Guide

Three basic types of firewalls are available for you to choose from: Software firewalls Hardware routers Wireless routers To determine which type of firewall is best for you, answer these questions and record your answers: How many computers will use the firewall? What operating system do you use? (This might be a version of Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, or Linux.) That’s it. You are now ready to think about what type of firewall you want to use. There are several options, each with its own pros and cons. ...

3 Step to make sure your windows is fully updated and patched to have fast, stable and secure windows: Update windows, office and other Microsoft products automatically: Microsoft Update Check for update for common windows programs: FileHippo.com Update Checker Check if you have insecure program using Secunia

Checklist: Protecting your business, your employees and your customers Do Unsubscribe from legitimate mailings that you no longer want to receive. When signing up to receive mail, verify what additional items you are opting into at the same time. De-select items you do not want to receive. Be selective about the Web sites where you register your email address. Avoid publishing your email address on the Internet. Consider alternate options – for ex-ample, use a separate address when signing up for mailing lists, get multiple addresses for multiple purposes, or look into disposable address services. Using directions provided by your mail administrators report missed spam if you have an option to do so. Delete all spam. Avoid clicking on suspicious links in email or IM messages as these may be links to spoofed websites. We suggest typing web addresses directly in to the browser rather than relying upon links within your messages. Always be sure that your operating system is up-to-date with the latest updates, and em-ploy a comprehensive security suite. Consider a reputable antispam solution to handle filtering across your entire organization such as Symantec Brightmail messaging security family of solutions. Keep up to date on recent spam trends by visiting the Symantec State of Spam site which is located here. Do Not Open unknown email attachments. These attachments could infect your computer. Reply to spam. Typically the sender’s email address is forged, and replying may only result in more spam. Fill out forms in messages that ask for personal or financial information or passwords. A reputable company is unlikely to ask for your personal details via email. When in doubt, contact the company in question via an independent, trusted mechanism, such as a veri-fied telephone number, or a known Internet address that you type into a new browser window (do not click or cut and paste from a link in the message). Buy products or services from spam messages. Open spam messages. Forward any virus warnings that you receive through email. These are often hoaxes.

The Disk Cleanup tool helps you free up space on your hard disk to improve the performance of your computer. The tool identifies files that you can safely delete, and then enables you to choose whether you want to delete some or all of the identified files. Why Cleanup Remove temporary Internet files. Remove downloaded program files (such as Microsoft ActiveX controls and Java applets). Empty the Recycle Bin. Remove Windows temporary files such as error reports. Remove optional Windows components that you don’t use. Remove installed programs that you no longer use. Remove unused restore points and shadow copies from System Restore. Tip: Typically, temporary Internet files take the most amount of space because the browser caches each page you visit for faster access later. ...

A firewall is an application which controls network traffic to and from a computer, permitting or denying communications based on a security policy. A personal firewall differs from a conventional firewall in terms of scale. Personal firewalls are typically designed for use by end-users. As a result, a personal firewall will usually protect only the computer on which it is installed. Many personal firewalls are able to control network traffic by prompting the user each time a connection is attempted and adapting security policy accordingly. Personal firewalls may also provide some level of intrusion detection, allowing the software to terminate or block connectivity where it suspects an intrusion is being attempted. ...

There are good reasons to be suspicious of e-mail. Some e-mail messages might be phishing scams, some might carry viruses. Images in spam e-mail might turn out to be pornographic, or to include Web beacons, which can be adapted to secretly send a message back to the sender. Follow these guidelines to help protect yourself when suspicious mail shows up in your Inbox. If you receive a phishing e-mail message, do not respond to it. Don’t open junk mail at all If an e-mail looks suspicious, don’t risk your personal information by responding to it. Delete junk e-mail messages without opening them. Sometimes even opening spam can alert spammers or put an unprotected computer at risk. Don’t reply to e-mail unless you’re certain that the message comes from a legitimate source. This includes not responding to messages that offer an option to “Remove me from your list.” Do not “unsubscribe” unless the mail is from a known or trusted sender. Use the junk mail tools in your e-mail program. For example, Windows Live Hotmail gives you the option to unsubscribe from mail that you previously had trusted or requested. This sends a notice back to the sender to have you removed from their list, while at the same time automatically adding the sender to your block list. Approach links in e-mail messages with caution Links in phishing e-mail messages often take you to phony sites that encourage you to transmit personal or financial information to con artists. Avoid clicking a link in an e-mail message unless you are sure of the real target address, or URL. ...

A few clues can help you spot fraudulent e-mail messages or links within them. What does a phishing e-mail look like? Phishing e-mail messages are designed to steal your identity. They ask for personal data, or direct you to Web sites or phone numbers to call where they ask you to provide personal data. Phishing e-mail messages take a number of forms: They might appear to come from your bank or financial institution, a company you regularly do business with, such as Microsoft, or from your social networking site. They might appear to be from someone you know. Spear phishing is a targeted form of phishing in which an e-mail message might look like it comes from your employer, or from a colleague who might send an e-mail message to everyone in the company, such as the head of human resources or IT. They might ask you to make a phone call. Phone phishing scams direct you to call a customer support phone number. A person or an audio response unit waits to take your account number, personal identification number, password, or other valuable personal data. The phone phisher might claim that your account will be closed or other problems could occur if you don’t respond. They might include official-looking logos and other identifying information taken directly from legitimate Web sites, and they might include convincing details about your personal information that scammers found on your social networking pages. They might include links to spoofed Web sites where you are asked to enter personal information. Here is an example of what a phishing scam in an e-mail message might look like. ...

What is phishing? Phishing (pronounced “fishing”) is a type of online identity theft. It uses e-mail and fraudulent Web sites that are designed to steal your personal data or information such as credit card numbers, passwords, account data, or other information. Con artists might send millions of fraudulent e-mail messages with links to fraudulent Web sites that appear to come from Web sites you trust, like your bank or credit card company, and request that you provide personal information. Criminals can use this information for many different types of fraud, such as to steal money from your account, to open new accounts in your name, or to obtain official documents using your identity. ...

Spam is any kind of unwanted online communication. The most common form of spam is unwanted e-mail. You can also get text message spam, instant message spam (sometimes known as spim), and social networking spam. Some spam is annoying but harmless. However, some spam is part of an identity theft scam or another kind of fraud. Identity theft spam is often called a phishing scam. ...

If you suspect that you’ve responded to a phishing scam with personal or financial information, take these steps to minimize any damage. Step 1: Report the incident Contact the following authorities: Your credit card company, if you have given your credit card information. The sooner an organization knows your account may have been compromised, the easier it will be for them to help protect you. ...