Throughout the beta testing phase of Internet Explorer, and the days and weeks leading up to its official launch, much has been made of the blazing performance of IE9's hardware accelerated graphics, and the overall immersive experience of the new browser. Another facet of IE9, though--which has received less attention--is the improved security of the browser. Here are four features of IE9 that make it safer and more secure:
1. Tracking Protection. If you are concerned with the privacy of your online browsing activities, Microsoft's hybrid approach to the "do not track" dilemma seems to be the best option currently on the table. Microsoft combines Tracking Protection Lists in IE9--which essentially blacklist specific sites to block them from gathering tracking data--with the more proactive approach of alerting sites to your privacy wishes using information in the HTTP header of your Web traffic. Between the two approaches, unwanted tracking of your browsing session should be minimized.
2. SmartScreen Application Reputation. You have probably seen at one time or another the Microsoft warning that "this type of file may harm your computer" when downloading files from your browser. The problem is that the warning is too generic and applies to virtually all downloads. With IE9, Microsoft strives to reduce the number of frivolous warnings, and provide more information for downloads that are truly potential threats. The SmartScreen Application Reputation protection assesses the reputation of a given file or download based on whether it has been signed by its author, the established reputation of the author, and the number of times it has been previously downloaded by others to determine the relative trust the file should be given.
3. Browser Segregation. When you use the pinned sites feature of IE9 and Windows 7 to access a website, the site opens in its own browser session, independent of the desktop browser. The browser session segregation means that session cookies are not accessible by other tabs or windows in the main desktop browser, and are safe from any compromise or abuse from other sites.
4. Stripped Down. Another function of running a site as a pinned site in IE9 and Windows 7 is that the browser session opens without any browser helper objects (BHO) or add-on toolbars that might be installed in the desktop browser. With fewer extraneous apps running within and alongside the browser session, the potential attack surface is minimized and there are fewer opportunities for malicious exploits to attack.
There are other features and functions of Internet Explorer 9 that provide a safer and more secure Web surfing experience. IE9 also includes protection such as DEP and ASLR which have been proven to be vulnerable, but still provide additional layers of protection that can prevent the vast majority of Web-based attacks.
Orignal posted on yahoo.news
Showing posts with label internet security. Show all posts
Showing posts with label internet security. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Friday, August 27, 2010
Ten ways to protect your privacy online
Facebook, Google, MySpace, Twitter, Bebo, Habbo, the proliferation of social networking means people are making more information about themselves accessible to strangers than ever before.
As attitudes to privacy are starting to change, here is a short list of some ways you can protect your privacy online:
1) personalised search engine optimisation - strange as it may seem, people are willing to pay for experts to alter how far up Google's listings their name appears when they type it in. The method allows you to keep the bad news private and highlight whatever - true of false - information you desire. As one firm put it: "If you’ve ever Googled yourself and been less than happy with the results, you’ve discovered a need for personal SEO."
2) change your name - stranger yet, Google's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, has said young people might have to change their names when starting adult life to escape the shadow of their dodgy past. Many adults already use aliases for sites like Facebook so only those who know that know where to find them.
3) change your security/privacy settings - a lot of Facebook users, to name just one social networking site, simply don't bother taking enough interest in this but it offers you some genuine control over who sees what. Do you really want a prospective boss checking what you used to do at the weekends?
4) set strong passwords - this is something online registration has been encouraging for years now but too many people just put in their birthdate, pet's name, or the name of the site. To add to the problem, there are thousands of hacking guides specifically designed to get into Facebook which are available via Google. The best advice remains: use a long, interspersed combination of lower-case letters, capital letters and numbers.
5) untag yourself - social networking sites allow other people to "tag" photos of you but you have the opportunity to remove it, which is sometimes wise. So pay attention when you are prompted to do such things.
6) don't include dates of birth/address/mother's maiden name - such things are almost invariably used as security questions for banks and credit card databases. Therefore giving them up compromises your security and makes it easier to forge your identity, "clone" your cards and steal your money.
7) don't respond to dodgy emails - an obvious one and a bit of an old trick now but people still fall for it. If you get an unsolicited email from an African business (a stereotype but often true) wanting to give you an incredible amount of money for a simple task, delete it. It's a scam. And you could be opening the door for electronic intruders.
8) log out - if you're in a library or some other communal space, people can get onto the machine you've just vacated and dive into your profiles if you have not logged out properly. Clearly this is most important for financial matters.
9) wi-fi - if you've got wi-fi at home, give it a good password (see above). Otherwise it allows intruders in with few barriers to overcome.
10) don't use Facebook - if you're absolutely terrified that someone might learn your darkest secrets or that a German fancy dress evening might backfire later in life. The only certain way to avoid embarrassment is to avoid social networking sites altogether.
As attitudes to privacy are starting to change, here is a short list of some ways you can protect your privacy online:
1) personalised search engine optimisation - strange as it may seem, people are willing to pay for experts to alter how far up Google's listings their name appears when they type it in. The method allows you to keep the bad news private and highlight whatever - true of false - information you desire. As one firm put it: "If you’ve ever Googled yourself and been less than happy with the results, you’ve discovered a need for personal SEO."
2) change your name - stranger yet, Google's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, has said young people might have to change their names when starting adult life to escape the shadow of their dodgy past. Many adults already use aliases for sites like Facebook so only those who know that know where to find them.
3) change your security/privacy settings - a lot of Facebook users, to name just one social networking site, simply don't bother taking enough interest in this but it offers you some genuine control over who sees what. Do you really want a prospective boss checking what you used to do at the weekends?
4) set strong passwords - this is something online registration has been encouraging for years now but too many people just put in their birthdate, pet's name, or the name of the site. To add to the problem, there are thousands of hacking guides specifically designed to get into Facebook which are available via Google. The best advice remains: use a long, interspersed combination of lower-case letters, capital letters and numbers.
5) untag yourself - social networking sites allow other people to "tag" photos of you but you have the opportunity to remove it, which is sometimes wise. So pay attention when you are prompted to do such things.
6) don't include dates of birth/address/mother's maiden name - such things are almost invariably used as security questions for banks and credit card databases. Therefore giving them up compromises your security and makes it easier to forge your identity, "clone" your cards and steal your money.
7) don't respond to dodgy emails - an obvious one and a bit of an old trick now but people still fall for it. If you get an unsolicited email from an African business (a stereotype but often true) wanting to give you an incredible amount of money for a simple task, delete it. It's a scam. And you could be opening the door for electronic intruders.
8) log out - if you're in a library or some other communal space, people can get onto the machine you've just vacated and dive into your profiles if you have not logged out properly. Clearly this is most important for financial matters.
9) wi-fi - if you've got wi-fi at home, give it a good password (see above). Otherwise it allows intruders in with few barriers to overcome.
10) don't use Facebook - if you're absolutely terrified that someone might learn your darkest secrets or that a German fancy dress evening might backfire later in life. The only certain way to avoid embarrassment is to avoid social networking sites altogether.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Make Your Browser Secure
Web browsers are the key to the internet. Without them the internet is an impenetrable black box.
Browsers may be among the most commonly used applications, but they also offer the greatest number of attack options for dangerous content on the net. To keep viruses, worms and other malware away from your computer when surfing, it's crucial to configure your browser for security.
The firewall on a DSL router is a good first step for protecting the computer during surfing, says Marco Rinne from the computer portal chip.de. But that doesn't hold true if your browser is out of date: “Internet Explorer 6 and 7 or Firefox 2 no longer satisfy current security standards,” he says. For optimal protection, he therefore urges users to keep their browsers updated.
There are numerous security tools already present in Firefox and Internet Explorer. The pop-up blocker, for example, prevents more than just annoying ads. It also throttles other windows that can be used to sneak malicious software onto computers. Phishing filters protect personal data against theft.
Firefox offers additional configuration options under the Settings item in the Security tab of the Options dialog box: this includes the ability to block risky or forged websites. It's also a good idea to prohibit websites from installing add-ons on their own. Similar settings are possible under Internet Explorer in the Security tab of the Internet Options dialog box, accessible from the Tools menu.
Computer owners should also activate all options for warning against attacks, advises Markus Linnemann, managing director of the Institute for Internet Security (ifis) at the Polytechnic University of Gelsenkirchen in Germany. This applies in particular to warnings about suspicious content to be displayed using ActiveX, Flash, or JavaScript.
Yet the warning mechanism on most browsers alone isn't usually enough, Linnemann says. Those who wish to be especially careful can, for example, use the Firefox add-on 'No Script,' which blocks all active content of a website by default and allows the user to decide which should be permitted. The problem is that most users are unable to determine which content represents a threat to their computer
Browsers may be among the most commonly used applications, but they also offer the greatest number of attack options for dangerous content on the net. To keep viruses, worms and other malware away from your computer when surfing, it's crucial to configure your browser for security.
The firewall on a DSL router is a good first step for protecting the computer during surfing, says Marco Rinne from the computer portal chip.de. But that doesn't hold true if your browser is out of date: “Internet Explorer 6 and 7 or Firefox 2 no longer satisfy current security standards,” he says. For optimal protection, he therefore urges users to keep their browsers updated.
There are numerous security tools already present in Firefox and Internet Explorer. The pop-up blocker, for example, prevents more than just annoying ads. It also throttles other windows that can be used to sneak malicious software onto computers. Phishing filters protect personal data against theft.
Firefox offers additional configuration options under the Settings item in the Security tab of the Options dialog box: this includes the ability to block risky or forged websites. It's also a good idea to prohibit websites from installing add-ons on their own. Similar settings are possible under Internet Explorer in the Security tab of the Internet Options dialog box, accessible from the Tools menu.
Computer owners should also activate all options for warning against attacks, advises Markus Linnemann, managing director of the Institute for Internet Security (ifis) at the Polytechnic University of Gelsenkirchen in Germany. This applies in particular to warnings about suspicious content to be displayed using ActiveX, Flash, or JavaScript.
Yet the warning mechanism on most browsers alone isn't usually enough, Linnemann says. Those who wish to be especially careful can, for example, use the Firefox add-on 'No Script,' which blocks all active content of a website by default and allows the user to decide which should be permitted. The problem is that most users are unable to determine which content represents a threat to their computer
Monday, July 12, 2010
Webroot Window Washer
Webroot Window Washer is an internet tracks eraser and privacy cleaner software. As you work on your computer and browse the Internet, you leave behind traces of your activity. The Windows built-in functions will not protect you, most of the tracks can not be erased with them. Therefore, anyone else can see what you have been doing on your computer. Furthermore, much of your activity information takes up valuable disk space, and recovering this space can be very beneficial.With a simple click Webroot Window Washer securely erase your internet tracks, computer activities and programs history information stored in many hidden files on your computer. It also provides you option to clean the data from your PC more securely so that they could not be recovered.
Webroot Window Washer allows you to erase Window's temp folders, run history, search history, open/save history, recent documents, your browser's cache, cookies, history, visited URLs, typed URLs, auto complete memory, index.dat files, and much more. You can also easily erase the tracks of up to 100 popular applications.
Key Features:
- Erase Internet Explorer Cache Files
- Erase Internet Explorer Browser History
- Erase Internet Explorer Cookies
- Erase Internet Explorer Typed URLs History
- Erase Internet Explorer Index.dat Files
- Erase Internet Explorer AutoComplete Memory
- Erase Windows Recent Documents History
- Erase Windows Start Menu Run/Find History
- Erase Windows Recycle Bin
- Erase Windows Temporary Files Directory
- Erase Windows open/save history
- Erase Windows MediaPlayer / RealOne Player history
- Erase Microsoft Office history
- Clear Google search history, Google toolbar history
- Clear Yahoo search history, Yahoo toolbar history
- Clear MSN search and toolbar history
- Cookies manager to select which cookies to keep
- Test mode before washing supports
- Support Mozilla Firefox, Netscape, Opera
- Support up to 100 popular applications
- Customize what files and registry entries you want to erase
- Schedule erasing to wash your system at any time
- Boss key to hide all browser windows in one quick keystroke
- Free space on your Hard Drive
- Speed up your computer
- 100% Spyware FREE, NOT contain any Spyware, Adware or Viruses.
- Platform: Windows XP / Vista
Buy Webroot Window Washer $49.99
Monday, June 28, 2010
Keep Your Kids Safe on the Internet
Author(s): Simo Johnson
Publisher: MCGRAW-HILL
Format: PDF
Protect your children from dangers that lurk on the Internet. Learn to identify the real threats--be they pedophiles, cyber-stalkers, hackers, spyware, viruses, or adware. This book is a practical how-to guide for WinXP users and doesn't require any special technical knowledge.
This isn't a hand-wringing account of the dangers, it is a practical resource that focuses on the tools that can be used to for access control. The internet and it's related services (the web, email, newsgroups etc) involves two-way traffic. In order to provide protection it's necessary to exercise control over who can send material to your computer and control over where a child-user can go. Dangers are discussed in a calm and factual manner, and examines ways of risk reduction.
The author explains how things work; he provides the non-technical parent and interested reader, with an insight that should give them confidence in dealing with protecting the youth from internet-related dangers. The book is in parts that discuss a specific issue; spam, viruses, spyware and adware, and pop-ups.
This book is an exceptional good reference and resource that deserves a place in any library. A book that should be brought to the attention of parents by schools and community organisations.
Download your copy of Keep Your Kids Safe on the Internet now.
Friday, June 25, 2010
ChildWebGuardian
ChildWebGuardian is filtering software designed to provide Internet child safety. This program keeps track and checks the content of every web-page the child browses through in the Internet Explorer. If the program finds some obscene content, ChildWebGardian will immediately block viewing such pages.ChildWebGuardian is a whole software package that is integrated in Internet Explorer and consists of some controlling functions. Such as content filter, porn blocker, parental control, URL blocking, Internet access blocking, games control. Each of these functions forms an obstacle in the way of obscene information from the Internet. And before your child sees any page, it is checked by all those functions. The program can easily be configured for pornography blocking, blocking sites with violence scenes, filtering sites that popularizes drugs, to filter the gambling games, the questionable religious sects and other forbidden materials. ChildWebGuardian will filter the content of every visited and viewed pages.
To block the use of some programs/games, you can use the "Game Control" function in the program. This function allows you to control the using of any programs/games in a specified by you days and time. ChildWebGuardian has functions that allow analyzing the page content itself. That is why even if your child comes across a newly appeared site with obscene content, ChildWebGuardian will stop him from viewing this site anyway.
Download ChildWebGuardian now.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Spyware Software Removal - Spyware And Virus
Spyware can easily infect an unguarded computer and when this happens you need to use software for spyware removal to clean up your computer. In a few instances you can also get rid of the spyware by removing the program through which it entered your system.
Some people even manage to get rid of spyware through using manual means and there are actually some websites that will list names of all known spyware and will then tell you how you can identify the spyware and also how to get rid of it. This is however not the easiest option because to manually be rid of spyware requires having expert understanding about the way your computer's registry functions. For a person that does not know about the registry and its working it is not recommended that they try to manually remove the spyware.
A better option is to make use of software for spyware removal that will effectively clean up your computer and restore it to its original condition without too much trouble. The benefit of using such software is that it will do two things: remove existing spyware and also prevent future intrusions by spyware. However, people that create spyware can always circumvent this by creating brand new spyware that the software does not know exists and in this way can get back into a protected system.
When a new spyware emerges your current spyware removal program will fail to identify it and this means that it cannot prevent the spyware from getting back into your computer. To minimize such risks you will do well to make use of more than one such software programs and in this way get double protection.
After installing the spyware removal programs you should then start your computer in the Safe Mode which is when only the most essential files will be opened by the operating system.
In this environment your software for spyware removal will have a better chance of finding and getting rid of any existing spyware.
Some people even manage to get rid of spyware through using manual means and there are actually some websites that will list names of all known spyware and will then tell you how you can identify the spyware and also how to get rid of it. This is however not the easiest option because to manually be rid of spyware requires having expert understanding about the way your computer's registry functions. For a person that does not know about the registry and its working it is not recommended that they try to manually remove the spyware.
A better option is to make use of software for spyware removal that will effectively clean up your computer and restore it to its original condition without too much trouble. The benefit of using such software is that it will do two things: remove existing spyware and also prevent future intrusions by spyware. However, people that create spyware can always circumvent this by creating brand new spyware that the software does not know exists and in this way can get back into a protected system.
When a new spyware emerges your current spyware removal program will fail to identify it and this means that it cannot prevent the spyware from getting back into your computer. To minimize such risks you will do well to make use of more than one such software programs and in this way get double protection.
After installing the spyware removal programs you should then start your computer in the Safe Mode which is when only the most essential files will be opened by the operating system.
In this environment your software for spyware removal will have a better chance of finding and getting rid of any existing spyware.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Privacy Eraser Pro
Privacy Eraser Pro is an Internet Eraser that protects your Internet privacy by cleaning up all the tracks of Internet and computer activities. Our Internet Eraser supports popular web browsers such as Internet Explorer & MSN Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, AOL, Apple Safari and Opera.Privacy Eraser Pro supports free plug-ins to extend cleaning features, you can easily erase the tracks left by any applications and make your own plug-ins. We currently offer more than 250 FREE plug-ins which supports the most popular programs such as ACDSee, Acrobat, Microsoft Office, KaZaA, Real Player, Media Player and many others.
Privacy Eraser (Pro) supports Microsoft Windows FAT/FAT32/NTFS file systems, completely implements and exceeds the US Department of Defense DOD 5220.22-M and NSA clearing and sanitizing standard, to gives you confidence that once erased with Privacy Eraser (Pro) your file data is gone forever and can not be recovered.
Maybe you don't realize that Windows and other software programs store history about what you have done, what documents you have used, what web sites you have visited, what images and movies you have seen, and various other activities you have performed. All these history are stored in your hard disk.
The Windows built-in functions will not protect you, most of the history can not be erased with them. Therefore, anyone else can see what you have been doing on your computer, which raises several privacy concerns. Furthermore, much of your activity information takes up valuable disk space, and recovering this space can be very beneficial.
Cleaning up the history of your activities can be a tedious chore of manually removing each history file or entry. If privacy and disk space are to be maintained, this process must be performed every time you use your computer. Privacy Eraser Pro can automate this process for you! Privacy Eraser Pro supports popular web browsers such as Internet Explorer & MSN Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, AOL, Apple Safari and Opera.
With simply one click, Privacy Eraser Pro allows you to erase internet history, erase browser history, erase address bar history, erase cookies, erase internet cache, autocomplete memory, saved password, index.dat files of your browser, and Window's swap file, temp folders, run history, search history, open/save history, recent documents and more. With Privacy Eraser Pro you can schedule cleaning tasks run at a time that is most convenient for you.
Download your copy of Privacy Eraser Pro now.
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