A guest post from Mike of My Thai Friend. I appreciate your helping me with this, Mike.
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Like all journeys a visit to the Internet can be a pleasant and rewarding experience. It can also provide you with some unwanted travelling companions. Adware, spyware, trojans and malware, are not characters from a science fiction plot, but are in fact some of the parasites that await you on your journey, uninvited guests only too happy to make themselves a new home inside your computer.
Unfortunately, just like some of our real life travelling companions, who we don’t always get to choose, these nosey and annoying little files love to share your private information and enjoy telling others about it. Just like with the village gossip, the actual damage that they cause, can vary, from mildly annoying, to a complete breakdown of communication.
Although many ISP’s have sophisticated filters fitted to their web server, protection from viruses and malware really needs to start at your computer, whatever type of connection you are using. Just as you protect your home and family from burglars and other undesirable characters, so there is a need to protect your computer and the information it contains from cyber criminals.
Ask yourself would you leave sensitive information about your banking and personal preferences lying on the kitchen table for all to see, lying there like an open book?
Well an unprotected computer is like that open book.
Effective up to date anti-virus software with a quality firewall will stop most intruders, add to this an adware scanner and you can feel reasonable safe. However don’t be complacent as hackers are continually thinking up new ways to defeat security systems. Change passwords regularly, use alpha numeric symbol combinations and don’t use the same password for accessing different accounts.
At the end of the day the choice is yours but just be aware that there are people out there, who if given the opportunity will rob the unwary, just like the highwaymen of old.
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Now I suggest you visit Mike on My Thai Friend where you will find out all about Thailand and what it's like to live there. Or even one of his other blogs, equally interesting.
Excellent warning officer!
ReplyDeleteWell written too!
Very well written and one subject believe it or not some do not know about. I know several people who look at their computer as just a way to look something up or play games on. When it crashes they claim ignorance. I had my e-mail hacked not long ago and when a virus was sent to my friends I realized I was stupid for not changing my password. Now even I can't remember them.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the responses, I actually found it difficult to come up with a post for A's excellent blog. However I did remember a while ago she had a problem with a virus (no not swine flue).
ReplyDeleteHope she doesn't lose to many readers!
Thank you again Mike! Indeed I did have a problem a while ago, in spite of quite a good set of defences, or so I thought. But I am fit and well now. :)
ReplyDeleteLike ettarose, I had a hacker at my gmail account. I can only assume they were trying every combination of possible password until they succeeded, and it did have a combination of alpha and numeric characters. It now isn't even spelt in an acceptable way. Again like ettarose, I find it hard to remember what I used where. I use stats packages a lot, they fascinate me, and I've actually watched someone using a Dutch ISP trying my blog again and again for hours on end. I did complain to the ISP and miraculously, they helped and stopped that person after first warning him. The warning, needless to say, had no effect.
There is no stopping these people trying, we just have to keep our defences up.
Very sound advice.
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