Data Security Resources and Options
Visit our home page for information on Spyware, Data Backup and Data Recovery. Data security has never been more necessary than it is today, and far too many people take data security way too lightly. If your computer is connected to the Internet, your data is at risk. If you are not taking steps to protect your data and your computer, it is not a matter if "IF" you will have a security problem, it is more a question of "WHEN". The "why" component of why a hacker would create a worm or computer virus that could do anything from something as harmless as displaying "hello world" to the other extreme of completely wiping out your hard drive is immaterial. It happens. There are people out there who do this as simply a technological challenge, and if your computer is connected to the Internet and you have not taken steps to protect it and your data, then the bottom line is, very simply, YOU ARE AT RISK. Hopefully you already know that you should never open an email from a source you do not recognize. Some people view this as "unavoidable" since they don't always know who might be sending them an email. But you need to exercise some common sense here too -- never EVER open an attachment from someone you don't know, and never EVER click a link in an email you receive from someone you don't know. Just because it LOOKS like a URL link in your email doesn't mean that it really IS a link -- your clicking that link could be your "permission" to execute a virus attachment that will wipe out your hard drive. Again, apply some common sense. You can pretty much rest assured that you do not have an unknown relative in England who died in a train accident and left you millions. You can feel pretty comfortable that you have not been specially selected by the African government to participate in a lucrative oil exploration endeavor. And please be VERY aware that your bank, your credit union, and your Internet service provider will NOT email you to ask you to update your password or credit card information online. The hackers and "phishers" are very sophisticated these days -- that may LOOK like the genunine front page to the First National Bank or Waterhouse or J.P. Morgan, but it is not. It is truly amazing how many people don't apply the simple rules of common sense to this, and even if their money is protected (which is not always the case), they will literally spend YEARS of their time to get the fraud and identity theft issues resolved. Get a good anti-virus program, and ensure that you keep it updated or enable its "auto update" feature. Viruses and worms are newly created almost daily, so the anti-virus programs need to keep up with the latest "signatures" from these nuisances. While shareware or freeware programs may be adequate or even good, experts agree that it is well worth the money spent to actually purchase commercial software that provides anti-virus protection, provides a firewall, and watches over incoming and outgoing email. Also be very aware that although Microsoft tries hard (if you are a Windows user), the Microsoft utilities built into the latest versions of Windows are barely achieve the level of "adequate", and you are much further ahead with a third party software solution. Data Security Articles
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