What's the best way to make the internet safe? Browsers, web sites, and spam.
One of the leading causes of PCs needing major maintenance is unsolicited software from the internet.
Many of these programs install without your consent, or through trickery and deceipt.
The good news is there are several ways you can protect yourself, starting with your browser.
Several browser exist that are good alternates to Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Many of them are much better protected against the malicious software that can wreck your PC, but the best
by far is Mozilla's Firefox.
There are some other incidental benefits as well as cautions:
- Mozilla includes an assortment of add-ons, extensions that allow you to download videos, organize your favorite
web sites, and a variety of other usefull, free, utilities.
- Not all web sites will work with Mozilla, so it's good to use Internet Explorer as a fall-back in cases where
the designer has not written a compatible site.
- Problems with Mozilla are easier to repair. Internet Explorer can never be fully uninstalled or reinstalled, whereas
Mozilla is a seperate component from windows, allowing you to do maintenance more easily and completely.
How to wipe out your PC in 30 minutes or less
It used to be that pornography, internet piracy, and other related activities were the sole source of the worst elements
of internet programming. The types of advertisements that would install without your permission, were so poorly written
that they often had unintentional side-effects worse that viruses, and were even harder to remove.
Those days are gone,
now many industries are engaged in a type of advertising warfare where there is a winner and a loser. Unfortunately
our PCs end up being on the losing side. The good news is we can protect ourselves by being savvy shoppers, web
browsers, and e-mail readers. Keep these steps in mind:
- Never find a company through an advertisement. Even if it's just the service/company you were looking for find it
directly through a search engine, or through their web site name.
- Never open an e-mail attachment, or click on a link inside of an e-mail unless it is both from someone you
know, and with content you were expecting. Many of the latest viruses spread themselves to people the infected PC's
user knows, so don't assume that a strange e-mail from a legitimate source is safe.
- When in doubt close the window. If you're unable to close your browser then shut down your PC. Many programs
install through tricks that involve you clicking on what appears a safe choice.
SPAM
Many internet service providers such as Cox Cable, and Verizon DSL, are striving to curb the growing problem of spam.
While they are not responsible for the problem, their actions are prompted by the crushing effect that the latest
round of image intensive spam has had on slowing our shared resources. For ourselves we need to be aware of how to
avoid and control spam, what works, and what doesn't:
- Do not ever give your e-mail address to a vendor * (see below). Doing so makes you a target for advertising, and once on
an e-mail list getting off of it can vary between difficult and just impossible.
- Do not enter your e-mail address when purchasing products and services on-line * (see below).
- Don't use spam filtering software. Effective spam filtration always results in the loss of legitimate e-mail.
The only way to protect against this loss is to periodically read through your filtered e-mail, which results in no
saved time at all, and technical frustrations from dealing with another piece of software.
- Don't use first names for e-mail addresses. Combinations of first and last names for e-mail addresses are much
less likely to be guessed by spammers.
- If you're already receiving spam and need a way for it to stop there is only one effective solution. Open a new
e-mail account, alert everyone that you have changed to the new account, and follow the steps above very carefully.
* In these situations you frequently still need to provide an address. There are two potential solutions. Either
use a one time "disposable" e-mail address such as Mailinator, or set up an
alternate e-mail address. A wealth of free e-mail providers from
Hotmail, Yahoo,
to Google are available. Set one up, and anytime you order something use it,
thencheck the account for recent e-mails and forward legitimate e-mails to your primary account. This frees
you from filtering through all the spam that goes hand in hand with purchases.
Need help?
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Our technical staff is available to assist you with all your hardware and software needs.
Tips and suggestions provided to you by
Computer And Network Support, LLC
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