Vaac,
In layman?s terms think of your computer as a house with many windows.
Each time you link to the Internet you open a window (in computer
terms called a port), retrieving and sending information as you look
at a webpage, email or install an application (program). Within the
material received a component termed spyware (1) or virus (2) may lay
(the distinction between which is reliant on the intent of the item,
for spyware it is to monitor and report back to a source your viewing
habits, generally for advertising purposes, whereas a virus is more
malevolent generally designed to decrease your computers function).
In addition it is very difficult to know what ports (unlike windows on
a house) are open at any one time (as there are hundreds of them on
any computer) allowing individuals to randomly dial addresses listing
port numbers allowing a further way of delivering spyware/viruses.
Following from this when you look at a webpage etc, your computer
automatically sends back information (including your IP (address)(3)
and the port number being used) that confirms to the source that the
requested page has been received in a manner that your computer can
read. Of course this also means that a path has been laid out, that
can deliver spyware/viruses to your system.
It goes without saying that the majority of what you encounter is not
used for nefarious purposes but it remains always possible.
This being known many Internet Service Providers automatically scan
for bogus email and provide some protection against viruses, however
it is an evolving environment, when one virus is found another takes
its place. So to be prudent, it would be wise to take some measures of
your own (if not already doing so).
Firstly a firewall (a miens of limiting access to the ports on your
computer) is needed. I personally use ?Zone Alarm? as it is a quality,
easy to use product that is free (if for personal use). See here:
http://www.zonealarm.com/
Other firewalls are:
BlackIce- http://www.digitalriver.com/dr/v2/ec_dynamic.main?SP=1&PN=10&sid=26412
AtGuard-
http://www.atguard.com/
Norton-
http://www.symantec.com/index.htm
McAfee-
http://www.mcafee.com/us/default.asp
Next virus protection software is appropriate. This generally comes
with a lot of computers, but eventually a charge is payable for
updates. Frustrating yes but still necessary. I use Norton (reference
as above).
For the more mundane Cookies (a term similar to spyware) and something
that opened my eyes, that things were on my computer that I didn?t
particularly want, you might care to download ?Ad-Aware? do a scan
after a few hours on the Internet and just see the spyware that pops
up. See here:
http://www.download.com/3120-20_4-0.html?qt=adaware&tg=dl-2001&search.x=17&search.y=6
Finally I would highly recommend this article (for all things computer surfing):
http://page.freett.com/xxxti/darkfaqs/index.html
References:
(1) http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/s/spyware.html
(2) http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/v/virus.html
(3) http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/I/IP.html
Kind regards
gfmaster |
