In today's online environment it's important to know what risks lie ahead at each click. This paper will describe so of the malicious kinds of attacks your Home/Office PC may encounter online. Now I'm sure we have all heard of Viruses online and some of you have heard of Trojans.
But there are more than just these few pieces of software out there waiting for you. The internet is a bastion of all kinds of malicious software or "MalWare". Some examples are Spyware, Scanners/Bots, Trojans, Viruses/Worms, and many other types of MalWare that exploits your PC. Now let's take a closer look at some of the above mentioned MalWare. "Spyware" What is it and how do I find out if my PC has it? Well this type of MalWare is basically any software that records your online actively without your knowledge and then reports to back to another party. Now Spyware is hard to find because a lot of programs act like Spyware. But the best thing to do is get Spyware removal software. Some fine examples of Spyware removal software are Spybot Search and Destroy 1.3 another good program is Adware SE.
Is Your PC Safe?
Now let's look at "Scanners/Bots". Scanners/Bots are programs that try to find victims via port/IP scanning. The best way to prevent from getting infected by this kind of MalWare is to install a Firewall. There are many kinds of firewalls and some are software based and others are Hardware. You can buy a hardware firewall for around $50.00 USD or you can download a software Firewall. Some examples of software firewalls are Zone Alarm another one is Tiny Personal Firewall. Tiny Personal Firewall & Zone Alarm basic are free for home use.
Do you Trust them?
"Trojans" Trojans can be the worse of MalWare. Trojans are sometimes confused with viruses but Trojans are "Program that neither replicates or copies itself, but does damage or compromises the security of the computer" This is just one of many definitions of a Trojan. A lot of Trojans have Key loggers built into them and can record all keys you press and them report them back to a hacker. This is bad because they will be able to use the key logger to find out your passwords, Credit card numbers, and other sensitive informational about you. The best defiance against Trojans is antivirus software but Most Antivirus software won't find all variants of Trojans so again a firewall is needed.
Worms are not good!
"Virus/Worms" Are malicious programs that replicates itself and may cause damage to a computer system by attacking or attaching itself to boot information, another program or a document that uses macros. The best defiance against this kind of MalWare is to install Antivirus Software. Now that we have reviewed some of the threats you face online lets go over our best defiance. Now just as a heads up there is no 100% way to protect you PC from online attacks because new Viruses, Trojans, and other MalWare are made daily. But you should be pretty safe in you have the following installed on your computer. Online must have software: Antivirus Software, Spyware Software, and Some kind of Firewall.
With these steps in place you should be a lot safer then the average user and always never open an e-mail or file attachment from someone you don't know. I hope this paper has help and be safe online.
About the Author:
Brian Wilson
CCNA, CSE, CCAI, MCP, Network+
Slimjim100@gmail.com
http://www.middlegeorgia.org
http://www.middlegeorgia.info
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