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As soon as the person or persons doing the spamming stop, I will allow comments again.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Passwords
Last time, we talked about your computer’s operating system and the applications you use. This article, we’re going to step back a bit and show you how you can increase your chances of keeping unauthorized users out of your computer or computers.
Remember the game show Password? A contestant, usually a “regular” person, and a celebrity pair up and one the pair reads one-word clues to the other and he or she tries to guess that secret word, or password. The password is usually something simple, right? Well guess what? Most computer users make their password simple, too. In smaller organizations where rules on passwords tend to be somewhat lax, passwords for individual users can be one of the easiest ways for an intruder to break into a computer or a network. Once in, the unwanted intruder can do a lot of damage, steal information or render your programs inoperable.
Confession – I was an unwanted intruder … long ago.
You see, back when I was a young lad, working on an after-hours office cleaning staff, I got curious and foolishly started messing with a computer that was in one of the offices. I didn’t know a thing about computers back then, but I managed to turn on the monitor and start banging away on some poor slobs filesystem. I have no idea if I screwed something up, but I’m sure the user figured out somebody was on that computer that maybe shouldn’t have been.
My point in telling that little story is to warn users that, while you’re away, your PC may be used by people you wouldn’t want within 20 feet of your PC, let alone half a world away.
So … what can you do to protect the PC in your home or office? From the perspective of passwords – make them hard to guess. Some good practices in password include, but are not limited to the following:
• Use at least one numeric character in your password
• DO NOT use names of pets, children, siblings, superheroes, etc. I cracked a password in two tries at a workstation where the user had a “Marvin the Martian” figurine sitting on top of his monitor. I’ll give you two guesses as to what his password was.
• Use capital letters interspersed in your password.
• Change your password at least every 30 days.
Depending on your computer network, you may need to have the password rules modified by your system administrator to be more strict.
For a more complete guide on good password practices, visit Fermilab’s Computing Division at http://security.fnal.gov/UserGuide/password.htm
Also, Microsoft has a clever little tool that will tell you if you have a password that is weak (easy to guess) or strong. Follow this link: http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/password/checker.mspx
Next time - Virus and spy-ware protection
Part 1 – General computer security
Part 2 – Passwords
Part 3 – Virus and spy-ware protection
Part 4 – Hardware
Part 5 – What’s your backup plan?
There are two kinds of computer users in this world. The first is the user that has never encountered a problem with his or her computer data. The second is the user that has encountered a problem, or more likely, many problems. The former will join the ranks of the latter at some point, but you can minimize your risk of this happening by following some basic guidelines to protect your computer and data, so you stand a better chance of staying out of the latter category.
We’ve all heard in the news about computer users having sensitive information stolen, lost or compromised. Every time I hear about another episode, I can only shake my head and wonder why. Granted, there is a very aggressive underworld out there that lives to steal, corrupt and profit off of users’ lack of proactive computer and data protection. These people don’t care who you are, how big or small your organization, nor do they care if your computers are rendered inoperable after they’ve gotten what they want. Fortunately, there are ways to combat them, and this five part series will give you some tips on how to do just that. So let’s get started with some basics – your computer and its software.
Operating systems and computer applications
Your operating system (OS), whether it be Microsoft Windows, UNIX, Linux or Mac, is your computer’s most vital organ. Without a healthy OS, your computer will not work. Most PC users discover that their OS is unhealthy after the fact.
There are several things you can do to keep your OS healthy:
1. Stay up to date on security patches – these are typically free from the company that makes the OS.
2. Stay current with OS updates – these include service packs, patch bundles and kernel updates.
3. Stay current with recommended updates from your computer manufacturer.
4. Stay current with the recommended updates from the makers of any software you run on your computer.
Next time: Passwords
Watch for our month-long series of posts regarding protecting your data.
We will cover all aspects of protecting your computer. We will also have posts from experts in the field of computer support and security.
In the meantime, here in the United States, we are seeing some serious storms building in the midwest.
You can protect your data today by using our remote backup service for free. You never know what these storms will bring. Why gamble with your data?
Let’s assume that the residents of this office building are backing up their data. If not, then they may not have a business left to try and revive.
I’ve had 3 calls in the past two months from people asking me how to recover data from a dead drive. I’ve had to tell these people that my company does not recover data that has not been backed up with our service. I usually then tell them that they can call a friend of mine that works for a computer forensics company and he will tell you there is only a 20% chance the data can be recovered.
20% chance of recovering the data … I don’t like those odds.
Companies like my friend’s usually charge $200 or more just to evaluate the drive. If he can recover data, he will charge any where from $400 - $4900 for a PC hard drive, $1500 - $12,000 for a server drive and that is only up to 15G.
Drives these days are cheap. You can get a good 500G drive for around $85.00, but the data that you store on it may cost you your entire business if it is lost.
Let me ask you … is $5.00 a month worth spending to avoid the trouble these 3 callers were in?
I think so …