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Security on the Internet

Security of Your Computers

Up until recently you may have given relatively little thought to the security of your computers, protecting your systems not just from virus attack but from hostile attempts to access information on your hard disks or to spy on you while you surf the web. This surely is the domain of science fiction, not a bona fide threat in the real world?

Well think again! Internet Explorer uses the History folder to store information about which pages you visit. It also keeps a record of the twenty five most recent URLs you have typed, stored in the Windows Registry. The Temporary Internet Files folder keeps a record of each file loaded by Internet Explorer as you surf the net. Indeed your employer may have installed software on your computer to monitor which sites you visit.

Your Internet Service Provider also has a record of the pages you visit. Whenever you visit a site, scripts running on your web page can be used to identify the domain to which you belong even down to the machine you are using. Whether you like it or not, Big Brother is watching you...

Most of us have heard of cookies, apparently innocuous text files stored in the Temporary Internet Files folder on your hard disk. These files are placed on your hard disk by some web sites to monitor the pages you visit on that site and to record your preferences so that future visits can be tailored to your interests. Certain advertising agencies such as DoubleClick use cookies to monitor which other sites you visit. Whenever you visit a site with a DoubleClick banner, the cookie springs to life and records where you have been. According to Washington-based privacy research group EPIC, approximately 85% of sites use cookies.

Cookies in themselves are relatively harmless. However, when information stored in cookies is combined with other information such as a name, a post code or address, it can be used to draw up a profile of you, without your knowledge and certainly without your permission.

Cookies are only supposed to be visible to the domain that placed them there. However, recent worries over the security of Windows 9x have revealed that other applications may also be able to access these files (even if they can make no sense of them).

Indeed Windows 9x is known to have numerous security issues, so much so that Microsoft releases frequent security updates to correct these problems.

Spyware is the name given to certain applications which, when installed on your system, keep a record of the web pages you visit, the products you buy and so on. Also known as "ET" applications because they "phone home", they are clearly a threat to your privacy. Two such applications are "Aureate" and "Comet Cursor". I recently found out that both these programs had been installed on my system without my knowledge.

So what measures should you take to improve the security of your computers?

• Check Microsoft's web site for the latest security updates for your operating system. In Windows 98/2000/Me, click on Start, Windows Update to check for the latest updates.
  
  
• Install a Firewall on all machines with Internet access. A firewall should prevent remote computers from accessing your computers and prompt you before allowing any application to communicate over the Internet.
  
  
• Load a program to manage your cookies. A cookie manager will enable you to accept or reject cookies as they are loaded.
  
  
• Check to see if any spyware applications have been installed on your system. You can download a program called Ad-Aware which will check for spyware such as Aureate and Comet Cursor, disabling these applications. Ad-Aware can be downloaded from www.webattack.com.
  
  
• Make sure you have anti-virus software installed and that the data files used by this program are up-to-date.

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