Passwords | Phishing | Spyware and Adware

Viruses | Computer Safety Links

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Passwords

Passwords are the keys to all of our online accounts. It is important to keep them safe, secure, and secret!
Here are some tips for password safety:

• Create passwords that are at least 6 characters in length (some sites require 8). Passwords longer than 14 characters on a Windows XP or Vista machine are stored in a more secure manner.
• Create passwords that cannot be looked up in a dictionary
• Do not use information in your password that can be tracked back to you. Such as: Family pet names, phone numbers, house numbers, birthdays, etc...
• Use capital as well as lower-case letters in your passwords and include spaces (if allowed).
• Use numbers in your passwords. Try replacing some letters with numbers. 4=A, 3=E, 1=I or L, 0=O, 5=S, 7=T. Example: H1pp0p074mu5
• Replace letters with symbols. @=a, (=C, !=I or L, $=S, +=T. Example: H!pp0p0+@mu$
• Including one or more of these symbols will make your password harder to crack. ~ ' " | / \ { } [ ] < > : ; , . ?
• The longer you make a password, the safer it will be. Consider using a passphrase instead of the traditional one-word password. A passphrase is a full sentence with spaces and punctuation. Example: All men are created equal!
• Change your passwords often (at least every 6 months). Passwords are like toothbrushes. You shouldn't share them with anyone and they should be replaced often.
• When you change your passwords, do not reuse old passwords.
• Never save your passwords when prompted by a browser or other software.
• Never send your passwords via email, instant message, or any online form or messaging. These forms of communication are insecure. If you are on a Web site that requires a password, make sure it is using encryption to secure the login. Look for the closed padlock symbol in your browser. Usually this icon is located at the top after the address of the site you are visiting. This icon indicates that a secure connection has been established. The address of secure sites also begin with "https://" instead of "http://"
• Do not write your password on a sticky note and stick it to your monitor. If you must write your password down, place it in a secure location.

Phishing

Phishing is a term used to describe when fake emails are sent out in an attempt to collect personal information. This information is later used for identity theft or other criminal actions. These fake emails look like the real thing, including a "from" field that looks like it came from the actual sender.

You may get an email that appears to have come directly from the IRS, your bank, or a popular online store. This "spoofed" email may say your account is in error and needs your attention, or you owe a certain amount of money, or that you have winnings that you need to claim. All of this is an attempt to get you to click on a fake login link. This fake link then takes you to a fake Web site where everything looks exactly like the real site. After you log in on this spoofed site, your information can be stolen and used for any purpose the criminals choose.

Email is an unsecured form of communication. You should not expect any legitimate entity, such as a bank, to ask you for personal information in an email. If you are unsure, you can always go to the site yourself straight from your browser without clicking on any links in the email. There you can login and check your account first hand.

Always check links inside of emails. A link contains two parts. The first part is the text that shows in the email as blue text with an underline. The second part is the underlying address that should open when the user clicks this text. You can see this underlying address by viewing the email as plain text. If you use Microsoft Outlook, you can hover your mouse pointer over the link to see the address that will open.

Spyware and Adware

• What is Spyware and Adware?
  Adware is software that displays ads along with its normal functionality. They can range from annoying pop-ups that come out of nowhere, to small boxes in a corner of the software’s window. This may seem harmless but what if the adware secretly records and studies your browsing habits in order to display ads that you might like? When adware goes this far, it becomes spyware. Spyware is any program that secretly records data about its users.
• How do computers get infected?
  Spyware usually comes along with a free program you install through your browser. You may click on an advertisement for a useful program or entertaining game only to find out later that it has spyware. These programs hide the fact that they have spyware by burying the information in the legal agreement in obscure legal terminology. More malicious forms of spyware from non-commercial entities may not warn you in any way that their program contains spyware. Therefore it is very important to only download and use software from known, trusted sources.
• What harm can spyware do?
  Spyware typically infects browsers and changes the homepage. When a user tries to change the homepage back, it will not allow it. Once spyware has control over your browser, it can send you to any page it wishes as well as pop up ads at anytime.
  Spyware can:
  • analyze your browsing habits in order to serve better ads to you (harmless but still intrusive)
  • record your history/habits and send them to a central server where they are later sold to marketing companies
  • record everything you type including usernames, passwords, social security numbers, credit card numbers, etc...
  • open browser security holes allowing other spyware and viruses to enter your system easily
  • prevent you from using certain programs and even attacking rival spyware programs on your system by deleting or disabling them
  • use up system resources causing your computer to run sluggishly
• How can you protect against spyware?
  Be sure and keep your browsers up to date with the latest patches. Install anti-spyware software from a reputable source. Be wary of any pop-ups or advertisements of free programs while you are surfing the net. Typical offers include: free smileys, wallpapers, screensavers, and icons. Sites may entice you by offering a free prize or a useful tool. An ad may warn you that your computer is infected and you need to download a program to clean your computer. Many of these ads are actually spyware themselves and NOT spyware removal tools. Ask yourself some questions before you click on these kinds of offers. Have you heard of this company? Do you know of anyone who uses this software? Do you trust them? If you are really interested in something, do a little research on the company and the software in question. Find out what others are saying and if is safe to install. Be suspicious of any software that has advertisements and research their safety.

Viruses

• What is a virus?
  A computer virus is malicious code that secretly replicates itself on the host computer and may attempt to infect other computers on a network. Just like a biological virus, its main purpose is to stay alive by replicating itself. A virus can attach itself to other programs on your computer. If you run these programs, the virus code is run as well. When the virus code is run again it will infect more programs and the cycle continues.
• How do computers get infected?
  Computers are infected when an executable program containing virus code is run on the computer. A program containing virus code can come from any outside source such as: a CD, DVD, floppy disk, USB drive, internet download, or email attachment. Any program can be infected with virus code, so if you do not trust the source of an executable, you should not click on it. Common executable files include files ending in .exe, .bat, .com, .vbs, .js, .wsh, and .wsf. Data files like .txt, .jpg, .gif, .mp3, and .avi only contain data and are safe, however, attackers will try to trick you with names like ImportantDocument.txt.vbs or CutePuppy.jpg.exe. These files are executable programs that could contain malicious code.
• What harm can a virus do?
  When your computer has a virus it will get bogged down and you may have problems with programs the virus has infected. If the virus is not taken care of, eventually more and more resources will get eaten up by the virus and you will have to wipe your computer and re-install everything in order to get it back to normal. Along with its replication code, a virus can contain any malicious code the creator has programmed into it.
  Viruses could:
  • randomly delete files from your computer ever so often
  • broadcast to other viruses that your computer is vulnerable and open connections so they can easily infect your computer as well
  • purposely slow down your local network
  • cause strange things to happen like programs opening/closing by themselves, wrong characters showing while typing, or typing/mouse movements that happen on their own.
  These are only a few examples of what viruses can do. It is in a virus's best interest to keep a computer running. However, there have been viruses that only replicate and then wait for a certain date to unleash a damaging payload that can only be fixed by re-installing the operating system. There have even been viruses that have caused physical damage by changing hardware modes faster than normal which, in turn, caused the internal components to burn up or wear out prematurely. With all of these possibilities, it is very important to keep your operating system up to date and have virus protection software running in order to protect your computer from these threats.
• How can you protect against viruses?
  You can protect your computer from viruses by:
  • keeping your system up to date with the latest patches
  • install anti-virus software
  • be careful when opening email attachments and running programs you don't trust

Here are some useful links to help keep your computer safe:

• Windows Updates
  Keep your computer up to date! Check to see if you need updates for Windows, your programs, your hardware or your devices.
• Office Update
  Keep Microsoft Office secure by running Office updates.
• FREE AVG Anti-Virus
  Free virus protection for private and non-commercial use.
• FREE Spybot - Search & Destroy
  Detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behavior to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging.
• FREE Ad-Aware
  Provides you with advanced protection against spyware that secretly attaches and takes control of your computer, resulting in aggressive advertising pop-ups, sluggish computer activity, even identity theft through stolen bank details, passwords, and credit card account numbers.
• FREE Malwarebytes
  When your computer becomes infected, Malwarebytes can provide the needed assistance to remove the infection and restore the machine back to optimum performance.
• Internet Storm Center
  The ISC was created in 2001 following the successful detection, analysis, and widespread warning of the Li0n worm. Today, the ISC provides a free analysis and warning service to thousands of Internet users and organizations, and is actively working with Internet Service Providers to fight back against the most malicious attackers.
• CNET Security Center
  Information on the latest Internet virus and security threats.