Identity Theft Adware & Spyware Articles
| |
| |
|
|
Phishing & Internet Security Information Identity Theft Adware & Spyware Articles |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Tired of adware & spyware - Anti Spyware - Norton Anti Virus - Micro anti virus solutions - Spyware remover software - Anti virus solution | |
|
You are free to use content from this page in your blog or website, in return for a link back to this page from that blog or website.
Passwords or Pass Phrase? Protecting your Intellectual Property
Much has been said on the theory of password protection for files, computer login, and other network access. In the past we used a combination of letters, special characters, and other techniques to try and prevent unwanted or unauthorized access to our computers, resources, and networks. A new theory on passwords is emerging that may help us remember our access codes, be more secure, and generally keep hackers and thieves out of our networks. A password is a combination of words, letters, and special characters that only the user knows, allowing access to a computer or other information resources. As humans we have a large number of codes and numbers we need to remember every day ' such as the key lock on our apartment entries, national identification numbers, automobile license or tag numbers, telephone numbers ' it is a large and confusing suite of items we need to memorize. When selecting a new password or pass code for access to a computer system, most of us understand how difficult it is to remember complex codes, and thus we select something already know n to us, such as names, birthdays, national identifiers, or other known items, and then place a number or character in front of the name or number thinking it is secure. This is easy to understand, as most of us simply do not have an ability to instantly recall large numbers of complex codes. In a worst case we simply write down the complex code on a piece of paper, and leave it in a desk, our pocketbook, or in many cases taped to the front of our computer monitor. However, to a hacker this makes access to your network or computer much easier, at they generally only have to learn a couple things about you, and add a few numbers to the front or ending of your personal data ' you would be surprised how often this grants access to computers and networks. Ad some good "cracking utilities" to the hacker's suite of tools, and you can understand the threat. PassPhrases are a concept that will help us create more secure, easy to remember safeguards for our computer and network resource protection. A passphrase is a selection of words and/or numbers that are 15 characters or more in length, and are easy for us to remember. A couple examples of a good pass phrases are: ? igotodalaieejdaily ? shehasbeautifulhair ? surfinginhawaiiisgreat According to Mark Minasi, a noted security consultant, a 15 character pass phrase will require a cracking program the following number of computations to try and break a 15 character pass phrase: ? 15 lowercase letters = 1,677,259,342,285,725,925,376 possibilities ? Try a million a second, it'll take 531,855 centuries/years to break the code As you can see, this is a pretty good level of security for your resource. Another concern with passwords is if you forget or lose the password, and are using a utility like Microsoft's Encrypting File System (EFS), you run the risk of losing all access to your important files if you require a hardware reset of your password. All EFS encrypted files are linked to your login profile, meaning if you encrypt a directory or file with EFS, and you do a hardware reset on your computer, those files and directories are lost FOREVER. For Microsoft Windows users you can now also use spaces within your pass phrase, however we would not recommend embedding spaces in your pass phrase, as that actually does allow a cracker better access to getting your code ' it may help them crack it in 100,000 years rather than 250,000! (About the Author ' John Savageau is a managing director at CRG-West, responsible for managing operations and architecture for several of the largest telecommunications interconnect facilities in the US, including One Wilshire in Los Angeles)
Cat 58058 |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Five Excellent Indie Encryption And Security Solutions You Have Not Heard About 1. Geek Superhero http://www.deprice.com/geeksuperhero.htm Internet Privacy Over the past few years as the internet has become more and more popular, privacy has become a major issue. Just as if you are walking down the street and can be watched, every click of your mouse every website you browse, or file you download, is traceable. In recent years this has become a major issue. 5 Tips For An Unbreakable Password Despite the current wave of identity theft and corporate security breaches it's amazing how very few people treat their passwords with any level of seriousness. Most computers users, both at home and in the office, see passwords as a nuisance and therefore make them as easy to remember as possible. This can be a catastrophic mistake. Email Hoaxes, Urban Legends, Scams, Spams, And Other CyberJunk The trash folder in my main inbox hit 4000 today. Since I never throw anything out, I know that what's in there is courtesy of my email filter which is set to automatically delete anything that is forwarded from my work account from a certain person. That "person" is our spam filter that insists on sending me, the administrator, a notification when it blocks an email. It's also set to delete some other mail automatically, those would be that come from addresses that have sent me spam. So I have 4000 of these in my trash. Yippee. Spyware Attacks! Windows Safe Mode is No Longer Safe Many of us have run into an annoying and time-consuming error. With your machine running goofey you decide to run a scan for trojans and spyware. Following the scan, which usually takes fourty minutes or longer if you scan the entire system, you are hit with the "access denied" error. Frustrating, for sure, but being the savvy computer user that you are you decide to boot to safe mode to take care of the issue. No spyware can load when booted to safe mode, right? How Did This Happen to Me? Top 10 Ways to Get Spyware or Viruses on Your Computer If you use the internet, you have probably been infected with a virus, trojan or spyware. According to the SANS Internet Storm Center, the average unprotected PC is infected within 20 minutes of normal internet usage. Many people want to know what they did to get infected. Unfortunately, usually it was just one wrong click. Delete Cookies: New-Age Diet or Common Sense Internet Security' No, this article isn't about some new, lose-20-pounds-in-a-week, certified-by-some-tan-Southern-California-doctor diet. It's about cookies on your computer - what they are, why they are there, and what to do about them. Computer cookies actually have quite a bit in common with their baked counterparts - some are good, some are bad, and they have expiration dates. The Importance of Protecting Your PC from Viruses and Spam Today the internet is a mine field of malicious code looking to harm your computer. Hackers want to have access to your PC for both fun and profit. You must be diligent in your ability to detect and then protect your important computer data. Lottery Scam, What It is and how to Avoid It' Internet scams and frauds are on the rise! The quantity of scam emails with various fraud schemes any email account receives today is simply overwhelming! There is this infamous Nigerian 419 scam, which is by far the most widely circulated one. I wrote about it in one of our ezine articles not long ago. You can read about it here! And there are many other scams like Lottery, Letter of Credit, money transfer, black money conversion, real estate, fraudulent order and the list goes on and on. Be Aware of Phishing Scams! If you use emails actively in your communication, you must have received various messages claiming to be from Ebay, Paypal and a number of banks. A recent email as if from U.S. Bank Corporation that I received contains the subject "U.S. Bank Fraud Verification Process" and in the body of the mail it says "We recently reviewed your account, and suspect that your U.S. Bank Internet Banking account may have been accessed by an unauthorized third party. Protecting the security of your account and of the U.S. Bank network is our primary concern. Therefore, as a preventative measure, we have temporarily limited access to sensitive account features. To restore your account access, please take the following steps to ensure that your account has not been compromised:". It continues with a link to a webpage, which looks very similar to original web page of the bank. 8 Surefire Ways to Spot an E-Mail Identity Theft Scam! The E-Mail Identity Theft Scam is running Rampant. These E-Mail Scam artists will go to great lengths to Get Your Bank Account information and Steal your Identity. Learn how to Protect To Yourself Now! Dont Allow Hackers to Take Out Money from Your Bank Account If you know what is the 'Fishing' then it's very easy to understand the definition of 'Phishing'. Just replace letter 'F' from the word Fishing with 'Ph'. Yes I am not joking. I mean it! Phishing is higher level of spam. Phishing is nothing but fishing in the sea of Internet. The victimized Net users are the fishes hooked by the hackers. Mall Protection The Loss Prevention Manager should be receptive to the needs and objectives of upper management and work to prevent and reduce loss from crime, fire accidents etc. Anti-Spyware Protection: Behind How-To Tips There is no doubt that "how-to articles" have become a separate genre. One can find such an article about almost anything; there are even some entitled "How to Write a How-To Article". And, of course, the Web is swarming with the ones like "10 Steps to Protect Your PC from Spyware"(if not 10, any number will do; odd ones like 5,7,9 are most popular) or "How to Forget About Spyware For Good". Please don't accuse me of being sarcastic -- I am not; all these articles by all means are informative and so very useful. They all include really handy tips to protect you from this recently emerged plague called spyware. But? Phishing - A High Tech Identity Theft With A Low Tech Solution Have you ever got an email asking you to confirm your account information from a bank or a company that you have never done business with? The email looks official and it even has a link that appears to take you to the company's website. The email you have received is actually from an identity thief. These crooks are hoping people that have an account with the business will click on the link and submit their account information for verification purposes. These thieves are phishing for account information. Phishing is a sophisticated way to lure you to phony websites where you voluntarily surrender your passwords and account information to identity thieves without realizing it. Check Out That Privacy Policy Before you enter your name, address or any other data in that form, STOP! Wait. Don't enter anything yet. If you do, you may be giving away personal information to strangers, and you know what your mom said about talking to strangers. Internet Identity Theft - How You Can Shield Yourself With the advent of the World Wide Web, a whole new breed of criminals have surfaced, posing threats to more than just our material assets, but also to our very identities. Although there are a number of effective methods for protecting yourself from internet identity theft, not everyone takes the necessary steps to initiate such a plan. By tightening up your own personal security measures, you'll be far safer when you go online, and much less likely to become just another victim in the world of cyber-theft. Computer Viruses, Worms, and Hoaxes In recent days, I was one of the unfortunate persons to receive the "Mydoom" worm emails. Not just one, but at least forty appeared in my popserver mailbox. As frustrating as it was deleting all of these nasty little boogers, I realized that some of these "worm" emails even came from persons I knew - or so I thought I knew. Consumers: Shop Online and Get Information Safely Do you really have to know how feeds work? Not really. But you do need to understand how they can benefit you as a consumer or as an information seeker. What is Hacking? Are You a Hacker' WHAT IS HACKING?
|
 |
| Copyright © 2008 www.dovada.net.au |
