Courses Home

Overview

  Day One

       The Wild, Wild, Web.

        Unsecured Base of the Internet

        Assume No Security

        Encryption

        Basic Encryption

        Know Who you are talking to

       Rambling Notes

       Day Two - Rambling Notes1

       Day Two - Rambling Notes2

       Reference Material

       Course Evaluation

Additional Topics

There are three points that we need to make sure are secured.

  • Your location (Computer, storage, network, etc..)
  • The people you intend to share your information with (Banks, Sellers, etc.)
  • The connections between you, and the people you do business with.
We have already discussed securing the connection between you, as far as the Internet goes.There

The following link is an example of a misleading link http://wctc.edu

And the following link will demonstrate a 'bad Certificate' message My Secure Class page

The following are images that demonstrate some browser warnings.

  • Be careful who you choose to do business with, remember what you are trusting them with.
  • They may not 'share' that information on purpose, but because they house a lot of valuable personal data, they are targets of information thieves.
  • Many companies do not understand, or take serious, the risk your data may be at while in their possession
  • You need to be sure to secure your own information, that is in your possession
  • Make sure all actual paperwork kept in your home is safe, but we will focus on the information on your computer here.
  • There are a few ways that your computer can be compromised, Someone can try to gain remote access to it and browse your files, or your computer could run software that gives others access, or just sends out your data.
  • You also have to be careful that you are not tricked into giving up your data, or tricked into installing such software.

Any time software is added to your computer, there is a chance that something bad will get in. It can be argued, but a computer is probably at its most secure when it is fresh out of the box. The moment you install your first piece of software, or the moment you start to use the Internet, you run the risk of making the computer insecure.

Most operating systems allow you to create users of different abilities. In Windows, You can either be an Administrator, or you can be a 'Limited User'. There are pro's and con's to both modes.

Mal-ware is software that gets installed on your computer, but that in some way compromises the system. It might act as a virus, spyware, or just software that 'steals' some of your system resources.

Any time you choose to install software, you must be careful that you really know what you are installing. There is a class of Mal-ware referred to as Trojan (horse) software. This is software that is commonly found on the Internet, that promises a function that you might be interested in, but that instead compromises your system. Sometimes it is obvious it is not what you wanted once it is installed, but other times it will actually appear to do what you want it to do, and do bad things in the background.

In a perfect world, I would tell you to never install software that does not come from an absolutely trusted source. Unfortunetly, there is a lot of very good stuff that comes from small publishers that you have no way to confirm. The only thing I can really say about this is that if you can not be sure of the site you are downloading from, you need to be aware you are taking a risk. Only you can decide if the risk is worth it.

How can to descide what sites to trust? The first thing I would say is start with well known companies. In addition to that, you can look up the site (or software you want to download) on the Internet using a Search Engine (like Google, Yahoo, etc.). If you know what software you are trying to get, I would start by trying to get it from the actual publisher, rather than a 'helper' site.

Some 'helper' sites are actually widely known (such as www.downloads.com). You will become familiar with these sites with experience.

Be careful, sometimes a friend may offer you a disk to install software. Sometimes, even without them knowing it, that disk may contain 'bad' software.

Need to make sure there are no paths for 'bad stuff' to get into your computer.

Pay very close attention anytime you are surfing the Internet and a message says that new software needs to be installed (or updated). Make a note of the software that is being installed. If you recognize it, and want it to install, you are probably better off not letting the web page install it, but instead, getting the software from a 'trusted' source, and install it yourself.

You can do everything in your power to keep your system clean, but it is still possible for Mal-Ware to sneak in. There are a few tools you can use to 'scan' for Malware. Most 'Anti-Virus' packages look for known Viruses and Trojans. Some will also scan for Spyware. Do not feel that just because you got a package free with you computer, that you have to use it. It will expire eventually, and you will have to pay to re-new it. There are free options available for home use.

First, you might want to check withthe company that you get your Internet service from. Time Warner and AT && T both offer Anti-Virus software as part of the deal.

Some of the 'free' tools are listed below

And then some of the Commercial options