ICAN Solutions Weekly Young County Post Tech Article Archives
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3/14/07
Evolving Threats
As computer technology matures, so does its users. In the beginning, for the average user, a home PC was little more than a simplistic web browsing machine and new environment to play solitaire. We now have multimedia repositories responsible for housing everything from our entire financial histories, to the cherished memories of home movies and photos.
As the PC has evolved to meet our new “Information on Demand” society, so to have computer threats evolved. Spyware and adware are now a larger threat to the common PC user than the computer virus ever was. 84% of all computers are infected with at least one spyware classified files at any given moment. Many infiltrations number in the hundreds and even the thousands of infected files.
Spyware is used to describe a program that burrows down into your system, logging your keystrokes, credit card information, web passwords, and browsing history. It is most often installed with another piece of software or under the guise of something useful. Have you ever downloaded a helpful toolbar, weather watcher, or file sharing program? Chances are you have a spyware infection.
Adware is a program that uses your computer to display advertising. The most common symptoms include annoying popups and page redirecting. While adware can be quite a nuisance by itself, it is often paired with spyware in order to track your browsing history and deliver “personalized” advertising directly to your computer.
The predominant threat to your PC from spyware and adware lies in the divulgence of your personal information. Since this is a silent process however, most people will not even know about the infection until the secondary threat ensues. Spyware and adware infections are social creatures and often invite friends and colleagues to join them in the marauding of your PC. As the programs pile up, they wreak havoc on your computer. Poorly written code and a general disregard for important system files often leaves a PC slow and unresponsive.
The key to keeping these programs out is prevention. Most virus protection software now protects against spyware and adware, however it is always a good idea to use a stand-alone spyware protection program as well. Both Spybot Search and Destroy and Adware Personal SE are very good, lightweight programs that are freely available on the internet and offer a great deal of protection. The key to PC security is to evolve with the threats as well as the technology to ensure that your private information remains private.
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3/07/07
Windows Vista
Unraveling the “WOW”
On January 30, 2007, Microsoft released the newest version of their Windows Operating System, Windows Vista. With new security features, increased multimedia capabilities, and modern interface, is Vista really worth the “WOW”?
At the top of the new feature list for most Vista owners, lies the increased security of (UAC) User Account Control. Using UAC, Vista keeps users logged into accounts with fewer privileges and prompts for passwords when attempting to carry out an administrative task. What does all of this mean? In previous versions of Windows, User profiles without administrative rights could not install programs or make changes to system files and folders. Users were forced to log into Windows under an account with administrative privileges in order to perform these tasks. Unfortunately, because of this most home users set themselves up as administrators on their systems. This led to malware being introduced to the system from an administrative account with the ability to change system folders and install more software on your machine. In Vista, users can limit their access and privileges without compromising availability of programs or features. Any account without administrative privileges is asked for a password in order to perform administrative tasks. This keeps viruses and other malware from infecting your system through an administrative account since all administrative actions require a password and your specific approval.
Also important are Vista’s new Internet Explorer 7 features. Many features are already available to XP users, such as anti-phishing filters, and pop up blockers. Vista takes internet security one-step farther by restricting IE’s access to system files. This keeps IE from accessing any files except for the temporary internet files, and protects your system from malicious scripts and attacks while online.
Is Vista really the “most secure Windows Operating System to date”, as Microsoft claims? Only time will tell, but it seems as if Microsoft has a better grasp on what end users want out of an operating system: security, reliability, and functionality. Overall, Vista shows great strides forward in these areas and is a welcome upgrade for the security conscious PC user.