Home Internet Security

Internet security is important for everyone regardless of business, personal use, etc. Looking at the home front, we as parents can’t always be at our kids shoulders watching every key being pressed while they are online. This is where K9 Web Protection comes in. I use this on our home network to monitor all internet usage. You can restrict time as well as what websites they visit. Up until recently, we were foster parents and having K9 Web Protection really helped us manage our internet access. Don’t ever assume that all is well. If you are not always there with your kids, then you can’t guarantee to yourself that all is as it should be. Don’t fall into the “Not My Johnny” trap or the “Not my Jenny” trap. So instead of being the fool that was fooled, take matters into your hand and put K9 on the scene and have piece of mind. You should also have Anti virus software installed on your PC as well as anti-spyware software. You can find this on Download.com.

Recomended Antivirus and multi-care utillity

After going from one anti-virus system to another, I have found a FREE one that I really like and so far don’t have a reason to change. Now I only use this system on the Desktop PC’s and not my laptop. That could change later. Alvira Antivirus is my system of choice. You can find this on Download.com. As far as the multi-care utility, I found a program called
Advanced System Care (Free Version). This too can be found on Download.com. I want to express the fact that you don’t need to purchase a registry cleaner since you can get this one for FREE. Yes, there are paid upgrades if you want them. But, they are not necessary.
I’m saving $30.00 a year by using a BETTER system instead of purchasing a license to use one. For anyone needing to find a utility for just about anything, I recommend visiting Download.com

Starting a Home Based Business

It doesn’t matter if you fall into this category or not, even those and especially those who start a home based business, should be just as careful if not more careful about security and Identity theft. I decided to write an article on this subject since I fall into this category. In addition to blogging, I am an Independent Herbalife Distributor and I work from home. So, I as well as you need to always be concerned about your Internet Security and Identity Theft. WE all need to be concerned about Phishing, Identity Theft, malicious attacks and the list goes on.

As a Home Based Business owner, I too have to be concerned with these issues as well as doing my own backups, keeping records and so fourth. I do have the luxury of having 2 PC’s on a network so if one goes down, I can still be in business, but, there would be some impact. My PC is the main one and am slowly kind of merging both in ways that I can have access to all my files.

If you decide that starting a home based business is for you, then you need to be very selective of the type of business you choose. They are not all created equal and some can be scams. While the purpose of this post is not to talk you into anything, if you would be interested in a home based business, you may call me at 877-234-2784 or email me at timabeck@verizon.net for more information.

Home Based Business are really not any different then those with an address other than where you live. Same business realities, it’s just you live there. Except of course, other employees.

Why is security so important for the Home PC User?

Home PC Users need to be concerned about security regardless of what their usage is. Whether it be for games, chatting, personal finance, or even starting a home based business. Home users can range from kids, teens, young and older adults and so fourth. Adults need to watch out for their kids and teens. Security has become so much more important since the addition of the Internet. Like Earth, the Internet is also a planet in which the same rules apply.

When kids play online with other kids, you have to assume that those they are playing with are themselves kids and not someone out there up to no good. Parents should set limits for their kids using the Internet. These limits can range from time spent, to purpose and with whom they are playing with. A good software to protect your PC and kids is K9 Web Protection. You can find this on http://www.download.com

Other harsh realities include Identity Theft, Malware, Viruses Hackers, the list goes on. Companies need to be concerned about the Home PC User as well. In fact, some have started to be concerned for the Home PC User and started offering Free versions of the Anti Virus, and Spyware products. This is an important and significant step. If Home Users can’t tackle security issues, then, this can have a bad impact on companies. Each connection to the Internet no matter what the origin is, is a potential victim.

Security Quiz – Are You a Security Wizard?

How well do you know computer and Internet security? Are you ready to test your knowledge and see how you rate according to the experts? A really good Security Quiz was developed by Agnitum.com. As quoted by Agnitum.com on their opening page for the quiz, “computers with Internet access are attacked by hackers on average every 39 seconds”. How ready are you?
Are you ready to take the quiz? Click here to take the quiz.

The quiz located at http://www.agnitum.com/vote/stquiz/start.php offers good questions covering today’s security issues. I took the quiz and my score was 23 out of 30 and the quiz results indicated that I am headed in the right direction. After having worked for a data center for just under 18 years, I thought I knew quite a bit about security issues. Well, just goes to show you that “no bodies perfect”.

This quiz will definitely show you where you stand on what you know on security issues. When someone finishes taking the quiz, a results page is displayed. My only concern about the quiz is that people who are new to using computers may be clueless on some issues when taking the quiz, however, at least they would see where they stand.

While www.Agnitum.com has provided this security quiz, they also provide two major high quality security software products. See their website for details.

When I look for reviews to do, I look for products or websites that are very close to the focus of what I am writing about in this blog. I felt that this Security Quiz was a perfect match to write about. I am going to provide a link to this security quiz for anyone’s convenience. See the blogroll. This is a sponsored review done by Tim Beck.

How to improve system performance

Back in February of this year, I wrote a short post on improving system performance, and I thought I would revisit this subject adding to what was discussed then. My motivator for doing this is that I have been plagued with performance issues for quite some time and I find myself still battling this today. My PC is 5 years old and is a Dell XP Home edition PC. I know that I need more RAM, but for the purpose of this article, I will skip that fact. I think, however, that I may have found a significant breakthrough. I recently discovered a software called Regcure. I downloaded and installed it and after registering the software, I was able to clear up a lot of problems that I didn’t even know I had. The first scan found over a 1000 problems. I have noticed a difference in how my system performs after using Regcure. My only dissatisfaction for using Regcure, is that in order to use and remove all the problems, you have to pay an annual fee for the license, otherwise, Regcure only removes some and not all of the problems found. I’m not a big fan of having to pay annual fees for software updates unless it really grabs my attention. I will have to see what the year brings as to whether or not I renew next May or not.

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More suggestions……

Turning off the Windows Indexing Service can free up memory to improve performance. You have to decide how often you use the Windows Search utility in order to gage if turning this feature off is good for you or not.

Another way to improve system performance is to have your email filter set to block out spam. If you open spammed emails, you could unzip a trojan which can cause your system to slow up. You should set your email filters as well as having spyware, adware & malware programs installed and running to catch anything that may get through.

See also:
5 Tips on Improving System Performance

What is a Trojan Horse?

PC Vulnerability and Security

PC Vulnerability and Security is an imperative issue for all PC users regardless of what the PC is being used for. With what seems to be an ever changing world with operating systems especially with Windows Vista on the market now, viruses, Spyware, & Malware are ever changing as well. The everyday PC user has no choice but to have different types of anti virus and spyware protection on their computer. Not doing so would be like having your bodies immune system weakened so that anything could attack it. I’ve heard of some people temporarily shutting down these types of software to improve speed. One must consider, speed vs one’s sanity. I have 4 different systems running on my computer, one of which is anti virus. I will confess, that of the 4, I do have one that doesn’t run all the time. But, the other 3 systems provide sufficient coverage.

The following software are ones that I use and recommend:

1. AVG Free Anti Virus
2. Spy Catcher
3. Spy Blaster
4. Adware SE Personal

In addition to the above, I also recommend Spy Bot Search and Destroy. You can find all of these programs on Download.com.

You need to make sure that you have your firewall active to make sure that you are not open to a hacker’s attack. Home user’s are just as vulnerable as business’s are. If you have personal information stored on your PC, that information could be accessed if a firewall wasn’t turned on.
You should also do frequent windows updates as an added precaution. This, I admit, am guilty of not doing as often as I should. But, I do this when I think of it or if I am prompted to do so.

Now, with regards to emails, if you get an email and you do not recognize who the sender is, then delete the email. It’s best not to open an email if you don’t know who it’s from for the purpose of not downloading an a virus in the process.

See also the following posts:

1. Firewalls and Anti viruses a must

2. Who wants a reoccurring virus?

Who else wants a reoccurring virus?

You just updated your Anti Virus software and then scanned your computer and found that you have a virus. Your software then removes the virus for you and your virus is gone, or so you thought. Two days later, you are working on a project and realize that you need to get some files from one of your backups for one reason or another. Then, while you are working, your anti-virus software reacts indicating to you that you have a virus. Your first reaction is “What?”.

You can have the best anti-virus software on the planet, but, if you don’t make a new fresh backup of your files right after the removal of a virus, you may just be setting yourself up for a nasty surprise. Viruses are like other programs, in that, they can be backed up too. I experienced this quite some time ago, and had to remove a portion of my backup files. Luckily for me, I didn’t loose much.

Chances of this sort of thing happening are slim if you have your anti-virus active and it runs and updates on a daily basis. One suggestion would be to leave your computer up during the night and have your anti-virus set for an early morning update and scan so that it is finished by the time you need your PC.

Your first line of defense is YOU! Backing up your PC should be of high priority especially after you removed a virus. Not only that, while your parents may have brought you up to share things, viruses and spyware are things that other people would not appreciate very much via email.

See other posts:

1. Additional Information on backups

2. 5 Tips to Improve System Performance

3. Firewalls and Anti viruses a must

4. Spyware

5 tips to improve system performance

The following are some tips you can do to help improve your system’s performance:

1. Consolidate your desktop icons to a folder. Some icons can’t be moved off the desktop.
2. Run an application to clean and fix your system’s registry. A good program to consider is RegscrubXP – for XP computers, there are other registry fix programs available.
3. Run spyware programs to clean and remove unwanted spyware.
4. Clear out the following: 1.) Old programs not in use 2.) any cache directories
5. Defragment your hard drive(s) using defrag located in system tools. It’s good to do this one at least every 3 months.

Hope these tips help anyone who is having performance issues. It’s good to do some of these on a regular basis. Also, for more information check out the following post: Routine Maintenance.

Spyware

I’ve read some articles on Spyware, and I found that some are saying that in some cases, Spyware is or has become more of a threat than Anti viruses. Here are some basic questions to consider about Spyware:

1. What is it?
2. What does it do?
3. Should I be concerned about it?
4. What can I do about it?

I will try to explain as best as I can for each of the above questions. Starting with the first question -
What is it?

Spyware is programs that are downloaded without your knowledge when you access websites or install downloaded programs.

What does it do?

They collect information from your computer and send back to the companies they came from. This information can be anything from how you use your computer, personal information, system information etc. What it does can vary depending upon where it came from. It can also slow your computer down depending upon how much Spyware has infected your computer.

Shoud I be concerned about it ?

I think everyone should be concerned about Spyware and ADware. both can have a negative effect on your computer. These types of programs are not created equal. You never know what problems they will cause. Especially as new ones are being created as time goes on.

What can I do about it?

These programs – Spyware and Adware can be removed for FREE by programs that you can download for FREE from the Internet. The following is a list of programs available:

a. Spybot Search and Destroy
b. Spycatcher
c. Spyblaster
d. Adware SE Personal

The above are just some of the programs you can get to remove the unwanted Spyware and Adware from your computer. You can get these programs from http://www.download.com.

You should always back up your computer just in case problems are caused by running these types of software. Please read all instructions and/or warnings before using these types of software. I have found that it is best to have more than one kind installed on your pc. What one doesn’t get, the other one may. You need to be careful when making use of these programs.

In my experience with Spyware and/or Adware, I’ve seen that it doesn’t do as much harm as anti viruses, it’s just that it has other effects as listed above. If you need an anti virus software you can find some on Download.com as well.