Is Security on your PC REALLY that important?

So let me give you a real scenario.

You find a server has a Trojan virus, and has been sending out multiple email spam. Hardly dangerous, but it's infected and you need to get it cleaned.

You wonder how it got infected in the first place as it's a machine that's hardly sat on.. so you start investigating.

So you discover that it has "remote desktop" switched on. Enabling you to remotely connect to it to fix any issues that occur.  Nothing major there. But then you discover that a few users on the network are using simple passwords. Fred's password is "fred" hmm.

So you start probing the firewall, to discover that the remote desktop port is being probed from all sorts of incoming IP Addresses because somebody is trying to log into that server, using an easy log in.

So that's how it was done, but how could it be prevented? After all, you need the remote session available in case the server needs to be connected to.

So the answer was as follows:-

Leave the remote port available, but set up the firewall so that only certain IP addresses can access that port.  Program in the IP addresses that require access.

Increase the level of security on the server, ensuring that nobody uses "simple" passwords. Most servers have this feature available ensuring that users include numbers and Capital letters in their passwords.

Remove users that no longer exist.

Lower the level of all but a few users to "computer user only" which should stop installation of programs unless they have an administrator password.

Security on a PC is vital. After all, would you display your personal bank details in the front window of your house?

Clear Out The Cobwebs

So many things in life are about change, and moving on.. and it's no different with a computer.

How often have you gone through your hard drive and noticed a word document for a shopping list you created in 1998. Or a photo of a random item you were shopping for when your child was 5?

I noticed a while ago, that I had emails dating back to 2001! Simple, no longer useful emails containing a conversation with a friend about cinema and meal arrangements.. Hardly important now.

So, like clearing out the cupboards, sorting out the loft, it's always good to have a clean up on your computer.

Organisation is always the key, so set yourself a folder for things you might want to keep and things you definitely want to delete.  Don't immediately delete things if you're not sure, but once you've finished your task, double check your folder of "things to delete" before committing it to destruction. And don't just throw it in the recycle bin, delete it permanently and be done with it.

It's the same with emails - do you have thousands of emails in your "deleted items" folder?  If there are emails you need to save in there, then pull them out and put them in another folder to sort out later, then clear down your delete items once and for all.

Like the extra space you acquire from sorting out your loft, your computer will also benefit from clearing down old files.  Make sure you compress or defrag your drive after to make good use of all that re-acquired space.

We'll discuss clearing out the physical cobwebs from your computer tower in another article!

4G - Turning point of networking?

So what's the hype all about? Recently we heard that soon, battle will commence over the 4G networking in the UK. The major competitors will battle it out to bid for coverage and there are even talks of some companies joining forces to get the best coverage in the UK.

How does 4G affect you?

To the average home user, with a broadband connection and a PC or laptop, it might not seem so significant.  We hopefully already get a good connection speed and don't plan to lift our desktop computer, monitor, keyboard and mouse into the garden while the sun is shining.

Or maybe we're NOT getting a good connection speed. Do we live so far from the exchange that we're experiencing connection speeds of less than 5mbs ? Then 4G might be for you!

O2 recently tested 4G and allowed 1000 users in London to connect to the service and report back findings.  Maximum speed achieved was 150mbs. Yes, you read it, 150mps! On a mobile device!  At this rate, we'll all be ditching our broadband and plugging in a 4G USB device into our PC's.

Nothing is set in stone until complete UK tests are done, but it's looking promising.

In the meantime, why not check your speed and see how it compares to what you were promised from your Internet Service Provider?

http://www.speedtest.net

Good tools, or just a hinderance?

I've lost count how many times I've been given a computer to fix where the user is complaining of speed issues.  "It used to be fast, when we first got it, but now it just crawls along. Do you think I need a new one?" is often the comment.

Upon booting up the slow and laggy machine, I often find many a tool installed designed to "optimise" and many toolbars installed on the explorer window - often so many that the browser window is barely visable.

Are these things a false economy?

In a word. Yes. But they have their place.

First rule is to make sure you KNOW what you are installing. There is countless SAFE software that you can install that will also install a tool bar onto your browser.  IT SHOULD give you the option to NOT have this installed, but if it doesn't, then uninstall or disable to tool bar straight after. It's not really that necessary.

Everytime a tool bar is installed, in increases the running size of the browser window, and every tab you open after that multiplies the size, this will cause system drag on the memory.  Ask yourself how many times you've used that toolbar, and ask yourself if you really need it, or so many of them.

Optimise programs are quite ok, but don't let them run in the background.  Oddly, they'll SLOW your system down, because they have to run in the background to see if your systems running slow... called the "observer effect".

Run them once, get them to optimise your system, then uninstall them after.  Keep your system clear of programs you don't use. Know what you install.

Avoid Getting Burnt

There has been a real buzz on the inter-tubes recently about a virus going by the name of Flame. Actually, 'virus' doesn't really do it credit. This thing is massive - for malware - coming in at around 20MB and sends all sorts of information back to locations undisclosed. It seems to be aimed at Middle East countries and is realistically unlikely to bother you. Still, it does raise the issue of how these things spread.

We've covered the importance of running an up to date antivirus program before. In addition to that is one other line of defence...common sense.

Viruses and malware have one barrier to get on a modern operating system. They have to get your permission to install. Of course, if it said 'Hi, I'm a virus. Can I install please?' you would quite rightly say 'Kind offer, thank you, but no.' So instead they take the guise of valid, useful software.

If, out of nowhere, you get told that you have a virus by software other than the AV program that you installed, then that is probably malware itself. It's purpose? To convince you that you have a virus that only it can uninstall for the bargain price of £x. After purchase it tells you what a good job it's done, having done nothing. And you're £x out of pocket. And no-one has £x to give away nowadays.

Or your web browser informs you that you have to install a small program to view this web page. 'Just say yes and everything will be fine' it says. Alarm bells should be ringing. Loudly.

The only software you should give permission to install is software that you are 100% confident you want installed. Do your research. Should I install Flash? Java? A 30-second check through Google reveals that all is well. Power Antivirus? Sounds good, but a moment's research reveals that you would be in trouble if you let it in. The time you spend beforehand will pay off in spades compared to the time it would take to get an infection out.

Technically Challenged, Or Just Lazy ?

It never ceases to amaze me how certain people are quite happy to pass issues with technology over to other people to deal with, almost ready to shut technology out, without try to get to grips with it or at least have a go.

Now, while I understand this for particularly complicated tasks, there comes a point that we all have to try things for ourselves, we may surprise ourselves with the results, and we may even enjoy it!

By way of example, I am regularly surprised at the amount of people that won't change the toner in the colour printer we have at work. It's one of the simplest things to do, and is as easy as loading paper in the tray.  The cartridge is a tube, you twist it and pull the old one out, then slide the new one in and twist the tube to lock it in. Job done.

However, quite a few will not do it, and expect the I.T. Dept to handle it.  Often this requires us to stop doing something complicated (which most of the staff CANNOT do) just to slide a new cartridge in.

It makes me wonder why people really hand over the job. Is it because they really cannot understand how to do it, or is it because they are just lazy?

Sadly, these ones are likely sharing a similar view on other tasks through life, and will often pay for somebody to do a job that they could quite easily manage themselves.

Maybe I should charge for changing the cartridges. Now there's a thought.

Space, The Final Frontier (Or, I Feel The Need, The Need For Speed)

Bit, bytes and nibbles. Not a restaurant review. They are all technical terms used to describe size, and it's worth understanding as they turn up in pretty much all aspects of computing.

A bit is the building block. It is the 0s and 1s that computers work with.

A nibble is 4 bits, but you'll barely ever hear it used outside random blog posts on the web.

A byte is 8 bits. It's how much space is needed for one character. So the letter A takes up one byte of space.

A kilobyte is not 1000 bytes but is actually 1024.

A megabtye is 1024 kilobytes.

A terabyte is 1024 megabytes.

So, pop quiz, your 1TB drive can contain how much data? 1024 x 1024 x 1024. 1,073,741,824 bytes or characters worth. Otherwise known by most people as 'large'. If it helps give you a sense of scale, the Encyclopaedia Britannica comes in at about 224,400,000 characters. So nearly 5 of them.

This whole area also impacts internet connection speeds. Let's say your provider quotes you 8Mb/s. That's 8 megaBITS, not bytes, a second. Going by our equations above, that's actually 1 megaBYTE per second. Some software or websites that report connection speeds report them as megabytes and the blood may drain from your face as it appears you're getting one-eighth of the connection speed you expected.

For many who have been involved in the computer world for some time, they were happy that their 80MB hard drive would never get full. Now TB drives are becoming the standard and my mobile phone has more memory than my first three computers combined.

Now excuse me, I have to go for my afternoon nap.