Internet security is an issue a lot of us take for granted. Even if you store your files on an external drive or in the cloud, the reality is you are still connected to the Internet and there's more at risk that simply losing data.
It wasn't long ago that I was only a few keystrokes away from being taken hostage by malware. In fact, "someone" was recording the activity on my computer and was most likely attempting to use my computer to access my online banking and credit card information (I'm one of those people that buy stuff on the web), or use my computer as a host to hack into another computer.
What was my first clue that something was very wrong? The computer was malfunctioning--startup took ten times longer than normal and programs would shut down without notice (among other strange events).
So I called a very reliable source to take control of the situation; Cameron Just is a Saskatoon-based Technology Officer who is a walking textbook of computer knowledge. After recouping from the arduous process of rescuing my computer, we talked about preventive measures. Here are some lessons learned in my Q&A with Cam.
What are best practices for PC users? If you haven't already installed Norton or McCaffee on your PC, then you may want to consider some free alternatives that are just as reliable, and in some cases are getting better results than they paid counterparts. These aren't the most reliable anti-virus apps out there. Aside from the fact these programs cost money, the success of the app itself is reliant on a database of past infections; the reality is, many infections that come out on web pages are new.
Instead, try a free AV program like AVG or Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE). MSE is a great option for most home users as it protects from spyware infections, browser infection and traditional virus; plus, it automatically updates itself over the Internet and can never go into unlicensed mode.
Why is it that Mac computers rarely get viruses? Mac is based on Unix, similar to Linux--and since the source code is analyzed by thousands of open source programmers all over the world, exploits are examined and corrected long before they get into service. Exploits do still exist, but as long as you keep software up to date you are very unlikely to have to worry about them.
Windows is a closed source application, security is not emphasized during development because the code is hidden; someone would have to stumble on to the security hole in order to take advantage of it (this is of course, exactly what happens). And since you have a culture of secrecy surrounding the development of closed source applications, even if an exploit is found there is no common language for developers to 'donate' their time to the correction of these errors.
For example: if an exploit is found in open source code, all that has to happen is for the person to save such and such program, and indicate such and such line has an error--and poof--its looked at and fixed. With closed source, you cannot see the code and have no access to the developers, so reporting errors and getting them corrected is infinitely more difficult.
How do I keep my computer hidden from prying eyes on the Internet? As far as keeping yourself hidden, most residential routers now come with a firewall, so the only other choice you need to make is whether or not to turn the built-in Windows firewall on or off. Turning it on will make things more tricky because now you have to manage port forwarding for local applications. Also, open ports would have to be forwarded to the computer inside the local network for anyone on the outside to be able to run an exploit; fortunately, most users have no idea how to do this, so they are safe if they have a fairly modern router and have changed the password on that router.
How do I avoid Phishing scams? Unfortunately, phishing scams are successful exploits because they take advantage of the gullibility of people, and no software is ever going to be able to 100% safeguard against that. I'd say in terms of online email, Gmail seems to be doing a much better job of protecting users than Hotmail and Yahoo. And if you are using an email client, Thunderbird has a lot of tools which automatically warn users when the email they are looking at might be a scam or phishing attempt.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 
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