The Security Fix page at the Washington Post  online is one of the sites  you should visit every-week…..Brian Krebs posts warnings about problems in the software world and lists updates that come out for all the major operating systems, and software companies……

If you have any other similar site that we should know about …please post it in our comments to this post…..

And always try to update your computer when it calls for it…..

On Dec 1 2009, the Centers for Disease Control  & Prevention issued a general alert to citizens of the United States regarding a “phishing” scam that was discovered recently.  This type of announcement is rather unusual.

Following is a screenshot of the official CDC page which addresses this potential security hazard:

Image Credit: http://www.cdc.gov/hoaxes_rumors.html – All rights reserved – Copyright 2009

The cybercriminals behind all cloned WiniGuard applications have now released a new one called AntiKeep.

As rogue security applications – also known as scareware – rise, Lavasoft develops resource to keep computer users safe.

Gothenburg, Sweden (December 1, 2009) Well-known anti-spyware pioneer Lavasoft today announced the launch of a new resource tool, The Rogue Gallery, a comprehensive list of current rogue (fake) security applications, giving users the ability to immediately identify if they are targets of rogue threats.

Rogue security applications, often referred to as scareware, are rising at a rapid rate, posing one of today’s greatest security challenges to computer users.  Taking the form of legitimate-looking anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-malware products, these rogue applications appear beneficial from a security perspective but provide little or no protection, generate misleading alerts, or attempt to lure users into fraudulent transactions – blurring the lines between genuine Internet security software and applications that expose users to high risk cyber threats.

Lavasoft Malware Labs security analysts monitor and apprehend these rogue programs, adding them to the threat database of its Ad-Aware security software to protect users. According to Malware Labs analysts, the number of rogue applications is rising at an alarming rate; November 2009 alone saw the release of 22 new rogues – almost one new rogue program per day.  The Rogue Gallery is part of Lavasoft’s commitment to stop the spread of these rogue programs, giving consumers a practical resource to quickly and clearly identify what programs are rogue – and avoid them.

“It can be quite difficult for the average Internet user to keep track of these rogue programs. Inspired by the great work done before us by Spywarewarrior.com – a fantastic resource in its day which really helped a lot of users – we wanted to continue the work started and create a site with both historical information about older rogues as well as up- to-date information about the latest rogue threats,” says Andrew Browne, team leader of the Malware Labs at Lavasoft.

The Rogue Gallery, powered by the Malware Labs at Lavasoft, lists every rogue added to Ad-Aware’s threat database throughout Lavasoft’s history. It currently houses over 500 rogue applications, and is updated upon a new rogue program discovery. Using this resource, consumers are able to search for rogues in alphabetical order or choose to display the latest threats.  Also included on the site is a link to “Submit a Rogue”, giving users the ability to quickly and easily send any suspicious programs directly to the Malware Labs to be analyzed and added to detection if necessary.

“There are many sites that have fragments of information about rogues or just aren’t updated regularly enough to be useful. In the Lavasoft Rogue Gallery, you’ll find the names of every rogue seen, a screenshot of its user interface and additional information about it. We update the site every time a new rogue is identified and hope users will use the information to avoid becoming victims of scareware,” Browne says.

The Rogue Gallery is available at http://www.lavasoft.com/mylavasoft/rogues.   More information on Lavasoft’s security solutions as well as online protection tips can be found on the Lavasoft website at www.lavasoft.com.

About Lavasoft

Founded in 1999, Lavasoft is “the original anti-spyware company”, with over 400 million downloads worldwide for the flagship Ad-Aware product. A private company headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, Lavasoft provides security solutions for individual consumers and enterprise clients alike, including anti-spyware, anti-virus, registry optimization, firewall, digital shredding, and encryption.

Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Funding Type: Discretionary, Cooperative Agreement
Total Available: $11.3 Million
Award Ceiling: $2.5 Million
Deadline: 02.02.10
Eligibility: Institutions of Higher Education

Description:
The Federal Cyber Service: Scholarship for Service (SFS) program seeks to increase the number of qualified students entering the fields of information assurance and computer security and to increase the capacity of the United States higher education enterprise to continue to produce professionals in these fields to meet the needs of our increasingly technological society. The SFS program is composed of two tracks:The Scholarship Track provides funding to colleges and universities to award scholarships to students in the information assurance and computer security fields. Scholarship recipients shall pursue academic programs in information assurance for the final two years of undergraduate study, or for two years of master’s-level study, or for the final two years of Ph.D.-level study. These students will participate as a cohort during their two years of study and activities, including a summer internship in the Federal Government. A limited number of students may be placed in National Laboratories and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs). This number shall be set by the program office each year.

Rogue security software, often referred to as scareware, is one of the biggest challenges that computer users are faced with right now. Taking the form of legitimate-looking anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-malware products, these rogue applications look to be beneficial from a security perspective but provide little or no security, generate misleading alerts, or attempt to lure users into participating in fraudulent transactions – blurring the lines between genuine software and applications that put you in harm’s way.

In order to help you clearly see what programs are considered rogue – and avoid them – Lavasoft Malware Labs is proud to introduce a brand new site: the Rogue Gallery.

Here, you can find almost all rogues added to Ad-Aware’s threat database throughout Lavasoft’s history. The Rogue Gallery currently houses a total of over 500 rogue applications, and we’ll be updating the gallery each time we uncover a new rogue program. Using this resource, you can search for rogues in alphabetical order or choose to display the latest threats.  As you’ll also see, we’ve included a link to “Submit a Rogue”, so you can quickly and easily send the team here at Malware Labs  any suspicious programs that you come across in order for them to be analyzed.

We’d like to give a big thanks to Lavasoft’s web development team, who used Malware Labs’ collected data and visualized it on this page.

Albin

Lavasoft Malware Labs

Why I Don’t Share the Name of Client on First Recruiting Call

When I am recruiting for an open Security Job that is not a retained search, I usually do not share the name of my client with a cold called candidate for several reason,  until we have talked in detail.

First, I interview many candidates daily, and unfortunately I must tell several that they are not a match for “this job”.  Perhaps future jobs, but not this one. It does not mean that are not a good security candidate, just not a good match for this job. Sometimes, they on the other hand, feel that they are a great fit and want to proceed with the interview process. When I explain that the client wants and expects me  to pre-screen heavily so as only to present dead on matches, they get upset.  I have had these people try to go directly to the client themselves or call other recruiters and ask them to present them. If the company name has not been discussed, it protects me.

Also, I have had some very good intentioned people that knew my client name simply mention  to a friend or co-worker that I called and discussed a great opportunity with them at XYZ company and the friend or co-worker simply goes directly to the company without thinking about me. They did not mean to cut me out, they just did not realize they should call me to present them. After all, I am dealing directly with the hiring authority and can make things happen.

Please be aware that I do share the client name as soon as we (you and I) determine that it is a good match and worth proceeding forward with the process.

Since this is how I earn a living for me and my family please don’t be insulted by the process and my guarding my client name until we agree it’s a match.

Happy Holidays,

Wils Bell – Security Recruiter

Bell (at) SecurityHeadhunter.com

SecurityHeadhunter.com, Inc.

SecurityHeadHunter.com

Desk: 407-365-2404

Today, anyone who uses a computer is in danger of falling prey to spyware and malware. Recent studies show that as many as 90 percent of home computers have been infected with spyware. Are you susceptible?

Defining Spyware

Spyware is a program installed on your computer, with or without your permission, that can change system configurations, monitor your Internet activity and broadcast the information back to an outside party. Sluggish computer performance, altered home pages, and endless pop-ups are all signs your PC is infected. The milder forms of spyware, known as adware, are simply annoying, with increased spam and unwanted pop-ups. Malware refers to more malicious programs that can rob your PC of its ability to run efficiently, and put you in danger of financial loss and even identity theft. The most harmful forms can collect, use and distribute your personal information, like banking passwords and credit card numbers.

Today, as cyber criminals increasingly set their sights on financial gain, spyware is more and more pervasive and stealthy. By all counts, the amount of malware online grows exponentially on a daily basis. At the same time, the industry itself is evolving, with cyber crime growing in sophistication and even mimicking real-world crime tactics. Malware writers are now stealthily blending threats – made up of different types of malicious software, combining traditional forms of spyware with traditional forms of viruses – in order to infiltrate PCs.

Methods of Infection

The most common methods of infection are through exploits of unpatched operating systems, web browsers, and application/software programs. Other methods of attack include e-mail, peer to peer file sharing, downloading, and instant messaging. Spyware can worm its way into your computer even if you are careful while surfing the Internet. Malicious applications are typically bundled as a hidden component of freeware or shareware programs that can be downloaded from media-supported sites.

How to Stay Safe

The best ways to stay safe online are to prepare your PC, and to use caution and common sense online. Along with having the right tools in place on your computer – at the minimum anti-spyware software, anti-virus software, and a firewall, you should also be aware of online safety tips that can help prevent infections.

Interview by Uzma Bawany/Thaakat Foundation

Identity Theft, it’s really only funny in the commercials. When you think about the number of people it affects and you see the bona fide statistics, it’s hard to imagine that one day you may not be a victim. Take it from me people! From being pick pocketed to having fake checks on my account used at boutique parlors- the mess is not entertaining to say the least.

Now in past days we would imagine source of identity theft just being mere carelessness. You didn’t shred your bills, you left your wallet in a cab etc etc. Today, theft has become all the more sophisticated. You being a victim could just mean you simply not being aware- enough.

I recently had a talk with Jibran Ilyas- Jibran is currently working as Senior Forensic Investigator at Trustwave (www.trustwave.com), where he has investigated some of the nation’s largest data breaches.  This past summer, Jibran presented the field at DEFCON (World’s Largest Hacking/Security Conference) where he showed how hackers steal credit card data from computer systems. Riding on the edge of technology and trying to keep speed with sneaky hacking districts- Jibran has traveled a long journey to join the pack that works to keep us protected in virtual world.

Let us first begin by giving you all a short visionary into Jibran and how he got where he is today. Network security and digital forensics is a popular genre for career goals in current times, though the road to this aspiration isn’t so easy.

Jibran joined Senn High School after arriving here from Pakistan at age 14. There, he worked hard to take advantage of all the educational devices and opportunities he had at his fingertips. During his senior year he was featured on a game show called “Who Wants to Win a Scholarship”, a replica of a popular game show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”, which awarded him a full four year scholarship to DePaul University. Yes people, we’ve got a celebrity on our hands.

Jibran wanted to stress though that if it weren’t for his work experience in the field and constant thought intrusion of wanting to push ahead he’d never get where he is today. Here was his footwork for those of you who may want to follow:

2001 – Admitted at DePaul for Bachelors in Networks Technology
2002 – Lab Tech at DePaul computer lab and IT Intern at Morgan Stanley
2003 – Onsite Computer Technician at Hometech Computer Solutions
2004 – Full time job at Stratford Advisory Group as Network Administrator
2005 – Graduated from DePaul and started job search for pure computer security job
2006 – After 7 month job search, landed a computer security job at Trustwave as Firewall and Intrusion Detection Systems Admin
2007 (summer) – Got promoted to Computer Forensics at Trustwave
2007 (fall) – Started Masters in Information Technology and Business Management at Northwestern University
2009 – Graduated for Northwestern University

I could give you a list of How To’s and Why Not’s on computer security, but I figured it’d be best if we went straight to our expert. Here are some tidbits of advice that I got from the authority himself.

1. Miss. Urdu Times: How do you feel computer security issues have changed in the last five years?
   1. Jibran: The change is evident; we are going through a shock in time. In the past five years computers have changed, the virtual world has revolutionized and network security issues have definitely become more complex. Previously, security controls were nonexistent. Today, security is no longer an option, it is required and this is for many reasons. Financial companies must have adequate security to be compliant with the Sarbanes Oxley Act, hospitals are required to protect personal health records due to HIPPA laws and all of us mature individuals and organizations must be aware of the threats that lurk our privacy controls today. Previously, hacker tactics were called “smash and grab”, they would take the data they wanted and would depart. Today, the weasels are much more sophisticated. Once you are attacked, your entire network is consumed until it eventually falls to the assassin.
2. Miss Urdu Times: What are three common cautionary rules we can all follow?
   1. Jibran: For one, you should not allow remote access if it is not absolutely necessary. Many employees work from home and they are offset by the thrill of the flexibility they are being offered. Do not be fooled, anywhere you are allowed access through a remote connection just know that it is also that easy for someone else to gain access.
   2. Second, make sure you know what your data means to you. What do you want to protect? What records do you want to keep? Do you know where you store your passwords? Make sure that you keep all of this information in secure areas. You must watch what data is going out as well as what data is coming in.
   3. Third: Watch where you’re going! I cannot stress this enough! If you see anything on the internet entitled FREE, you should not trust that blindly. These networks have hackers waiting at the gates to attack.
3. Miss Urdu Times:How many Americans on average are attacked by a virus/hacker?
   1. Jibran: At least 9 out of 10 computers are attacked on average. Who is really using your computer? What information is protected? These are all questions you should ask yourself on a regular basis. Everyone is a potential victim and everyone should always be prepared to halt and react to serious computer security threats.
4. Miss Urdu Times: What programs are available today that are helpful in assisting to secure your PC?
   1. Jibran: Unfair question and I’ll tell you why. I don’t want everyone to think that there is a program out there that will fully protect you and keep you safe. That my friends, despite any advertisements and promises is a lie. The best program to protect your security is- awareness. There is no antivirus that is perfect. In fact, worms and viruses evolve, many hackers are testing these against antivirus software before launching. Attacks have become so sophisticated that helpful programs become outdated before we even learn of them. Though if you really want a suggestion, you can use Sunbelt Personal Firewall at http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/home-home-office/sunbelt-personal-firewall/and Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware at http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php. Both have free downloads that I think are at the top of the class as far as those are concerned. Just be AWARE! Do not click on a popup on your computer that says, “your computer is at risk”. Treat that as “your computer will be at risk if you click on it”
5. Miss Urdu Times: Do you see the future being more difficult for hackers or for the average person (potential victim)?
   1. Jibran: For the average person that’s for sure. Security people are also hackers, but we don’t learn it from the angle of attacking people but protecting people. Average people, you must step it up, be aware. Know your data and do not fall victim to programs and advertisements that seem too easy.

As technology becomes more stylish to meet the demands of virtual and functional sophistication, hacker techniques will become more complex, network disasters will become all the more tumultuous and the attackers channel will be hidden so well as if to seem imaginary to the outside world. Take it from Jibran guys, one can never be too safe.

Jibran Ilyas was also PSA President at DePaul University for two years. Under his reign, culture again began to flourish. Today, he has taken his knack for leadership and want to maintain cultural preservation to ABN (Asian Broadcasting Network) where he works with Mujahid Ghazi and a young team to bring you everything Pakistani, every weekend.

Just the other day, news of a pretty major hole in Internet Explorer versions 6 and 7 was made public (no word on whether or not the vulnerability applies to version 8, which is the latest one at this time).

Why did the “hacker” in question make this information public? Some people might assume he or she wants to cause widespread chaos, but I actually think it’s good to publicly post things like this. This forces Microsoft to come up with a patch for the problem as soon as possible.

However, I recently decided I’m sort of done with always waiting for Microsoft to patch browser software that has more holes than a hunk of Swiss, and made the switch to Mozilla Firefox.

I can’t really give you the tech-head reasons why I feel Firefox is the better, safer browser (mostly because I’m not much of a tech-head), but a large portion of the Internet-savvy population agrees that it’s the way to go.

For one thing, Firefox is “open source” software. A whole community of programmers is constantly making improvements to it. Should the rare security vulnerability come to light, it’s fixed in record time.

Microsoft is at a disadvantage here. Being a huge corporation with shareholders’ interests as their primary concern, they have multiple levels of bureaucracy to work through before they can release anything. I’m sure even a simple security patch is met with resistance—”This will mean publicly admitting a weakness, which could hurt share prices!”

I’m not saying Microsoft couldn’t release a great browser right out of the box, I just think that with their deadlines and the need to think about profitability above all else, they tend to rush releases before everything is ready.

The cool thing about Firefox is that there are all kinds of plug-ins (or “add-ons”) available. Right now, I run the latest version of Firefox with a plug-in called “NoScript.” This nifty little program starts you off by blocking ALL Flash, Java and JavaScript programs. As you visit websites, you get to choose whether or not to allow it to run all, some, or none of the scripts embedded in the site.

For example, if you visit Facebook, it will start by blocking every script. Then you can select “Allow facebook.com” to run scripts. There will usually be several different websites per page running scripts, so you can select whether or not you trust them. If you don’t like the look of one of the URLs, simply don’t allow that site to run code, or search for it on Google to find out what it is (for example, I don’t let Fastclick.net run scripts. Ever).

There are some other good plug-ins, most of which I haven’t looked at. Some block pop-ups, some probably don’t work too great at all. The Firefox site has a big list of available add-ons.

There are a million better articles than this one about “Internet Explorer vs. Firefox” (just do a Google search), but if you’re ready to switch now, go download Firefox here and get the NoScript plug-in here.

Computer technology has made the fastest advancement in the field of modern scientific development. Along with computer technology, the information technology has also made advances that were not possible about twenty years ago. The computer has made life easy for the common man. More and more people depend on the computers to do homework, work and create or store useful information and items which can be used later, or even corrected at some other stage. Thus it has become all the more important to keep safe the information that has been stored in your computer from misuse or being stolen. Also it is extremely important to protect our computers from data loss, misuse and abuse.

For example, it is crucial for businesses to keep information they have secure so that hackers can’t access the information. Home users also need to take means to make sure that their credit card numbers are secure when they are participating in online transactions.  A computer security risk is any action that could cause lost of information, software, data, processing incompatibilities, or cause damage to computer hardware,   a lot of these are planned to do damage. An intentional breach in computer security is known as a computer crime which is slightly different from a cybercrime. A cybercrime is known as illegal acts based on the internet and is one of the FBI’s top priorities.  There are several distinct categories for people that cause cybercrimes, and they are refereed as hacker, cracker, cyberterrorist, cyberextortionist, unethical employee, script kiddie and corporate spy.

The term hacker was actually known as a good word but now it has a very negative view. A hacker is defined as someone who accesses a computer or computer network unlawfully.  They often claim that they do this to find leaks in the security of a network. The term cracker has never been associated with something positive this refers to someone how intentionally access a computer or computer network for evil reasons. It’s basically an evil hacker.  They access it with the intent of destroying, or stealing information. Both crackers and hackers are very advanced with network skills.

A cyberterrorist is someone who uses a computer network or the internet to destroy computers for political reasons.  It’s just like a regular terrorist attack because it requires highly skilled individuals, millions of dollars to implement, and years of planning. The term cyperextortionist is someone who uses emails as an offensive force. They would usually send a company a very threatening email stating that they will release some confidential information, exploit a security leak, or launch an attack that will harm a company’s network. They will request a paid amount to not proceed sort of like black mailing in a since. An unethical employee is an employee that illegally accesses their company’s network for numerous reasons. One could be the money they can get from selling top secret information, or some may be bitter and want revenge.

A script kiddie is someone who is like a cracker because they may have the intentions of doing harm, but they usually lack the technical skills. They are usually silly teenagers that use prewritten hacking and cracking programs. A corporate spy has extremely high computer and network skills and is hired to break into a specific computer or computer network to steal or delete data and information. Shady companies hire these type people in a practice known as corporate espionage. They do this to gain an advantage over their competition an illegal practice.

Business and home users must do their best to protect or safeguard their computers from security risks. The next part of this article will give some pointers to help protect your computer. However, one must remember that there is no one hundred percent guarantee way to protect your computer so becoming more knowledgeable about them is a must during these days. When you transfer information over a network it has a high security risk compared to information transmitted in a business network because the administrators usually take some extreme measures to help protect against security risks.

Over the internet there is no powerful administrator which makes the risk a lot higher. If you are not sure if your computer is vulnerable to a computer risk than you can always use some-type of online security service which is a website that checks your computer for email and Internet vulnerabilities. The company will then give some pointers on how to correct these vulnerabilities.  The Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center is a place that can do this.

The typical network attacks that puts computers at risk includes viruses, worms, spoofing, Trojan horses, and denial of service attacks.  Every unprotected computer is vulnerable to a computer virus which is a potentially harming computer program that infects a computer negatively and altering the way the computer operates without the user’s consent. Once the virus is in the computer it can spread throughout infecting other files and potentially damaging the operating system itself. It’s similar to a bacteria virus that infects humans because it gets into the body through small openings and can spread to other parts of the body and can cause some damage.

The similarity is, the best way to avoid is preparation.  A computer worm is a program that repeatedly copies itself and is very similar to a computer virus. However the difference is that a virus needs o attach itself to an executable file and become a part of it. A computer worm doesn’t need to do that I seems copies to itself and to other networks and eats up a lot of bandwidth.

A Trojan horse named after the famous Greek myth and is used to describe a program that secretly hides and actually looks like a legitimate program but is a fake.  A certain action usually triggers the Trojan horse, and unlike viruses and worms they don’t replicate itself. Computer viruses, worms, and Trojan horses are all classifies as malicious-logic programs which are just programs that deliberately harms a computer.  Although these are the common three there are many more variations and it would be almost impossible to list them. You know when a computer is infected by a virus, worm, or Trojan horse if one or more of these acts happen:

• Screen shots of weird messages or pictures appear.
• You have less available memory then you expected
• Music or sounds plays randomly.
• Files get corrupted
• Programs are files don’t work properly
• Unknown files or programs randomly appear
• System properties fluctuate

Computer viruses, worms, and Trojan horses deliver their payload or instructions through four common ways. One, when an individual runs an infected program so if you download a lot of things you should always scan the files before executing, especially executable files. Second, is when an individual runs an infected program. Third, is when an individual bots a computer with an infected drive, so that’s why it’s important to not leave media files in your computer when you shut it down.  Fourth is when it connects an unprotected computer to a network. Today, a very common way that people get a computer virus, worm, or Trojan horse is when they open up an infected file through an email attachment.

There are literally thousands of computer malicious logic programs and new one comes out by the numbers so that’s why it’s important to keep up to date with new ones that come out each day. Many websites keep track of this. There is no known method for completely protecting a computer or computer network from computer viruses, worms, and Trojan horses, but people can take several precautions to significantly reduce their chances of being infected by one of those malicious programs.

Whenever you start a computer you should have no removable media in the drives. This goes for CD, DVD, and floppy disks. When the computer starts up it tries to execute a bot sector on the drives and even if it’s unsuccessful any given various on the bot sector can infect the computer’s hard disk. If you must start the computer for a particular reason, such as the hard disk fails and you are trying to reformat the drive make sure that the disk is not infected.

Read more

REAnti is yet another clone of WiniGuard. This one comes with the same GUI as previous ones like KeppCop,  SecureKeeper, SiteVillain and AntiAID.

It also shows the same behavior of dropping and detecting false infections.
Ad-Aware detects REAnti as Win32.FraudTool.REAnti or Win32.FraudTool.WiniGuard.

Reasons why URL shortener is used:

• to shorten URLs/links (especially if you’re an avid Tweeter),
• to hide URLs from plain view.

As convenient as it may be, the usage of URL shorteners imposes security risk as users do not know the origin of the link. For all we know, the link may lead you to a malware-infested site or inadvertently download spywares which can cause serious problems to your computer later on. This is where Long URL Please comes in. Basically, it reveals the actual URL hidden behind the shortened URLs. It works for me…

***

Some other browser add-ons that you may want to consider:

McAfee Site Advisor

Some website may be bad for your computer but there’s no way to tell at times. With McAfee Site Advisor, you can now be informed if the website contains malware that poses security risk to your computer. If the website’s bad, it’ll be flagged in red, and if it’s clean, it’ll be green otherwise it’s grey if unknown or have yet to be tested.

FlashBlock

As the name suggests, this plugin blocks all Flash application from running. Just recently I’ve read that Adobe Flash contains many security holes. So, even if you’re not annoyed by those Flash apps that consumes a lot of CPU power, you should be worried about the security issues that comes with it.

How to use a public computer wisely

If you are anything like me, you will have wondered on numerous occasions – how safe it is really to use computers in a public library, Internet café, or other public places?

Especially when connecting your external hard drive to these type mediums. Will I lose all my information and important documents? Will my private data become public domain, accessible and seen by all?

It is very important to keep your personal information and financial information safe at all times, especially when using a public computer.

So, experts recommend that you do not surf the net, or access any computer with a device which contains any personal and confidential material, as this will only put your data at risk of being stolen and compromised.

The most important thing you should do is ensure that your passwords are secured.
Some people like to use simple passwords, some people even use “password” as their password. You should try to make your password a combination of numbers and letters and at least eight characters long, don’t forget to remember it. If you make it easy to guess your password then it’s your fault if your account gets hacked.

Basically, one should always bear in mind that as informative and useful as the internet is, it is also a haven for predators, looking for ways to coerce and embezzle money from unsuspecting individuals!

Don’t be a statistic and fall victim to these ploys! Instead – be weary and wise, and do not trust that a public computer will be safe for your data.

Advisable is to rather to what you need to do on these public computers, but do not store any valuable data on that computer, or even your flash drive, as the possibilities of your data being placed at risk this way, is highly likely!

Yah!! It is the weekend and this weekend once again I will be spending more time with my computer. I have reached a very important decision in my life, which is that I have decided to go ahead and upgrade my computer. I want to change almost everything about my computer in order to improve it, but I need to have patience and take it one step at a time.

I think that sometime this weekend I will go and look for some things I can do to improve my computer. I want to go to some computer shops and get ideas and make myself a budget for my computer improvements. I am thinking of even going as far as buying a new computer case and a new keyboard. I can’t wait to see what my new improved finished computer version will look like. I do know that if I want to do this properly, I am going to need to wait a while. It is going to take time to build this up and get it to the level that I want it to be on.

I am very excited and know that I am going to have lots of fun updating my computer and making all these big improvements. You see I rather improve on what I’ve got as opposed to starting from new. There are some decent aspects about my computer that I love and could just simply improve on. I might even look at the security of my computer and see if I can make any improvements. I am happy with my antivirus and antispyware removal tool!

Anyway I am going to update and improve my computer slowly. Maybe if you are lucky enough I will keep you all posted on the changes which I make. I hope that you have a wonderful weekend.