Desktop SelfDefense

1
Desktop Self-Defense

• Instructor
• Eileen OShea
• ipweb_at_infopeople.org
• An Infopeople Workshop
• Fall/Winter 2005

2
This Workshop Is Brought to You By the
Infopeople Project
Infopeople is a federally-funded grant project
supported by the California State Library. It
provides a wide variety of training to California
libraries. Infopeople workshops are offered
around the state and are open registration on a
first-come, first-served basis. For a complete
list of workshops, and for other information
about the project, go to the Infopeople website
at infopeople.org.
3
Introductions

• Name
• Library
• Position

4
Desktop Self-Defense Overview

• Spam, scams viruses what you can do to
  protect yourself
• Why webmail is useful - and what to look for in a
  webmail account
• Firewalls Internet Explorer security options
• How to protect your computer from spyware adware

5
Desktop Self-DefenseA Few Important Tips

• Make sure automatic updates are turned ON you
  install the updates
• Make sure you have file extension viewing turned
  ON
• Make sure you have antivirus software on your
  computer you update it AT LEAST once a month
  (weekly is better!)
• Be smart about your passwords!

6
first up

• Getting a Grip on Email!

7
What Is Spam?

• Spamming is the use of any electronic
  communications medium to send unsolicited
  messages in bulk. While its definition is usually
  limited to indiscriminate bulk mailing and not
  any targeted marketing, the term "spam" can refer
  to any commercially oriented, unsolicited bulk
  mailing perceived as being excessive and
  undesired.

8
How Much Spam?

• Spam accounted for 77 of all email traffic in
  2004
• Telephone-based survey of adults who use the
  Internet found that more than 75 receive spam
  daily
• The average spam messages per day is 18.5 and the
  average time spent per day deleting them is 2.8
  minutes
• More than two in five spam emails are medically
  related

9
What Is Phishing?

• Phishing (also known as carding and spoofing) is
  an attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive
  information, such as passwords and credit card
  details, by masquerading as a trustworthy person
  or business in an apparently official electronic
  communication, such as an email or an instant
  message. The term phishing arises from the use of
  increasingly sophisticated lures to "fish" for
  users' financial information and passwords.

10
Tips to Avoid Spam Phishing Scams

• Dont open strange attachments
• Never email personal or financial info
• Keep virus software up-to-date
• Never click on links in email that say click
  here or login here
• Dont buy into any email promising you large sums
  of money if you email them personal information
• Email that starts dear customer is NOT
  legitimate!

11
Using Bookmarks in Class

• Go to http//bookmarks.infopeople.org/desktopself
  defense_bk.html
• With the page showing in Internet Explorer, click
  the Favorites menu, choose Add to Favorites
• Notice the name in the Name box so that you can
  use the Favorites list to get back to the class
  bookmarks for the rest of the day.

12
Exercise 1How to Spot an Email Scam
13
What Is a Computer Virus?

• A virus is a self-replicating program that
  spreads by inserting copies of itself into other
  executable code or documents. A computer virus
  behaves in a way similar to a biological virus,
  which spreads by inserting itself into living
  cells. basic rule is that computer viruses cannot
  directly damage hardware, only software is
  damaged directly.

14
Viruses

• Enable file extension viewing in Windows
• so you know what youre getting!
• Dont open email attachments that seem unusual -
  what you dont open cant hurt you!
• Keep antivirus software current!
• Set up automatic updates for antivirus software
  and Windows when possible

15
Exercise 2

• Dealing with Viruses
• Other Annoyances

16
Why Use Webmail?

• Harder to get viruses
• All you need is an Internet connection a web
  browser
• Allows you to have multiple accounts for various
  activities - office, personal, Ebay, hobbies
• No hard drive crash woes!

17
What You Want in a Webmail Account

• Ability to send receive attachments
• Address book can be imported exported
• Calendar
• Virus spam protection
• Ability to create folders filters

18
Using Webmail - Minuses

• Often less space than email programs
• Yahoo! Mail gives you one gigabyte for free
• ISP determines email storage limit
• Limits on attachment sizes
• Slower than email programs like outlook
• Less user-friendly interfaces than outlook or
  other email programs
• Some sites dont accept email from webmail
  addresses like yahoo.com or hotmail.com

19
Why Use Yahoo! for Webmail?

• Address book can be exported imported
• One gigabyte of free space
• Offers virus/spam protection
• Calendar can be public/shared
• handy for libraries!

20
Spam Protection in Yahoo! Mail

• On by default
• Save or delete immediately?
• Mark Spam Not Spam
• default settings are good
• Image Blocking
• safest is to let SpamGuard block as needed

21
Email Tips

• CC vs BCC know the difference!
• Plain text vs. HTML
• Choose plain text!
• Use folders to organize email
• Use filters to put email into folders
• Use a spam filter!

22
Exercise 3Getting Familiar with Yahoo! Mail
23
Okay, enough about SPAM What about SPYWARE
and other web browser evils?
24
Web Browser Woes

• Spyware
• Anti-spyware software
• Adware
• Anti-adware software
• Intruders/hackers
• IE security options
• firewalls

25
Spyware

• What Is It?
• a broad category of malicious software intended
  to intercept or take partial control of a
  computer's operation without the user's informed
  consent. While the term taken literally suggests
  software that surreptitiously monitors the user,
  it has come to refer more broadly to software
  that subverts the computer's operation for the
  benefit of a third party.
• --Wikipedia

26
How Pervasive Is Spyware?

• 49 of Internet users see spyware as a serious
  threat to their online security
• 63 of Internet users have been plagued by
  spyware in the past year
• 81 of Internet users say they have stopped
  opening email attachments unless they are sure
  these documents are safe
• 18 of Internet users say they have started using
  a different web browser to avoid software
  intrusions.
• -- Pew Internet American Life Project

27
How to Combat It

• Anti-Spyware Software
• free/shareware - SpyBot
• commercial - Norton
• Alternative Browsers
• Firefox, Opera, Netscape
• Check your ActiveX settings
• Look for https// in the URL when ordering or
  entering personal info online!

28
What is ActiveX?

• A Microsoft technology used on the Internet to
  make interactive web pages that look and behave
  like computer programs, rather than static pages.
  ActiveX controls may be used with Microsoft's
  Internet Explorer browser to interact with web
  pages. ActiveX controls provide functions similar
  to Java Applets.

29
Pros and Cons of ActiveX Controls

• Good view sophisticated web content
• Bad lack of security
• Good interact with anything on the desktop
• Bad interact with anything on the desktop -
  making spyware able to exploit it

30
Anti-Spyware SoftwareSome Good Options

• Spybot
• freeware, no requirements
• Microsoft Anti-spyware
• freeware
• Must have a registered version of Windows to
  install

31
Adware - What Is It?

• Adware or advertising-supported software is
  any computer program or software package in which
  advertisements or other marketing material are
  included with or automatically loaded by the
  software and displayed or played back after
  installation or in which information about the
  computer or its users activities is uploaded
  automatically when the user has not requested
  it.
• --Wikipedia

32
Adware Is Not Spyware - Usually!

• Often the price you pay for freeware -- as with
  Eudora or Netscape
• Adware passes Info on to advertisers
• Doesnt put malicious software on your computer
• Has come to be associated with spyware

33
Stopping Adware

• Anti-adware software
• freeware Ad-Aware
• Commercial Norton, McAfee
• Turn on popup blocking
• can block good popups
• can be customized

34
Exercise 4Spotting the Symptoms of Spyware or
Adware
35
Increasing Security in Internet Explorer

• Deleting cookies cache settings
• Adjusting Security zone settings for greater
  privacy
• what it does doesnt do
• Turn on pop-up blocking
• how much is too much?

36
Pop-ups

• Not all are created equal!
• Good pop-ups
• part of a program (as with videoconferencing
• part of a sign-up or sign-in system
• Bad pop-ups
• ads
• spyware or malware

37
What to Do About Pop-ups

• Built-in browser pop-up blocking
• most new browsers offer this, including IE
• Pop-up blocking software
• many freeware, shareware options
• commercial Internet security packages also offer
  pop-up blocking
• Toolbars - free from Google, Yahoo
• you only need one

38
Firewalls

• Block attempts to hack your computer (zombie
  computers)
• Can block good content as well as bad
• You only need one firewall - if your local
  network is running one, you dont need another on
  your computer

39
Firewall-Related Problems

• May not be able to connect to sites like the
  Infopeople webcasts
• Videoconferencing software often wont work
• File and printer sharing may not work

40
Is Windows Firewall Enough?

• It wont prevent viruses or spam from reaching
  your inbox
• It wont stop you from opening bad attachments
• It will let you know when bad stuff attempts to
  get out will block it
• It will provide you with a log of suspicious
  activity

41
Exercise 5Dealing with Pop-ups Browser
Security
42
Review of the Days Big Points

• Turn on file extension viewing
• Turn on Windows Automatic Updates
• Dont open strange attachments
• Use spam filters
• Use anti-virus software
• Install and use anti-spyware software

43
Exercise 6On the Reference Desk