Computer & Internet Security - We're All Vulnerable!

[RhondaR]

The Hackers Nightmare: The Bible Of Computer & Internet Security.
Computer Secrets Unleashed!

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The Hacker's Nightmare

http://hackersnightmare.com/
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I felt a very strong need to pass this on to as many people as I can and I hope all of you will too. I can't afford their services or even to buy the book, but there's a whole lot of really helpful information free on his website.

I can afford to read it


It's not just an eye opener, most of us know that we're vulnerable on the Internet, but until I read this (and I'm still reading) I didn't fully understand just how vulnerable.


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The Hackers Nightmare: The Bible Of Computer & Internet Security

Below, I've list a link to some articles he has in pdf format. I'm going to read them. I hope all of you do too, and I also hope that when/if you do the focus is not on how vulnerable we are but that now we have some ideas of what we can do to help ourselves - and that's encouraging news.

Please, Start Here and sign up for the course. Hey, it's free!
http://www-computersecuritycourse.com/


Here are a few snippets I've taken from his home page:


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1. Thugs, crims and swindlers aren't just lurking in dark alleys any more. Now they're online, and they've become a LOT more sophisticated. They hire clever but unprincipled technologists to fashion their underhand schemes and weapons for them.

There is a small, inexpensive, readily available and quite legal device that can be secretly attached to any computer in under 10 seconds, without opening the case. It will record every keystroke that is entered at that computer from then on?

- Could a visitor set such a trap on your home PC?
- How safe is that public terminal you sometimes use?
- How at-risk is the PC at your reception desk or front counter

And that's just one way. There are many others which require no physical access to your computer at all!

Your address book, customer database, price-list, banking details, credit card numbers, passwords — everything is open to theft, abuse and prying eyes?

How confident are you that someone, somewhere doesn't already have access to your most sensitive documents? Anything the crims can steal from you they will sell to the highest bidder if they can't use it themselves.
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2. Another indicator of malicious intrusion is degraded performance.
There can be several reasons why a computer appears to be running much slower than it used to, or is prone to lockups and crashes. Very high on the list of reasons is that it has been compromised in some way.

We've seen PC owners almost speechless at how
their computers have become "like new again" after
a thorough housekeeping and clean-out of malware.
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3. In The Hacker's Nightmare™ a retired FBI Special Agent will tell you exactly what anyone who knows the tricks can do with your refuse.
-oOOo-

Media giant USA Today and tech marketing and design firm Avantgarde commissioned a series of vulnerability tests of Internet-connected computers. Here are some of the findings:

"Simply connecting to the Internet — and doing nothing else — exposes your PC to nonstop, automated break-in attempts by intruders looking to take control of your machine surreptitiously."
"...an unprotected PC can get hijacked within minutes of accessing the Internet. Once hijacked, it is likely to get grouped with other compromised PCs to dispense spam, conduct denial-of-service attacks or carry out identity-theft scams."


"Break-in attempts began immediately and continued at a constant and high level: an average of 341 per hour against the Windows XP machine with no firewall or recent security patches..."




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Here's a list of Articles in pdf form that you can download:

http://hackersnightmare.com/Articles/default.asp
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However, Need a plain text version for reproduction?

Contact the author here:
http://hackersnightmare.com/readercontactform.asp


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Articles in Pdf
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• Adware_&_Spyware_Protection.pdf
http://hackersnightmare.com/Articles/Adware_&_Spyware_Protection.pdf


• Affiliate_Message_1.pdf
http://hackersnightmare.com/Articles/Affiliate_Message_1.pdf


• Are Cookies Costing You Cash.pdf
http://hackersnightmare.com/Articles/Are%20Cookies%20Costing%20You%20Cash.pdf


• Browser_Wars.pdf
http://hackersnightmare.com/Articles/Browser_Wars.pdf


• CGI - An explanation.pdf
http://hackersnightmare.com/Articles/CGI%20-%20An%20explanation.pdf


• Disaster_Recovery-It's_all_in_the_Planning.pdf
http://hackersnightmare.com/Articles/Disaster_Recovery-It's_all_in_the_Planning.pdf


• Encryption_and_why_you_should_be_using_it.pdf
http://hackersnightmare.com/Articles/Encryption_and_why_you_should_be_using_it.pdf


• Firewalls-they_are_no_longer_optional.pdf
http://hackersnightmare.com/Articles/Firewalls-they_are_no_longer_optional.pdf


• HoneyPots.pdf
http://hackersnightmare.com/Articles/HoneyPots.pdf


• Phishy_Tales-How_to_spot_an_ eMail_scam.pdf
http://hackersnightmare.com/Articles/Phishy_Tales-How_to_spot_an_%20eMail_scam.pdf


• Recommended_Productivity_Tools_&_Utilities.pdf
http://hackersnightmare.com/Articles/Recommended_Productivity_Tools_&_Utilities.pdf


• Shoring_Up_Your_Browser.pdf
http://hackersnightmare.com/Articles/Shoring_Up_Your_Browser.pdf


• The CD Auto-run Feature.pdf
http://hackersnightmare.com/Articles/The%20CD%20Autorun%20Feature.pdf


• The Hijacking of Web 2.0.pdf
http://hackersnightmare.com/Articles/The%20Hijacking%20of%20Web%202.0.pdf


• The_Anti-Virus_Conundrum.pdf
http://hackersnightmare.com/Articles/The_Anti-Virus_Conundrum.pdf

[frodo82801]

Good info.

[RememberTheName]

The only way to have top-notch security is to not have a computer, or at leas not have it connected to the internet.

[Pacman]

The single biggest thing you can do to improve security is stop using Microsoft products.

If possible, get rid of Windows (alternatives include OS X and Linux). If you absolutely have to use Windows, then don't use Internet Explorer, Outlook, MSN/Windows Live, etc. Doing so quickly puts you outside the most at-risk group on the internet. The majority of web-based threats exploit the flaws in the Windows/Internet Explorer combo, for example.

There are plenty of free alternatives available for any Microsoft product. Many of them are also better.

[/soapbox]

[matheteou]

The single biggest thing you can do to improve security is stop using Microsoft products.

If possible, get rid of Windows (alternatives include OS X and Linux). If you absolutely have to use Windows, then don't use Internet Explorer, Outlook, MSN/Windows Live, etc. Doing so quickly puts you outside the most at-risk group on the internet. The majority of web-based threats exploit the flaws in the Windows/Internet Explorer combo, for example.

There are plenty of free alternatives available for any Microsoft product. Many of them are also better.

[/soapbox]Unfortunately, M$ made things "easier" for many web developers that only run with IE (while not adhering to ISO standards) like ActiveX junk. Here in Korea, web designers absolutely love ActiveX and lots of Flash. You can get around the Flash because of it's X-platform availability, but ActiveX stops you dead (and please correct me if any have found an alternative solution).

[Pacman]

That's really, really sloppy web design. Even Javascript should only be used for non-essential functions.