Who's watching you?
How many business owners use DSL, cable or other fast modem
hookup to get on the internet? I use a 56k modem myself, but
because I test most of my programming online, I am on 10 to 16
hours a day.
Hackers like to get into sites that are online all the time. If
you have a super fast modem like DSL or the like, and you leave
your computer on, your online. Hackers like to get into your
computer, get your financial information, plant programs to hack
into other sites without a trace, or just wreck havoc on your
computer.
Here is another scenario, Do you use programs like Netscape,
Go!zilla, or Real Player? Did you know that they contain
programming to send information from your computer to their
server? These are not the only programs with spyware built in.
So I've been told, they can send every program you've downloaded
and what address you got it from.
Believe what you wish, but I believe that anything can happen.
What can we do to prevent any of the above or worse from
happening? I've been studying this.
Let's look at some sites that rummage through your computer and
show you what they see. What we are going to learn is how
vulnerable we are.
http://www.secure-me.net/secureme_go http://grc.com
http://www.sdesign.com/securitytest/index.html
http://www.hackerwhacker.com/
After these sites have ransacked your computer, let's see what
we can do to prevent it from happening again. A good fire wall
will be a good start. The fire wall I prefer is ZoneAlarm from
ZoneLabs. These fire walls are free to the public, although if
used for business, they ask for a small payment. The average
prices I've seen are around $20, but compare for yourself.
http://www.zonelabs.com/
http://www.electrocities.com/nukenabber.htm
http://www.sygate.com/
I've found a program that will shut web pages down that use
cookies and tracking programs. It will log and keep track of
sites that want to keep track of you. Said better, you can see
who's been watching you. The program is called IDcide. I really
like the play on words. Find this program at:
http://www.idcide.com
Do you want to know what software is telling on you? This web
site will help you learn this.
http://www.spychecker.com/
Find the programs you like, some of these sites may give you
other ideas to choose from. Install what you like, then go back
to the first list, the sites that ripped through your computer.
Try them again. What happened? What I hope I did was open some
minds to the possibilities that can and are happening on the
internet.
It is my belief that businesses want to keep their trade
secrets... secret.