Just How Vulnerable Are You by Heather Colman The subject of Internet Security continues to be of interest to most netcitizens. There is always the concern that some "hacker" will get into your computer without your knowledge and utilize personal information about you to do only God knows what. In this world of technology we are vulnerable in ways we are not even aware of. Most of you probably visualize a hacker as some sort of "geek" that sits on his computer breaking into big main frames, government computer systems and such. We need to change our mental picture of what a hacker really is and how easy it is to get into anyone's computer. Everyday we engage in activities on the Net that make us vulnerable to breaking and entering without even knowing it. No.. I'm not talking about breaking into your home. I'm talking about our online habits and how much information is available about you online without your knowledge or permission. What kind of information is available and how do they get it? More than you know and a lot easier than you think. You are actually giving it to them and don't know it. Have you ever used a "freeware" program that is supported by advertising? You know the kind I'm talking about. They usually have a banner rotating at the top during use or some pop-up banner that comes up from time to time. These advertising spots are sold to the advertiser on the basis of usage. They must be able to disclose to the advertiser how many times the banner was viewed, clicked on etc. In order to do this your usage of the program must be monitored. What's the big deal Heather? Stick with me here... this gets better. What you don't know is a parasite is written into the program that gets placed into the background of your system when the program is installed. This parasite monitors your activities and reports this information back to the program owner. Even when you are NOT using the program the parasite has the ability to attach itself to your web browser and ride along with you the entire time you are on the web. Now they know what you do and everywhere you go online. Now this may not be a big deal to some of you, but for others it's a big invasion of privacy. But wait... before you uninstall that program that's carrying the banner ad, you might want to know that even when you UNInstall the program, the parasite stays in the background of your system. This type of invasion is not the only way private information is transmitted to others without your knowledge. I'll bet you have several doors open on your computer right now that make it easy for the experienced hacker to walk right in and grab what they need. Any information you have stored on your computer is at risk. The sad part is the more technical we get, the more vulnerable we become. The good news is there are ways to close all the open doors in your system. The Gibson Research Corp. (no we don't have any affiliation with them) has developed a site called "Shields Up" which is a terrific website actually written in plain english. It explains in much detail about Internet Security, who is at risk and how to resolve it. The information is presented by Steve Gibson who is extremely knowledgable and considered an expert in his field of security. Steve walks you through the process step by step of closing all the open doors and ports on your computer. He makes sense out of all the confusion. Please don't misunderstand me. This is not a service he is selling. The information is listed on his site and available for anyone who wants to use it. It's 100% FREE. Once you have gone through the process of tightening up your security and all the loop holes have been locked down tight, (which by the way can be done within 30 minutes or less) he gives you a tiny utility program that you can use to re-check your system. That program is also FREE. I have it right on my desktop. Everytime I install or uninstall a program of any kind, I quickly do a check with this utility to make sure my settings are still the way they should be. This gives me the piece of mind to know not only is my personal data safe but also the important information my customers entrust me with is safe too. Click on this link have your system tested. It takes less than 5 minutes to check. http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R267_ShieldsArtVulnerable Steve goes into much detail (don't worry about the technical stuff, he makes it easy to read and understand) about security issues that you probably aren't even aware of. He also lists the software programs that are known to carry the parasites along with other information he has discovered in his research. If nothing else the "Shields Up" website will be a real eye opener for you. A link you can't afford not to click on! http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R267_ShieldsArtVulnerable
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