Chain Emails and Computer Viruses
Viruses, Trojans, exploits and other malicious software are only part of the computer security perils of online life. Chain e-mail and Pyramid posts on Usenet are a scam, and most often, they are a crime. Any scheme that involves real mail at any point can be illegal. If you forward one, you will be blasted with hundreds of angry messages in reply. But if you see one, remember that you can?t really be sure who sent it.
Macro Computer Viruses
Unlike previous viruses, macro viruses do not infect programs; they infect documents and templates. As part of your email security practice, don?t open unknown file attachments. Opening a document or template that contains a macro virus will infect your system and the virus will spread to other documents and templates you may have on your system. Some macro viruses are not harmful, but they can be annoying. However, there are some macro viruses that can be very destructive. Also, Word macro viruses can be spread across platforms; for example, the macro virus can infect files on the Windows platform, as well as files on the Macintosh platform.
Filtering Criteria
When looking for an internet filtering software you should look for a product that has flexible criteria that meet your needs. There is software out there that can block all or some of the following content and/or websites:
*Alternative Lifestyles
*Anarchy
*Chat
*Cults
*Gambling
*R Rated Sites
*Offensive Humor
*Newsgroups
*Obscenity
*Personals and Dating
*Pornography
*Web based proxies (used frequently by hackers)
*Web Site Clubs, Groups and Profiles
Automating your Virus Scanning
In addition to using internet security software to scan for viruses on a regular basis, install an ?on access? scanner (included in most good internet security software packages) and configure it to start automatically each time you boot your system. This will protect the information security of your system by checking for viruses each time your computer accesses an executable file.
Keeping the Outside World Out of Your Computer
One of the best things about a firewall from a computer security standpoint is that it stops anyone on the outside from logging onto a computer in your private network. While this is a big deal for businesses, most home networks will probably not be threatened in this manner. Still, putting personal firewall software in place provides some peace of mind.