PC Safety

One of the amazing things about the Internet is that you can shop in the comfort of your home—which is a great way to avoid crowded malls during the pre-Holiday rush. But it also means you’ll be asked to disclose personal information online. Entering your name, address or credit card number on a website or keeping them stored on your computer may put you at risk of being hacked. Dishonest persons may use your personal info for nefarious purposes, from adding your email address to a spamming list, to making purchases with your credit card information. Arm yourself with some basic knowledge to help protect your computer and your identity from hackers—not only during the Holidays, but year round!

Important tips

*It is recommended to install an antivirus program on your computer. Don’t forget to check for software updates regularly, and to run it manually once a week to make sure nothing slipped by it. *A firewall is an application that blocks harmful programs from accessing your computer. It’s important to make sure you have one installed on either your computer or your router. *When setting up a wireless internet network at home, it is crucial that you encrypt the wireless signal (which means you will need a password to get online). If you don’t, anyone with a wireless card on their computer within range of your router will be able to connect to your network, and potentially access the files on your computer! If you’re not sure how to encrypt your wireless signal, contact your router company or get online tech support from their website for help. *If you do your banking online, make sure you’re always on your actual financial institution’s website when logging into your account, and not on an impostor site that may look remarkably similar—pay close attention to the URL (in the address bar of your browser), making sure it’s the right one, and to the logo. Fake sites are usually set up to retrieve your banking information, to be used by someone else later on. Also, NEVER respond to emails from your bank requesting that you click on a link from the email to access your account, or email them any personal information.

What are the dangers? Virus: a small program attached to an email or program file that you downloaded. When opened, it can infect and cause a little, or a lot, of damage to your computer. Worm: a program that roams a network and chooses a computer, then using it to send copies of itself to other computers. Trojan: a program (downloaded by you) that installs software on your computer and allows remote access to it by someone else.   Spyware: a kind of program (it can be a virus, a worm, a Trojan) that is installed on your computer without you knowing it, and monitors its behaviour. In many cases, spyware retrieves information from your computer and sends it back to a company.

*Do use different passwords for all your accounts online (emails, bank, etc.). This way, if one of your passwords is ever hacked, only that one account will be accessible, keeping the rest of your information out of reach.

*When making purchases online, make sure that the site’s address starts with “https”, instead of “http”. This means that it is a secure website. Some browsers also show a locked padlock symbol at the bottom of the window to indicate a secure site.

*Some browsers offer to store your login details for different websites for you, to avoid you having to enter them each time you visit the same site. It’s important NOT to use this function, for fear of your computer being hacked and the details being retrieved by an outside party. This is especially crucial for important accounts such as online banking.