Internet security

From Free net encyclopedia

This article provides tips on how to make sure you can stay relatively safe on the Internet and how to keep computer viruses, malware, and other unwanted software off your computer.

1 Basics
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

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Basics

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Routers

If you are using a computer at work, or with the advent of cable modems at home, you might want to place your home computers behind a router that uses NAT. NAT enables multiple computers to access to the Internet over a single high-speed link. NAT also typically has the effect of preventing connections from being established inbound into your computer, whilst permitting connections out. Getting a router in your home improves the security of a home LAN; some people consider that they don't need a firewall if they have a router.

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Firewalls

A firewall is a possible solution to someone with only one computer in their home, or someone with another need for it. What it can do for you is block traffic to all except authorized ports on your computer, thus restricting access. A stateful firewall is even more cautious about what it permits through, and the most cautious system administrators often combine a proxy firewall with a packet-filtering firewall to create defense in depth. Most home users would use a software firewall, while some high risk servers and computers might need a hardware firewall.

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Viruses, worms and trojan horses

Some Crackers (sometimes known incorrectly as hackers), and in some cases unreputable companies, write programs called computer viruses, worms, trojan horses and spyware. These programs are all characterised as being unwanted software that install themselves on your computer through deception. Trojan horses are simply programs that conceal their true purpose or include a hidden functionality that a user would not want. Worms are characterised by having the ability to replicate themselves and viruses are similar except that they achieve this by adding their code onto third party software. Once a virus or worm has infected a computer, it would typically infect other programs (in the case of viruses) and other computers. Viruses also slow down system performance and cause strange system behavior and in many cases do serious harm to computers, either as deliberate, malicious damage or as unintentional side effects. In order to prevent damage by viruses and worms, you need either to completely isolate your computer from dangers (impractical for many people or networks) or install anti-virus software, which typically runs in the background on your computer, detecting any suspicious software and preventing it from running. Generally anti-virus software may be also be used to scan all of the files on a computer occasionally for extra peace of mind. Because of the continuing increase in the number of viruses and worms being identified, all good anti-virus software includes a facility to regularly update the data that is used to identify viruses. As well as the commercial antivirus programs, which generally require an annual subscription, there are free antivirus programs available, but the best commercial programs appear to be a little more reliable at present. Several companies provide a comparison of the performance of different antivirus programs which should be useful in making a decision as to which to use. Some malware programs that can be classified as trojans with a limited payload are not detected by most antivirus software and may require the use of other software designed to detect other classes of malware, including spyware.

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Browser choice

Internet Explorer is currently the most widely used web browser in the world [1], making it the prime target for phishing and many other possible attacks. This has caused some users to switch to different browsers, such as Firefox, Opera, and Netscape.

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Spyware

Spyware is software that runs on a computer without the explicit permission of its user. It often gathers private information from a users computer and sends this data over the Internet back to the software manufacturer.

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Adware

Adware is software that runs on a computer without the owner's consent, much like spyware. However, instead of taking information, it typically runs in the background and displays random or targeted pop-up advertisements. In many cases, this slows the computer down and may also cause software conflicts.

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