computer security and why should I care about computer security?

1.     What is computer security?

Computer security is the process of preventing and detecting unauthorized use of your computer. Prevention measures help you to stop unauthorized users (also known as "intruders") from accessing any part of your computer system. Detection helps you to determine whether or not someone attempted to break into your system, if they were successful, and what they may have done.

2.     Why should I care about computer security?

We use computers for everything from banking and investing to shopping and communicating with others through email or chat programs.  Although you may not consider your communications "top secret," you probably do not want strangers reading your email, using your computer to attack other systems, sending forged email from your computer, or examining personal information stored on your computer (such as financial statements).

3.     Who would want to break into my computer at home?

Intruders (also referred to as hackers, attackers, or crackers) may not care about your identity. Often they want to gain control of your computer so they can use it to launch attacks on other computer systems.

Having control of your computer gives them the ability to hide their true location as they launch attacks, often against high-profile computer systems such as government or financial systems. Even if you have a computer connected to the Internet only to play the latest games or to send email to friends and family, your computer may be a target.

Intruders may be able to watch all your actions on the computer, or cause damage to your computer by reformatting your hard drive or changing your data.

4.     How easy is it to break into my computer?

Unfortunately, intruders are always discovering new vulnerabilities (informally called "holes") to exploit in computer software. The complexity of software makes it increasingly difficult to thoroughly test the security of computer systems.

When holes are discovered, computer vendors will usually develop patches to address the problem(s). However, it is up to you, the user, to obtain and install the patches, or correctly configure the software to operate more securely.

Also, some software applications have default settings that allow other users to access your computer unless you change the settings to be more secure. Examples include chat programs that let outsiders execute commands on your computer or web browsers that could allow someone to place harmful programs on your computer that run when you click on them.

Use Strong Password

• For each computer and service you use (e-mail, chatting, online purchasing, for example), you should have a password.
• You shouldn’t write them down nor should you share them with anyone, even your best friends.
• Computer intruders use trial-and-error, or brute-force techniques, to discover passwords.
• Use alphanumeric characters and special characters in your password.
• The length of password should be as long as possible (More than 8 characters).
• Do not write it to some place where it is visible to someone else.

Protect Your Website

1.     Stay informed and be in touch with security related news.

2.     Watch traffic to your site. Put host-based intrusion detection devices on your web servers and monitor activity looking for any irregularities.

3.     Put in firewall.

4.     Configure your firewall correctly.

5.     Develop your web content off line.

6.     Make sure that the web servers running your public web site are physically separate and individually protected from your internal corporate network.

7.     Protect your databases. If your web site serves up dynamic content from database, consider putting that database behind a second interface on your firewall, with tighter access rules than the interface to your web server.

8.     Back up your web site after every update.

Protect Your Personal Computer

1.     Use the latest version of a good anti-virus software package which allows updation from the Internet.

2.     Use the latest version of the operating system, web browsers and e-mail programs.

3.     Don’t open e-mail attachments unless you know the source. Attachments, especially executables (those having .exe extension) can be dangerous.

4.     Confirm the site you are doing business with. Secure yourself against "Web-Spoofing". Do not go to websites from email links.

5.     Create passwords containing atleast 8 digits. They should not be dictionary words. They should combine upper and lower case characters.

6.     Use different passwords for different websites.

7.     Send credit card information only to secure sites.

8.     Use a security program that gives you control over "Cookies" that send information back to websites. Letting all cookies in without monitoring them could be risky.

Tips For Children

1.     Do not give out identifying information such as name, home address, school name or telephone number in a chat room.

2.     Do not send your photograph to any one on the Net without initially checking with the parent or guardian.

3.     Do not respond to messages or bulletin board items that are obscene, belligerent or threatening.

4.     Never arrange a face to face meeting without informing your parent or guardian.

5.     Remember that people online may not be who they seem to be