Computer Security is becoming increasingly important in today's computing environment. If you want to secure your data you must be aware of the various ways that people will try to steal your information, and perhaps sell it to your competition or use it to commit further crimes.
The most common security concerns are:
- Password Protection
- Firewall Protection
- Operating System Security Holes
- Virus Prevention and Detection
- Data Backup
- Email Security
The first thing to consider when locking down your network is something
as simple as password protection. If you do not have to log into the network
then neither does an intruder. Passwords should not be less than 8 characters long
and should be alpha (upper and lower case), numeric, and character based. i.e aBc123!?
Without this type of complexity you are making it way to easy on the hacker who wants in!
Using you pets name or your maiden name is not secure at all! Using readily available
password cracking software they can use dictionary lists to guess your password in a matter
of minutes or hours.
We strongly recommend the use of some type of firewall product, such as a network appliance or a personal firewall software package. Intruders are constantly scanning systems for known vulnerabilities. Network firewalls can provide some degree of protection against these attacks. However, no firewall can detect or stop all attacks, so it’s not sufficient to install a firewall and then ignore all other security measures.
Operating System Security HolesVendors will usually release patches for their software when a vulnerability has been discovered. Most product documentation offers a method to get updates and patches. You should be able to obtain updates from the vendor's web site. Read the manuals or browse the vendor's web site for more information. Some applications will automatically check for available updates, look on your vendor's web site for information about automatic notification. If no updates or other automated notification. The location for Microsoft updates is http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
Virus Prevention and DetectionKelowna Computers recommends the use of anti-virus software on all Internet-connected computers. Be sure to keep your anti-virus software up-to-date. Most anti-virus packages support automatic updates of virus definitions. We recommend the use of these automatic updates when available.
Data Back-upKeep a copy of important files on removable media such as ZIP disks or recordable CD-ROM disks (CD-R or CD-RW disks) or use an Internet backup system. Use software backup tools if available, and store the backup disks somewhere away from the computer.
Email SecurityBefore opening any email attachments, be sure you know the source of the attachment. It is not enough that the mail originated from an address you recognize. If you must open an attachment before you can verify the source, we recommend you make sure your virus definitions are up-to-date and scan the file using your antivirus software.
Because many email programs use the same code as web browsers to display HTML, we recommend that ActiveX, Java, and JavaScript be disabled in all email programs.
