spybot S&D. These programs are similar to virus scanners, except they typically require manual scans of your system for malware, rather than monitoring your system in the background. Protect yourself from software bugsSoftware is written by humans. Humans are fallible. Therefore, software is fallible. Sometimes, it is discovered that there are holes or errors in software that can cause problems. It is a good idea to keep abreast of updates to your operating system and any software you use, particularly if it can be used to get information from the internet. If your system runs the Windows operating system, regularly visit http://www.windowsupdate.com and check for updates to your computer. If your system is a Macintosh, regularly visit http://www.apple.com/support/. You can also find updates for your web browser or email program from wherever you downloaded the software; if you're using Internet Explorer and Outlook Express on a Windows computer, you can get updates to these programs through Windows Update. Practice common sense!There's no such thing as a free lunch. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. If you get an email saying you did something that you didn't, it's probably a fake. Don't reply to spam emails asking to be taken off their list; all you're doing is confirming that they found a live email address to someone who looks at their messages. Be careful with the information you give out online. Only buy from trustworthy merchants. Think about alternativesIf you were a bad guy, looking to exploit people, would you attack where you could do the most amount of damage, or attack where no one would be affected or even notice? You'd want to do the most damage you possibly could. Your computer may have come with a web browser and email program, and they work just fine. But, there's millions of other people out there using the same software, so there's hackers out there looking to exploit security holes in that software more than some of the other web browsers or mail programs out there. Take a look at our Recommended Software page and try programs like Mozilla or Firefox as alternatives to what you're using now. |
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