Archive for March, 2009

Without any anti-virus software, your computer is a major crash, like a open door in your rent.

Getting a virus on your computer can cause massive problems for your hard drive and your complete computer system..

You should always be prepared for viruses, as even big companies find themselves with a computer virus on occasion. As computer systems grow more and more complex and people who love computers acquire more knowledge about them, it makes sense that one could say it is getting harder to protect your computer every day. Keep an eye on unusual activities, like hard disk storage or CPU usage.

Despite the real threat of computer viruses, it’s still amazing just how many users operate their PC with little or no anti-virus protection. The truth is, they are inadequately protected against the many computer virus strains that are released continually on the unsuspecting public. They just think that since it came with the computer that they are well protected. But usually those software versions that came with your computer are in generell trial versions, and only valid for 30!

If you surf the internet, the anti-virus software keeps your computer alive. There are a number of companies that provide software solutions to virus, trojan, internet worm and  a lot of other net attacks. With that in mind, there are several very important things that you need to consider when choosing antivirus software. Not having the proper anti-virus software can find people in a serious trap within a relatively short time. Not only are anti-virus software companies creating programs to fend off trojans, and viruses, but they also provide you with firewalls and spyware removal tools for additional protection.

Anti-virus software you have to  install on your computer so that you can be warned when you have a virus. Anti-virus software will help you to keep your computer safe against worms, viruses, trojan horses and other dangerous “visitors”. Viruses and other harmful programs are detected by antivirus software in two ways: either a full scan of your hard drive or in real-time as each file is accessed.

It is very important that your anti-virus software provides both of these features, especially the real-time protection. This is also the important reason, why your anti-virus software has to stay updated. There are thousands of viruses known and every hour are new ones released anywhere around the globe.

Technorati Tags: anti virus protection, anti virus software, computer viruses, spyware removal tools

Avenue Media N.V. is a software company that specializes in developing spyware and malicious software. The company is based out of Curacao which helps them bypass the CAN SPAM Act of 2003. Most harmful spyware originates in foreign countries that have little concern for rules and regulations in cyberspace. Avenue Media N.V. made a wise decision in that business move because the one type of spyware that is commonly cracked down on in the United States – they specialize in.

Avenue Media N.V. is well-known for a video hoax inviting email and IM recipients to view free video clips including one with Bill Gates receiving a custard pie right smack in his face. Believe it or not, there are a lot of people that want to see Bill Gates get hit in the face with a pie. They click on the link and blindly download the “Internet Optimizer.”

Listen very carefully when I say always read End User License Agreements (EULA). If you read Avenue Media N.V.’s EULA, you’re giving permission to this company to take all the people in your email and IM list and send similar spam. Just in case your friends question their credibility, they will use your name as reference for their good standing. Not to mention the EULA also gives Avenue Media N.V. the right to remote access of your computer, so they can update or install new programs on your computer.

The funny thing about most adware or spyware is that in some inadvertent way end users don’t realize they agreed to have spyware on their computer. The reluctance of the end user to read terms and conditions thoroughly is the key.

If you think that Avenue Media N.V. is on your computer, removing it will be difficult because you will have to remove whatever their 3rd party affiliates have also installed. A good anti-spyware program should be able to take care of this in one sweep.

Carl runs a site devoted to helping you rid your computer from all sorts of spyware and malware at http://www.spyzooka.com/

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/immediately-remove-avenue-media-nv-software-817796.html

Technorati Tags: adware, malicious software, malware

Viruses are the most unwanted software we might get on our computers without our consent, they might steal confidential information, slow down our computer performance or even causes windows or computer crash.

I want to show you some points of precautions that will protect you and will always put you on the safe side during your computer or the internetusage.

The best things to do to prevent having Viruses on your PC is by remembering the below points:

1. You have to have an antivirus program installed on your system and to be always updated.
2. To have a firewall program installed and updated as well.
3. Dont open any emails come from spam or someone you dont know, delete them immediately.
4. Dont receive any file through a public chat messengers from someone you dont know or you dont trust even if they say it is their picture.
6. Dont open any link sent by someone you dont know through a chat program or from spam emails.
7. Dont open un-trusted, illegal or porn websites.
8. Dont click on any advertisements that might show in websites asking you to download free antivirus software or to install software that you dont know about.
9. Dont install and use any public shared software (which you can download files from other users over the net) like P2P programs.
10. Always scan any CD/DVD, flash memory or external Hard Disk before using it.
11. Perform a periodic scan for your computer by the antivirus and anti spy ware programs.
12. Never use crack files or faked serial numbers to activate your programs.
13. When you want to purchase something over the internet always use Paypal to pay and never use your own credit card.

Please for more information on how to clean your computer from viruses and trojan files, don’t hesitate to visit the FREE tutorial website www.DealingWithWindows.com

Computer engineer / Website founder
www.DealingWithWindows.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/virus-protection-and-points-of-precautions-815710.html

Technorati Tags: anti spy ware, antivirus program, firewall program, free antivirus software, unwanted software

A Firewall is a barrier generally placed between the internet and your network (or computer).  The main function of firewalls is to shield the network from unauthorised access from your internet connection and therefore a necessary component for all internet connections.
 
Firewalls are available both in software and hardware form: 
 
Software Firewalls
Many Software Firewalls to be consumer packages for the home user such as Internet Security Suites with a software firewall included, these products are offered by companies such as Symantec, MacAfee.  There are Enterprise Software Firewalls on the market such as Microsoft ISA Server (Internet Security & Acceleration Server) which many argue to be one of the most customisable firewalls providing user level access both from the internet to the network and vice versa.
 
Hardware Firewalls
Hardware Firewalls are the norm for many organisations, unlike Software Firewalls that require a computer or server to be installed on Hardware Firewalls are an independent device that plugs in either between your internet connection and your network or provides the internet connection itself.  Depending on model can provide a range of protection to basic blocking of services to integrated security, telephone and remote worker/office connections.
 
Features of Firewalls
 
Blocking Unauthorised Access from the Internet
The basic job of the majority of firewalls is to block unauthorised access from the internet i.e. to stop hackers from getting in to your network and computer system.
 
Allowing Authorised Access from the Internet
If you have an email server such as Microsoft Exchange, Web Server, Citrix or Terminal Server or another service that requires access from the internet your firewall will need to divert the relevant traffic to that service.  Some firewalls will let the other server deal with any security issues that may occur in its traffic such as user authentication other more advanced firewalls will provide various levels of security before forwarding the traffic thus providing additional security to your network.
 
Employee’s Access to the Internet & Content Filtering
More advanced firewalls can allow certain user’s access to the internet and block others.  Some can also provide content filters which filter the types of website that they access, for example limiting access for some user’s to only specific work related websites (at all times or during only during office hours).  Other organisations allow all websites to be accessed except those that may pose a threat or are definitely not work related sites (such as pornography websites).  Also an important feature is to filter types of file that can be accessed or downloaded, web pages and documents maybe normal work activity but Programs and Music (such as MP3) files may not be and can be limited.
 
Branch Offices & Mobile/Remote Workers
Many Firewalls now integrate Virtual Private Networking or VPN access to the network.  VPN provides remote access to the network such as: 
 

• Branch offices
• Home Workers
• Mobile Workers

More advanced firewalls can specify the type of access that each remote office or worker can access, this is useful for many security reasons.
 
Internet Acceleration (or Caching)
The more people and services we have using an internet connection at one time the more bandwidth is required.  Bandwidth is the speed at which you connect to the internet similar to a Motorway if you have too many cars you get congestion.  Broadband ADSL or Cable connections can be relatively inexpensive but if you require more connections or more advanced & reliable connections the bill will soon build up.  Internet Acceleration firewalls or Caching Firewalls can download specific content once either when a user accesses it or at a specific time (for example out of office hours / off peak), when more than one person requires access to that content it supplies the cached content rather than downloading it from the internet again, thus saving internet bandwidth.  This can be a considerable saving especially if many staff members access the similar content regularly.
 
Telephone and Voice over IP (VoIP) Services
Again a regular offering from all levels of firewalls are Telephone and VoIP services.  VoIP sends telephone traffic over the internet rather than down your phone line, if it is to another VoIP phone (for example a home worker, branch office or another company with VoIP) it will usually be a free call.  If the call is to a mobile or landline number that is not Voice over IP then you can subscribe to a service that is often cheaper than using your landline to make call.  These firewalls can often be plugged into your current telephone system.  More advanced firewalls can provide ‘least cost routing’ to direct the call via the cheapest method and handle times when your internet connection is not working or congested.
 
Firewalls are a necessity for all connections home users and companies alike.  The type of firewall and how it is configured can have significant impact on your security and provide many benefits.

For more information visit our Firewalls & Network Security webpage

Simon Finn
http://www.finnconsultants.co.uk/
Cornwall & Devon IT Consultants

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/internet-security-network-firewalls-for-security-811927.html

Technorati Tags: integrated pc security, software firewalls

Internet is basically the network between the different networks, it is basically used to share files between computers, In the modern world we can know about anything from the Internet, on just the click of the mouse. Internet has made a new sort of the social interaction among the people and organization, with the growth of the social networking website, people can share experience of the other people. Internet greatly impacted the education and business system. Now a day’s business and education is not confined to particular area, we can expand our business just by the use of the Internet.

No doubt on one hand Internet had revolutionized all the aspects of the life, but due to increase in the Internet usage it has also exposed the virus attack or the threats for computers. Internet makes the computer prone to the virus attacks, Trojan Horse, Spyware, Worm’s which leads to loss of data and also steal your data from your computer.

So to avoid all those threats and to be safe on the internet we must adhere to some of the basic steps and ensure that your data is safe.
Some of these steps are

A good virus scan
It’s recommended to have a Antivirus installed on your . there are several antivirus available in the market .but we must select the one which provide maximum no of features such as internet security , Spam filtering , email scanning and many more. and its always recommended to updated your installed antivirus support and scan your computer for virus , once in a month

Be careful while downloading:
while downloading something from the Internet we must be very careful ,for what we are downloading and is it safe to download from that sited , there are several sites for the music games , which downloads the virus spyware and cause thereat to your data in the computer , we must always download any virus removal software from the renowned websites for example softpedia.com and download.com

Protect yourself from the dangerous emails:
Now a day’s emails becomes one of the major internet threats , There are several frauds done using the email for example the ” Nigerian fraud ” and it can some email may also some of the spyware or virus in the email .so to safe from all such threats we must use a antivirus having email scanning feature .

Don’t give your personal information on the internet:
It always recommended no give your personal information for example full name, address and phone no on internet and always read the agreement carefully while you are creating in any of the websites

Protect your money online:
It is always recommended to not to give your credit card no on the unsecure websites and must be carefully while doing so

Following the above steps will help all of us to be safe and secure while using the Internet

I am an spyware removal specialist for iYogi, iYogi is the first direct-to-consumer and computer support service from India. Providing an Annual Unlimited subscription to technical support, iYogi now boasts of more than 50,000 customers.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/top-five-steps-to-stay-secure-on-internet-832096.html

Technorati Tags: trojan horse, virus attack, virus removal software