How to avoid the wily hacker.
 

General Computer Security

Here's my short list of important computer security topics. Please make sure that you follow these practices with your home and laptop computers; their security is ultimately part of the security of all of our computers. There's a lot to consider, but each step is actually pretty easy. Make them a habit, like locking your car doors, and pretty soon you won't even notice that you're doing the safe thing.

Before you can use your laptop on the Physics network, you must register it with the PCSC and show that it has been updated and virus protected. You also need me to tell the PCSC that you really are a JRM person.

The University requires these steps as well. Please visit the KSU Security and Microsoft Security sites for more information.

If you are ever in doubt about computer security, please contact me or someone in the PCSC and we will happily give you our advice.

Spyware and Adware

Spyware and adware are unwanted, parasitic programs that surreptiously install themselves on your computer in order to show you ads, steal personal information, or both. Their insidiously clever designers have made them fiendeshly difficult, if not impossible, to remove. If your computer suddenly starts barraging you with pop-up ads (even if your browser is closed!), you suddenly sprout unexpected icons on the desktop, or your machine slows down to a crawl, you probably have spyware.

The best defense against spyware is not to get infected. Most infections come from surfing where you shouldn't be, or installing pirate programs (see the "common sense" item above). Don't go surfing for porn, pirated programs ("crackz" or "warez"), or other shady stuff. Don't install P2P file sharing programs or pirated versions of commercial software; they're frequently sabotaged.

If you suspect that you've been exposed, or as part of your regular security routine, run a spyware detection program. Microsoft now offers Windows Defender for free. Lavasoft offers a free version of Ad-Aware. Both offer easy ways to scan your computer, and will try to remove any infections (the Microsoft product will even try to prevent infections). Removing spyware can be very hard, though, so if you suspect that the automatic process didn't work, come find me or someone in the PCSC for help.

Spam

Spam is the bane of modern existence. Nicknamed "spam" after the the Hormel spiced ham that inspired a famous Monty Python sketch, unsolicited commercial e-mail now constitutes about 85% of all the e-mail received by the department. Besides clogging up your inbox with unwanted, insulting and/or obscene material, spam sometimes comes with nasty surprises like virus or "phishing" fraud schemes.

To stem the tide, the department use a Barracuda Networks anti-spam appliance. This device does a wonderful job of filtering out spam, viruses and other nasty stuff before it ever reaches our e-mail server. I have a special description of how this works in the Computer User's FAQ.

If you have other e-mail accounts, especially web-based mail like Gmail or Yahoo Mail, your provider probably offers a similar service. The FAQ also discusses how to run your own personal spam filter.

For more advice on fighting unsolicited email, see:

Spam is so pervasive that it has even entered into our cultural and literary life. I'm fond of the following excerpt:

"You could get a phantascopic system planted directly on your retinas, just as Bud's sound system lived on his eardrums. You could even get telaesthetics patched into your spinal column at various key vertebrae. But this was said to have its drawbacks: some concerns about long-term nerve damage, plus it was rumored that hackers for big media companies had figured out a way to get through the defenses that were built into such systems, and run junk advertisements in your peripheral vision (or even divg in the middle) all the time - even when your eyes were closed. Bud knew a guy like that who'd somehow gotten infected with a meme that ran advertisements for roach motels, in Hindi, superimposed on the bottom right-hand corner of his visual field, twenty-four hours a day, until the guy whacked himself."

-Neil Stephenson
  The Diamond Age, or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer