Practice Safe Computing
- The principles of "Safe Computing" are: Keep your antivirus software up-to-date. New viruses are being deployed daily. If you have a Windows computer, use anti virus software to take advantage of automatic virus definition updates.
- Run a virus scan on all files that you download from the internet, from friends, from any source other than your own computer. Do a full system scan monthly.
- Do NOT open ANY email with an attachment that you are not expecting, or whose sender is unfamiliar to you. Even if you do not open the attachment, some of the newest viruses can infect your system if you simply open the email message!
- Do NOT open email attachments or click on hyperlinks in email messages from unknown correspondents.
- If you have a Windows computer, check for and install Microsoft operating system patches on a regular basis.
- Adware and spyware programs, also called malware or trackware, quietly and secretly monitor everything you do online, and can communicate your activities to a third party such as an online advertiser. It is commonly installed on your PC as a hidden addition to a legitimate program, by visiting websites, or through spam email. Unlike the instant impact of a virus, well-written spyware and adware programs never reveal their presence on your PC. Pop-up ad problems, a different homepage that you can't change, and a slower PC or online experience are indications of a spyware problem. No one is immune from spyware infection. A recent study by Earthlink and Webroot found an average of 26.5 spyware and adware traces per SpyAudit scan. Spyware is everywhere: It infects 9 out of 10 Internet-connected computers.
- Spyware can seriously disrupt your computer operations and compromise your privacy: Spyware makes your computer's performance and Internet access slow to a crawl. Serious infections can lead to a corrupt hard drive, and exposure of private information, usernames and passwords, or, at its worst, identity theft.
- Anti-virus and firewall fail to protect against spyware: Anti-virus software and firewalls are not capable of stopping spyware. Firewalls can't detect spyware that is embedded in legitimate programs, or protect a user from already existing internal threats. Anti-virus software is not programmed to recognize or remove spyware programs, which possess different signature files and behaviors.
- Install anti-spam, anti-adware, anti-malware software on your computer. New ways of tracking your computer activity are being developed every day. The ‘anti' programs must be installed and updated on a regular basis to keep up with the rapidly changing ways unscrupulous people and companies are compromising your computer.
DataCentric technicians are trained and ready to help you assess your current protection levels against each of these threats. We will to analyze your computer use and internet activity, determine whether or not all patches, updates, hot fixes are current, recommend additional protection software if needed, and install them for you.
To find out more, please contact us today.
DataCentric. IT 's what we do.
