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<DIV>Excellent advice from Paul.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>One additional recommendation:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Get a program that removes traces of internet browsing and erases all the
data from all deleted files. Deleting a file only removes the entry from
the disc directory. To be safe, the data in the file needs to be erased
also. It is also important to periodically erase all data from a disc that
is not in a file. I use Windows Washer, but there are other programs which
do the same. Set the program to keep all discs on your system clean.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>W.</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=godshatter@yahoo.com href="mailto:godshatter@yahoo.com">Paul Rumelhart</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Monday, January 15, 2007 7:41 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] Stay out of jail - beware of
spyware</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>In the news lately, there have been two articles within a few
days which are very worrisome. Both articles describe a situation in which
someone is facing jail time or other punishment for having spyware, adware,
malware, or trojans on their computers.<BR><BR>The first article can be found
here: <A class=moz-txt-link-freetext
href="http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070106/NEWS01/701060312/1002/NEWS17">http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070106/NEWS01/701060312/1002/NEWS17</A><BR><BR>A
substitute teacher apparently navigated to some dating sites outside of class
time on the classroom computer, which installed spyware on the system. In
class, the computer started serving popup advertisements for porn sites.
She was convicted of risking injury to a minor or impairing the morals of a
minor. She faces a sentence of up to 40 years in prison. Let me say
that again, up to <B>40 years</B> in <B>prison</B>. It's possible that if
she gets the maximum sentence that she would have served less time in the end if
she had murdered the teacher she was substituting for in a jealous
rage.<BR><BR>The second article: <A class=moz-txt-link-freetext
href="http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/10460">http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/10460</A><BR>An
interview with the DA involved: <A class=moz-txt-link-freetext
href="http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2791529&page=1">http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2791529&page=1</A><BR><BR>In
this one, a 16-year old young man very nearly got jailtime and an entry on the
sex-offenders list because he had child porn on his computer that was very
likely put there by spyware, adware, or trojans. He has passed two
lie-detector tests about the facts of this case. It does look like he did
go to some porn sites of the adult (not child) variety. These sites have
been known to be heavily infested with spyware and trojans. In the end, he
copped to a lesser charge of solicitation, if you can believe it, because he
bought a Playboy magazine and showed it to some friends of his which were his
own age.<BR><BR>So, if the thought of going to jail because some bozo a world
away has made a zombie out of your machine scares the crap out of you, I
recommend the following to minimize the spyware threat:<BR><BR>1) Get a hardware
firewall/router. I use a Linksys brand, but I'm sure the others are just
fine. These devices stand between you and the internet and block most port
requests (incoming and outgoing). They also have the added benefit of
letting you connect more than one computer to the same internet
connection. They can usually be purchased for around 50$.<BR><BR>2) Stop
using Internet Explorer, Outlook, and Outlook Express. These products have
a horrible history of being exploitable through security holes. Microsoft,
who makes these products, has a bad history generally when it comes to computer
security. They've been known to not fix dangerous security holes for
months at a time. They also are bundled with the computer operating system
and have higher-than-usual permissions in that system, meaning that security
flaws can have a large impact. Supposedly, IE7 is better about security
now, but I haven't used that program and can't comment on it.<BR><BR>3) Use a
standards-compliant web browser (this ties into point 2). I use Firefox,
and won't go back. Firefox blocks most popups automatically, and (better
yet) doesn't allow ActiveX to run. ActiveX is where most of the security
problems lie. Firefox is both free-as-in-beer and free-as-in-speech.
If you do use Firefox, try out the NoScript extension which blocks javascript
initially unless you whitelist the site. This means you will have to add
the sites you use regularly that you trust to the list, but it is much
safer. Using this extension stops the bad sites from launching another
browser window when you close them, and various other unsavory tricks. I
also recommend the Adblock extension, so that you can cut out most of the
annoying advertising that you see on the web. This may also help if
spyware does get on your system and serves you popups as it's possible you will
have already blocked those ad sites. Once you get used to tabbed browsing
and some of the more popular extensions like ForecastFox and FasterFox, you
won't go back. You can download Firefox here: <A
class=moz-txt-link-freetext
href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/">http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/</A><BR><BR>4)
Use a standards-compliant email application. I use Thunderbird, which is
made by the same people Firefox is (Mozilla). It is also free, and is
generally safer than Outlook or Outlook Express. Of course, if your place
of business uses a Microsoft Exchange Server for your email, Thunderbird may not
be able to connect. It's also saner about when to allow programs to be run
from it, and it's spam filtering is really good too. You can download
Thunderbird here: <A class=moz-txt-link-freetext
href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/">http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/</A><BR><BR>5)
Use an anti-spyware program to search your system regularly for spyware, adware,
malware, and trojans. Two of my favorites are Spybot Search and Destroy
and Adaware. Here are the URLs: <A class=moz-txt-link-freetext
href="http://www.spybot.info/en/index.html">http://www.spybot.info/en/index.html</A>
for spybot and <A class=moz-txt-link-freetext
href="http://www.spybot.info/en/index.html">http://www.spybot.info/en/index.html</A>
for adaware. Buried on their sites somewhere are links to the free
versions of these programs. If you like them and can afford it, I'd
suggest buying a copy of their premium products.<BR><BR>6) Run an antivirus
program regularly. AVG (found here: <A class=moz-txt-link-freetext
href="http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1">http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1</A>) is a
nice free program. There are many commercial programs on the market as
well.<BR><BR>7) Change your internet habits. Don't run things on your
system that someone sends to you through email, even if it's sent by a
friend. Many of the programs that have cute cursors or show you a funny
video also put spyware on your system. Learn about your most basic
software, such as your web browser and your email client. Try to run them
with the most secure settings that you can stand.<BR><BR>8) If you have
children, get a program like NetNanny to help you keep them from visiting sites
you don't want them to visit. I don't have kids, so I'm not an expert on
any of these programs so I can't help much here.<BR><BR>9) Completely separate
your computer habits at home from those at work. Most workplaces of any
size by now have a computer use policy. Read it. You are generally
safest if you don't access your home email, don't shop for vacation packages or
manufactured goods, and don't post to listservs or forums from your work
computer. This way, the only spyware that will get on your work computer
will have gotten there from a work-related activity and you won't be to
blame.<BR><BR>10) Always keep your software up-to-date. Even following all
the previous pieces of advice won't save you from all spyware, adware, etc.
because much of it can be placed on your system remotely if you have not
downloaded the latest updates for your operating system and other programs you
use on a daily basis. Some products will automatically download updates,
but others have to be done manually. It's especially important to keep up
on your anti-virus signatures and anti-spyware signatures.<BR><BR>... and as an
added bonus ...<BR><BR>11) Run a different operating system. Try out a
Mac, or download a Linux distribution such as Ubuntu. Almost all of the
spyware, if not all of it, will not run on these systems. Of course, this
is not practical for most people, as Macs are more expensive and don't run their
favorite games and Linux requires a certain minimum level of geekiness, but I'd
feel remiss if I didn't add it as an option.<BR><BR>I'm sure others on here have
other advice that will help. One by-product of doing these things is that
your system (if it's currently infested) should run much snappier than
previously.<BR><BR>Paul<BR>
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