Protecting Yourself
ONLINE
Presented By: Dan Barker
TNT Consulting Group
www.tntgroup.com
Overview
This session is designed to:
 Put Your Mind At Ease
 Inform and Educate
 Arm You With The Tools
 Make Your Internet Experience Pleasant
Protecting Yourself Online
Issues Covered
 Keeping Your Information Private
 Online Shopping
 Passwords
 Virus Protection & Firewalls
 Keeping Systems Up To Date
Protecting Yourself Online
Government Is Getting Involved
President Bush directed the development of
a National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace
to ensure that America has a clear road
map to protect a part of its infrastructure
so essential to our way of life.
Protecting Yourself Online
The Issues
The goal is to empower the home user and small
business person to protect their cyberspace by:
• raising cybersecurity awareness of the home user and
small business, including children and students;
• making it easier for home users and small businesses
to keep current with anti-virus software, software
patches, and firewalls;
• encouraging and helping facilitate the installation
and use of firewalls on all broadband Internet
connections, such as cable modems, DSL, satellite
and wireless;
Protecting Yourself Online
The Issues
Why Does The Government Care?
The home user and small business can be damaged
severely and, in some cases, can be used to severely
damage others.
Protecting Yourself Online
The Issues
 Hard Drive Crashing
 Identity Theft
 Credit Theft
 Tunneling
 Extortion
 Zombies/Trojans
 Compromise of Private Information
Protecting Yourself Online
Your Online Privacy
Why is my information so important to
someone?
Businesses want to gain new customers and
keep the customers they have. To do this,
they need information.
The more information a business has about a
prospect or a customer, the more likely it
can meet that customer’s needs or shape its
promotions to appeal to those needs.
This is called a “profile.”
Protecting Yourself Online
Your Online Privacy
Online Methods Of Getting Your Data
 Online Forms & Registrations
 Websites (Traffic and Web Logs)
 Newsgroups
 Spyware/Adware
Protecting Yourself Online
Your Online Privacy
What They Do With Your Information
 Market additional products to you.
 Sell it to a third-party company for a fee or a
commission on the products it sells to you.
 Trade it as barter for the use of another
company's customer database.
This leads to unwanted email offers, more
junk mail, and targeted web sites.
Protecting Yourself Online
Your Online Privacy
How To Deal With This…
 Don’t give out SS # or other personal
information.
 Don’t respond to surveys or polls unless sure of
source – and then only give generic information
 Weigh the importance of someone having your
information
 Be careful about posting any personal
information online and what you sign up for.
 Instruct family/employees regarding which
information is ok to release online
Protecting Yourself Online
INVASION OF SPAM
Protecting Yourself Online
Your Online Privacy
How To Deal With This…
Never Respond to Spam
Use A Throw Away Address
Use SpamCop – spamcop.net
Don’t Forward Mail With Everyone’s Address
When Filling Out Online Forms – Use Throw Away
Address or Bogus Address
Use screen name not email address for Ebay, Chat
Rooms, etc.
Protecting Yourself Online
Online Shopping
Protecting Yourself Online
Online Shopping
To good to be true?
 Herbal Viagra
 Internet Investigator
 Pump and Dump Stock Scams
 Credit Scams
 Nigerian Fee Scam
 Counterfeit Items
Protecting Yourself Online
Online Shopping
Do business with reputable firms online.
Use a credit card.
Watch for “great deals” without anyway to contact
them offline.
When feasible verify by phone.
Check your statements
www.bbb.org
www.scambusters.org
Protecting Yourself Online
Password Defenses
Protecting Yourself Online
Passwords
 Use a combination of characters, numbers and, if possible,
symbols. Alternate the capitalization, interchanging upper case
with lower case.
 Don't use words that can be found in dictionaries of any
language.
 Don't use proper names, names of spouses or friends.
 Don't use words spelled backwards.
 Don't use the same password for everything.
 Never give out your password to strangers.
 Change passwords periodically.
Protecting Yourself Online
Viruses/Trojans
Protecting Yourself Online
VIRUS PROTECTION
Computer viruses are the "common cold" of
modern technology.
E-mail viruses are now twice as prevalent as they
were in 2001, with one e-mail in every 200
containing a virus.
Virus-scanning company MessageLabs said it
stopped 9.3 million viruses in 2 billion e-mails this
year, which equated to one virus in every 215 emails.
Protecting Yourself Online
VIRUS PROTECTION
 Viruses enter your system via e-mail,
downloads, infected floppy disks, or (occasionally)
hacking.
 By definition, a virus must be able to selfreplicate (make copies of itself) to spread.
 Virus behavior can range from annoying to
destructive.
 Antivirus software can detect nearly all types of
known viruses, but it must be updated regularly to
maintain effectiveness.
Protecting Yourself Online
VIRUS PROTECTION
 Install Antivirus Software and Keep It Up To
Date.
 Activate full-time protection.
 Make sure “All Files” are scanned.
 Turn On Automatic Updating
 Use a personal firewall – (Hardware/Software)
 Keep regular backups of important data.
 Keep your operating system up to date.
 Be cautious of email attachments even if you
know the sender.
Protecting Yourself Online
VIRUS PROTECTION
Protecting Yourself Online
VIRUS PROTECTION
PestPatrol defeats the threat
by detecting and removing:
Spyware/Adware
Remote Access Trojans
Keystroke Loggers
Protecting Yourself Online
VIRUS PROTECTION
FIREWALLS
An Internet Router, which is installed between your
Internet connection and the rest of your network, protects
your network by making your individual computers virtually
invisible to the outside world
Protecting Yourself Online
System Updates
Protecting Yourself Online
KEEPING SYSTEMS HEALTHY
Windows Security Certificates Vulnerable to Attack
Microsoft Warns of Windows Vulnerability—Again
Protecting Yourself Online
Safety Checklist
Protecting Yourself Online
Safety Checklist
 Use anti-virus software that will scan
incoming mail messages and files on-access
automatically.
 Update anti-virus software definitions
weekly, if not more often (ideally, the AV
software should update the virus definitions
automatically.)
 Learn how to identify virus hoaxes from real
threats.
 Install a firewall,
Protecting Yourself Online
Safety Checklist
 Do not open attachments unless absolutely
necessary.
 Do not open EXE, BAT, VBS, and SCR type
attachments ever, since they are common
vectors for virus/malware infections.
Avoid the use of insecure network programs
such as ICQ, AIM or IRC for discussing private
information.
Perform system manufacturer security patch
updates on a regular basis.
Protecting Yourself Online
Safety Checklist
 Backup your files regularly on ZIP disk or
CD-ROM.
 Ensure that effective passwords are used.
Passwords should also be changed on a
regular basis.
Set up company or family rules of use to
ensure everyone has a safe experience.
Protecting Yourself Online
Sources
Government’s Initiative on Cyber Safety
www.whitehouse.gov/pcipb
Protecting Your Information
Privacy Net – Check Your Machine
www.privacy.net/analyze
Federal Trade Commission on Privacy
www.ftc.gov/privacy
Tracking Spyware on Your System
www.grc.com
Protecting Yourself Online
Sources
Federal Trade Commission’s Safe Harbor
www.ftc.gov/privacy
Consumer Reports On Identity Theft
www.consumer.gov/idtheft
Federal Trade Commission
When Bad Things Happen To Your Good Name
www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/idtheft.pdf
Identity Theft Assistance
www.VictimsAssistanceofAmerica.org
Run A Credit Report
https://www.econsumer.equifax.com
Protecting Yourself Online
Sources
SPAM
Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email
www.cauce.org
Network Abuse Clearinghouse
www.abuse.net
SpamCop - punish spammers
www.spamcop.net
SpamCon Foundation
www.spamcon.org
SpamTrail – Email Filtering Service
www.spamtrail.com
Protecting Yourself Online
Online Shopping
Sources
Better Business Bureau
search.bbb.org/search.html
ScamBusters
www.scambusters.org/Scambusters48.html
FTC’s Guide to Buying and Selling on the Net
www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/online/auctions.htm
Fighting Online Fraud
www.fraud.org
Card Cops – Check Your Credit Card For Theft
www.cardcops.com
Consumer Sentinel
www.consumer.gov/sentinel
Protecting Yourself Online
Virus Protection & Firewalls
Sources
Antionline - Fight Back Against Hackers
www.antionline.com/fight-back
Pest Patrol – Solutions for Spyware/Adware
www.pestpatrol.com
Gibson Research – Check your firewalls
www.grc.com
McAfee Antivirus
www.mcafee.com
F-Secure
www.f-secure.com
Norton Anti-Virus
www.norton.com
Trend Micro – PC-Cillian
www.trendmicro.com
Vmyths – Virus Myths & Hoaxes
www.vmyths.com
Protecting Yourself Online
Sources
Keeping Your Systems Up To Date
Microsoft’s Update Tool
windowsupdate.microsoft.com
Insecure.Org - Check system Security Holes
www.insecure.org/
Protecting Yourself Online
Questions?
www.tntgroup.com