Top Five Tips To Keep Your Computer Secure

If your house was like your computer, it wouldn’t come with locks and you could be burgled from thousands of miles away. Obviously, you’d secure your castle before moving in – so why don’t we do the same for computers? Here are our top five computer security tips that’ll help keep the invaders out.

Passwords

Most people know the password to Ali Baba’s cave was, “Open Sesame”, but such predictability is also true with computer users. “123456″ is the most used password, while “12345″, “123456789″, “Password”, “iloveyou”, “princess” and “rockyou” are all in the top-ten. Pick something unique!

It’s also good practice to use different passwords for different websites. This is because if your password is stolen from one website, the hacker might try to use it to access your accounts elsewhere.

Updates

Everyone hates updates – they’re intrusive, irritating and almost constant. Aside from annoying us, however, they’re vital to fix potential security holes.

Your web browser, Windows, OSX, Java and Flash are the most-targeted culprits, so make sure you always accept these updates as soon as they are available. I know, it’s annoying, so here’s a message to developers: stop making us restart our computer to apply an update – we’ll be more likely to do it!

Also, make sure your antivirus software is up-to-date. That includes if your free trial has run-out. No virus protection at all? Shame on you! Norman provides a comprehensive security package (Norman Security Suite PRO), but even if you’re with someone else, remember to update!

WEP Wifi

If you’ve bought a new router in the last three years, feel free to ignore this section. Otherwise, you should check the security settings on your wifi.  Hopefully, you’ll be on WPA or WPA2 – these are up-to-date security formats and you’ll be okay (although WPA2 is much better than WPA).

If it says WEP, however, it’s time to upgrade. WEP is an ancient technology that can be hacked in around 30 seconds. Oh dear. You might be able to change to WPA on the router, but most likely we’re talking about a trip to the shops.

Internet Cafes and Public Wifi

Some people need caffeine to help them through the day, others need the internet. Luckily, internet cafes provide both. Unluckily, each time you log-in to one with your own computer, you’re putting it on a strange network that’s accessible by people you don’t know.

Your non-HTTPS data is particularly at risk from snooping, which means people could read your Facebook communications. For Facebook, you can add HTTPS in your account settings, but other traffic may be less secure. Remember: don’t bank in public.

Backups

Should the worst happen, backups are the only way of getting your computer back to exactly how it was. You can do this useful by transferring files onto an external harddrive, or use an off-the-shelf solution like Norman’s (Norman Online Backup) to do all the fiddly-bits for you.

The (somewhat dramatic, I admit) question I ask is – if your house burnt down, and you could restore it with a couple of mouseclicks – would you do it?

 | DIGITAL LIFE • http://www.cubesquare.co.cc

7 Steps to Securing your Home Wireless Network

The benefits of home wireless network are amazing. From the ability to be out in the backyard working while the kids are swimming in the pool, to not having to run cables all throughout the house for your network connectivity; the list of benefits are outstanding. I wouldn’t go back to a wired home network unless I absolutely had to.

However, what many people may not realize is that a wireless network can be an open door to others having full reign on your personal data.

A few simple steps can be taken to provide the best method of security on your home wireless network.

Use this as a guide for building a new home wireless network, or as a way to take inventory of where your existing home wireless network stands.

1) Router/WAP Password

As soon as you get your Router / WAP (Wireless Access Point) immediately change the password. Most of the common Router/WAP products today will have default passwords assigned that are well known and publicized. Choose a strong password for this device.

Here are a few tips on choosing a good password:

• It should be at least 6 characters long
• It should have a mixture of upper and lower case characters
• It should have a mixture of numbers, characters and/or punctuation marks
• Try to use uncommon words for your password

2) Protect your Wireless Network with Encryption

Always use WPA-TKIP encryption. Wifi Protected Access (WPA) is the new security standard adopted by the Wife Alliance consortium. The older “WEP” encryption has many weaknesses. Using WEP is like closing the door but not locking it.

You will need to be sure that both your router/WAP support WPA-TKIP as well as all of the wireless network interfaces on all of the devices attaching to your wireless network (Desktop, laptop, printer, etc). Some of the older network cards may only support WEP. Do yourself a favor and upgrade to better card.

3) SSID Best Practices

The SSID can be thought of simply as the network name. You should be sure to change this name from the default name that came with your router/WAP. Making the name something that is not common is a good practice.

You will likely also have the option of either broadcasting or not broadcasting your SSID. The most secure method for a home network would be to NOT broadcast the SSID. It just makes it that much more difficult for a hacker to gain entrance to your network.

If you do not broadcast your SSID you will just need to manually configure the SSID properties on your client computers.

4) MAC Address Filtering

Some router/wops have the ability to set it such that only specific network hardware addresses can have access to utilize your home wireless network. This is done by specifying the exact “physical hardware address” (or, “MAC address”) of the Wireless Network Interface card on the machines you want to give access to.

While this might not make sense if you have a lot of people randomly coming over and wanting to connect to your Wireless network, it certainly gives you an added step in a tightly secured wireless network.

5) Static IP Addresses vs. Dynamically assigned IP Addresses (DHCP)

DHCP (Dynamic Host Control Protocol) is a tool that allows your router/WAP to assign you an IP address automatically. This does come in handy when you have multiple people on a network that may be constantly coming and going.

However, on a typical home network things are pretty static and there generally isn’t much of a need for DHCP. Turning DHCP off will provide a more secure wireless network environment. With DHCP on there is the possibility for a hacker to allow your router to assign them an IP address and gain access to your network.

When you turn off DHCP you will need to manually assign a static IP (one that does not change) address to all of the computers that will need to use your Wireless Network.

6) Utilize the Firewall Features of your Router/WAP

Most Router/WAP devices today come with a Firewall feature that can either be enabled or disabled. Be sure the Firewall Feature is enabled. It surprises me how many people miss this very basic step.

7) Do not connect to any other open Wireless networks

I know it can be tempting at times to search for other available wireless network and connect to them for internet connectivity. The truth is, unless you have been given specific rights to do this, it is illegal practice. Not only that, but when you join your computer on another wireless network you become a target for others on that network to hack into your computer.

Following the above 7 steps will do you a lot of good in a world where hackers strive to find weaknesses to exploit.

Related articles

• 7 Steps to Securing your Home Wireless Network | DIGITAL LIFE – http://www.cubesquare.co.cc (thinkanytime.wordpress.com)
• 7 Steps to Securing your Home Wireless Network | DIGITAL LIFE – http://www.cubesquare.co.cc (techanytime.wordpress.com)