When using a public wi-fi network in an Internet café or coffee house, it is up to you to secure your transmissions against prying eyes. Only using https secure connections is one way of stopping those around you from seeing your transmissions. For more cyber café security tips, read Ask Leo, and PC Magazine.
What resources can be used to identify safe websites? Leo Notenboom of Ask-Leo.com says, “One of the best things you can do as you surf the web is simply be skeptical.” He also explores McAfee’s Site Advisor, and Web Of Trust in his article What’s a Safe Web Site?.
Although Google creates wonderful, free products that so many of us love and use, from a purely information management viewpoint, we should all be a bit more concerned with data portability. And Google agrees! The Data Liberation Front is an engineering team at Google whose one goal is to make it easier for users to move their data in and out of various Google products. Learn more at The Data Liberation Front.
Although technically neither spam nor phishing, those aggressive emails from Tagged claiming a friend has sent you photos are certainly pushing the limits of netiquette. Ask Leo explains how Tagged.com got your email address and know your friend’s name, and why you should simply ignore them.
A recent report from the Internet Safety Technical Task Force concludes that kids and teens are safer online than many have feared. The report also concluded that the biggest risk kids face online is bullying by other kids. For more on the report, read Larry Magid’s summary at CNET news.
As with any computer media, it is possible for your camera memory card to get infected with a computer virus if you connect your camera or your memory card to an infected computer at a friend or relative’s house. When you return home, it is then possible to infect your own computer by attaching the camera or the card to your system. Learn more about how to keep your systems safe from Ask Leo.
The Internet Crime Complaint Center, also known as IC3, is a partnership between the FBI, the National White Collar Crime Center, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance. They accept online Internet crime complaints, offer tips on how to protect yourself, and explain ongoing illegal Internet schemes. For example, the Nigerian Letter is also known as “419″ because that’s the section of the Nigerian Criminal Code that it violates. “Beware when asked to assist in placing large sums of money in overseas bank accounts.
When choosing an anti-virus program for Windows, the independent Virus Bulletin’s testing and review program provides invaluable information about which programs pass muster. The top 100 antivirus programs (along with those that didn’t make it) are found in this VB100 summary ( . To view the test results, you will need to register. Registration is free.
OnGuardOnline.gov is a federal website with practical tips on securing your computer and guarding against Internet fraud. Information is delivered with videos, tutorials, and games designed to test and expand your knowledge. Topics include laptop security, social networking, malware, identity theft and much more.
As handy as USB thumb drives can be, their small size makes them easy to lose. Tim Fehlman, of Daily Cup of Tech, has worried about the possibility and come up with a clever solution. He explains how to install an auto-executing program that will automatically pop open a “Send Me Home” message if your lost drive is plugged into a computer. He even suggests offering the finders a brand new thumb drive that is twice the capacity of the found one.
