This month, our guest writer, Paul, explains a topic that makes many of us cringe in fear. In fact, after reading about all of the possible dangers, I’m almost afraid to use my computer anymore. But I wouldn’t stop driving because I might have an accident or have my car stolen. Instead, I take precautions to stay safe. Maybe next month Paul could help us with ways to do that online.

What the Heck’s A Virus, Anyway?

Have you been somewhat confused about the various computer security terms being used nowadays on blogs and on the media? Well, join the club! Unless you’re in the computer business or a computer security person, you probably have a lot of company…few people understand the terms. So, in this article I’d like to give you some definitions of basic computer security terms…hopefully in plain, non-techie language. Here goes:

Malware – short for malicious software, is software designed to infiltrate a computer system without the owner’s informed consent. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code. The term “computer virus” is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase to include all types of malware, including true viruses.

Virus – is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer, usually with some undesirable event. A virus can spread from one computer to another when its host is taken to another computer; for instance because an infected computer sent it as an email over the Internet, or the owner carried it on a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB drive.

Spyware – is a type of malware that is installed on computers and collects little bits of information at a time about users, without their knowledge. The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user, and can be difficult to detect. Typically, spyware is secretly installed on the user’s personal computer. Spyware programs can collect various types of personal information, such as Internet surfing habits and sites that have been visited, but can also interfere with user control of the computer in other ways, such as installing additional software and sending you to malicious websites. Spyware is known to change computer settings, resulting in slow connection speeds, different home pages, and/or loss of Internet or functionality of other programs.

Phishing - is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Communications purporting to be from popular social web sites, auction sites, online payment processors or IT administrators are commonly used to lure the unsuspecting public. Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail or instant messaging, and it often directs users to enter details at a fake website whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one.

A Trojan horse, or Trojan – is malware that appears to perform a desirable function for the user prior to run or install but instead facilitates unauthorized access of the user’s computer system. “It is a harmful piece of software that looks legitimate. Users are typically tricked into loading and running it on their systems”, as Cisco describes. The term is derived from the Trojan Horse story in Greek mythology. Trojan horses may allow a hacker remote access to a target computer system. Once a Trojan horse has been installed on a target (your) computer system, a hacker may have access to the computer remotely and perform various operations.

I hope these terms help you in understanding the security issues that are part of using the Internet at this time. Try them out on your family and friends…they’ll be impressed with your knowledge. If you’d like more of this type of information in my future articles; let Carol know through your comments.  – © Paul Lubic, Jr.

Paul E. Lubic, Jr. is our monthly guest writer and is a seasoned IT professional who has held positions such as Computer Programmer, IT Security Manager and Chief Information Officer.   Paul’s HomeComputing Blog discusses the various aspects of home computing.

Technorati Tags: virus definitions, kinds of computer viruses, safe computing

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Facebook is one of our family’s favorite sites, allowing us to stay connected no matter how far away we live. My children upload photos of the grandkids and update us on their lives. One quick post and our entire large family all know what’s going on. It’s a great way to keep in touch and keeps us feeling closely knit.

The one thing we don’t like about Facebook is the fact that people who aren’t members of our family might also see those pictures and read those anecdotes.  And it’s been fairly confusing to adjust the privacy settings properly. Well, I managed to find a video that takes you step by step through the process. If you prefer to read, there are detailed directions found by clicking this link for the Social Media Examiner website.

Technorati Tags: Facebook privacy settings, Facebook safety

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With the help of my Flip camera, I’ve recorded a video showing how to do a basic mindmap. Once you have the video done, it’s a simple matter to upload it to youtube for the world to see. So if you’ve got something you want to teach or share, go ahead and try it and let us know how you did!

Oh, and don’t worry about getting it perfect first. As you can see with mine, there’s a shine because I had the lighting wrong. But I’ve learned that perfect=never done. Unless I want to pay big bucks for a professional video -- which I don’t.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gLC4Bzngi4

Technorati Tags: how to video, create a mindmap, youtube

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I have had some of my domains registered with Godaddy for years. The rest are registered with Netfirms. Until lately, I somehow overlooked the fact that Netfirms rate includes their privacy function and Godaddy doesn’t. So being the paranoid individual I am, I immediately signed up for Godaddy’s privacy option. Lo and behold it wasn’t free. And not only that, but the price for the number of domain registerations I have was a fair bit of extra money per year. (Sorry, I’m a recovering domainaholic)

I decided that when the domain names were set to expire, rather than renew, I would transfer them to Netfirms. Sounds simple, right? Not!

Godaddy sent me an email advising that I needed to accept the transfer before it would go through. If I didn’t do this within a certain amount of time, the transfer wouldn’t happen. Here’s where it started to get difficult. The email didn’t say how to accept the transfer, only how to cancel it.

With the clock ticking, I madly searched all over my Godaddy account to see how I was supposed to allow the transfer to continue. When I couldn’t find anything, I decided to beat them at their own game and pretend I was cancelling it. I followed the detailed instructions and……

I found what I was looking for. Beside the words ‘cancel this transfer’ was the phrase ‘accept the transfer’. One click and my problem was over. Now I just need to remember how I did it when the rest of the domains come up for renewal.

Sorry Godaddy, your prices are great, but I need my privacy too!

Technorati Tags: Godaddy, Netfirms, domain registration, domain transfer

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I’ve just come across an email system that sounds terrific for those older members of the family that want to keep in touch by email, but are intimidated by all the options available. I remember when I was hesitant to hit the wrong button in case I lost all of my writing, or even worse, my pictures.

Anyway, this program is called pawpaw mail, named after the first elderly gentlemen who used it. I haven’t had a reason to use it yet myself, but the interface seems very easy to use and the price sounds more than reasonable, especially if it allows everyone in the family to keep in touch, no matter what their age or technical ability. I’m thinking about getting it for my grandson once he starts school so that he can practice his reading and writing.

Please let me know if you try the program and what you think of it.

Technorati Tags: email, keeping in touch with older people, paw paw mail

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