| Thursday, May 05, 2005 |
| Tech Check number 2: Preventing Spyware (and saving money!) |
A hearty welcome, Fox6 viewers, to this weeks Tech Check notes. Tonight we talked about preventing spyware from getting on your computer. Below you'll find links to the free programs we mentioned on air as well as some tips that will not only keep your computer secure but almost certainly save you money and headaches in the future.
First of all, if you don't know who we are, Sam and Chase have co-hosted Tech Talk on 101.1 FM and 1260AM for the last 3 years. Tech Talk airs every Saturday at 1:00pm and focuses on computer help, interesting gadgets, and software/hardware reviews. Please join us, and feel free to call in! (You can listen to back episodes of Tech Talk online (and completely free) by checking out our Podcast page - they are available in .mp3 form, and via Podcast, Click here to visit our Podcast page. If you need computer help or web design services, and you live in the Birmingham area, we can help you there too - we run a computer repair/web design/internet lounge called Elevation located in the heart of Birmingham's Five Points South district - a map and directions are available by clicking here. (If you live in the Huntsville or Anniston/Oxford area we can help you also!)
 Click here or on our picture to contact us.
Finally, on to the show notes:
Preventing an infection on your computer has become a chore requiring much more vigilance than most computer users would like. Did you know you can get a malware infection by simply being on the internet? Yes, that's right - you don't have to click on an attachment, or download a program, or share music files, or visit a bad website - your system can become compromised by simply logging onto the internet - we've seen it happen! Pretty scary, right? Well, here's three easy steps to prevent your system from being compromised from 99 percent of the malware floating around on the internet. The information below applies to P.C.s running Windows software only (roughly 93 percent of the personal computer market) If you're running Apple or Linux, you are safe for the most part - but don't gloat too much....pride goes before downfall :)
The steps: (They may be in different order than we mentioned on tv, as I'm in Orlando right now on vacation, and don't remember ;)
Step one: System updates: Microsoft Windows is an operating system with quite a bit of security holes in it out of the box - the good news is that they release security patches every week or so. (That's also the bad news, but oh well. ) To keep your computer safe, you need to make semi-regular visits to Windows Update. If you are running Windows XP and are a home user, you may as well turn on Automatic Updates when you visit - corporate users should check with their system administrator first. This will ensure that most of the known security holes in your version of windows are patched, and believe it or not, this step is almost as important (if not more so) than running a good anti-virus program.
Step two: There are two free applications available that are very good at preventing most types of spyware from getting onto your system. These programs are Spyware Blaster, and Microsoft's new anti-spyware tool. It is not necessary to install both programs - you should probably pick one, and both are good choices. Simply click below to download the programs, then install - being sure to download any updates and allow the programs to auto-update themselves. Please note that we didn't write these programs, and cannot provide support for them - you can post a message in our free online forums, or contact the respective software maker for help if you encounter a problem. (Most problems with these and other anti-spyware tools come from the spyware on your system trying to disable the products)
 Spyware Blaster Download here (Click here for Spywareblaster support)
 Microsoft AntiSpyware Download - (Click here for Support)
Step three: Smart online habits. The easiest way to avoid spyware and malware is to follow a few simple rules when you are online. For example, don't participate in file sharing or music downloading, and don't let your kids do so either. Kazaa, and other file sharing programs may not cost any money, but they are filled to the gills with spyware and adware. Another tip: don't click on pop up ads - most of the time they direct you to harmless sites, but some will install spyware on your system. Simply click the x in the uppermost right hand side to close them. You might also check up on any free software you install on - much of it is legit, but some of it "pays" for itself by installing nasty things on your system. Three good places to get free software online are our downloads of the week section (click here), Download.com, which recently decided to forego software that comes bundled with adware/spyware and Sourceforge, an excellent repository of Open Source programs. Finally - note that even pictures can be infected with malware code (!), and often times sites with pornographic or illegal content will feature such pictures. If you are a computer novice, it's best to stick with mainstream websites to avoid trouble. Note that we are mainly talking here about avoiding spyware/adware, something that many antivirus programs don't do a good job of preventing and removing. Avoiding viruses, trojan horses and worms is a topic for another day, but the above will certainly help.
A quick word on terms: malware is a broad term and refers to any malicious software, including: spyware, adware, viruses, worms, trojan horses, root kits, etc. Spyware is often used as a generic word much like malware (and we are guilty of doing so) but technically spyware is software that somehow gathers information about you or your computing habits, and sends it to another computer to be analyzed. Adware is software that serves up ads to your computer either through annoying pop-ups, or in more subtle ways. Most adware is annoying and to be avoided, but some legit products (like the Opera browser) are adware supported, and do so by the inclusion of small, non system compromising, text ads. More on Worms, Viruses and Trojan Horses in next weeks Tech Check notes. Next week's topic online music - and how to get free and legal music!
LET IT BE KNOWN!
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posted by Chase Thompson @ 2:27 PM   |
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