[Nov 28, 2005] Jim Dinkey advises, before you put your new computer onto the net, read this article from Smart Computing. Then keep reading...
Firewall Alternatives - An alternative to ZoneAlarm is a free-for-home-use firewall that has also has content filtering, parental controls and other useful features. It has the highest user rating on C|Net for a free firewall: www.netveda.com/consumer/safetynet.htm
[Nov 13, 2006] Download a copy of the Microsoft Windows Defender.
Visit the Microsoft Security & Privacy Homepage. Review the information at http://www.microsoft.com/security/guidance/default.mspx and sign up for the in-person free training per http://www.microsoft.com/seminar/securitysummit/default.mspx, and then you'll have the information you need to adequately protect your specific PC environment.
Lock Down Your PCHackers. Spammers. Even rogue coworkers and employees. How can you keep the bad guys out and the good data in? Safeguard your system's perimeter with these 29 beyond-the-basics security steps. By Scott Spanbauer, April 2004 issue of PC World magazine, posted Monday, March 01, 2004
Oct 2003 - submitted by John Buck: Microsoft says “Protect Your PC”, there is some possibly useful information at www.microsoft.com/security/protect/default.asp. There's information on turning on the MS firewall, getting the MS Updates, and using an antivirus application.
July 03 excerpt from Steve Bass's Home Office Newsletter (sign up here to get your own copy) — Going to the Junk Yard?
My hard drive holds everything someone might need to steal my identity, including social security and credit card numbers, and scads of scandalous details I'd prefer others didn't see. That's why I find it astonishing that people haven't figured out that when they throw away—or worse, give away—a computer, all that information goes along with the drive.
If you're planning on tossing or selling your PC, don't even think of letting it go until you scrub the hard drive of all your personal data. Sure, I know, you're smart and you'll take care of business. But not everyone's as sharp as you. Tom Spring, one of our reporters, made a nasty discovery. Of the ten used hard drives he got his hands on at a town dump, nine had personal—and even sensitive—data still accessible. (What was Tom doing at the dump? I won't even ask.) Tom interviewed one scavenger who claimed he found a tax return on an abandoned drive. Want the gory details? Read "Hard Drives Exposed," You might feel a little concerned, as you should. Make sure you read Tom's recommendations for wiping a drive clean before you recycle that old computer.
Then read Lincoln Spector's Answer Line: Wipe Your Drive Clean of All Its Sensitive Data, where you'll find details about the Department of Defense's secure delete standards.
Here's how to get back data you thought was long gone—or how to delete it for good. By Sheryl Canter (October 1, 2003).
www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1265172,00.asp
My approach to dumping an old hard drive is a little different. At a recent user group meeting, a hard drive forensic investigator gave me some golden advice: "If you really want to make sure no one can get to the data on your drive, use the ball peen technique." It's easy: Remove the drive from your system, set it on something solid, say, a sidewalk, and slam it repeatedly with a hammer.
EWeek Vendor Research Library has security "white papers" from various vendors. Contents change with time. You can search within the articles for specific subjects.
[ Back to the Top ] [ Back to the Security Main Page ]