Internet Safety Tips

When it comes to Internet Safety, we've been there, done that, now serving 128 tips in 12 categories ranging from Computer Security to The History of Hackers.

Protect, Encrypt and Do Not reuse!

Many services located on the web such as banking institutions and email services require the use of passwords. Do your best to use alphanumeric passwords such as the following example: uw0ntG3tm3!
and use different passwords for each site. Make it next to impossible for those cyber-snoopers to access your information.

   

Be aware of attachents

Viruses can come attached to email attachments, and once opened can release there fury. The best rule of thumb is that if you receive something that looks suspicous, it likely is. Get into the habit of scanning your email attachments with a virus scanner before opening them. Better to be safe than sorry!

   

What are "Cookies" ?

A "cookie" is a way for a particular website to identify returning users and possibly prepare a customized page for them. Have you every been to a website where you have had to fill out certain criteria such as you name and interests? All of this information that you enter gets packaged into a "cookie" and sent to you web browser for storage. When you return to the same website your web browser will send the packaged to cookie to the webserver, and in turn be prepared to load any customized information that you may have specified. For example, rather than seeing a Welcome Screen you may see your name and the last time you visited this site.

   
Why is a porn blocker so important?

The Power of the Pornographic Industry

Pornography is incredibly prevalent on the web today and this is a direct result of the power of the porn industry. Recent studies show that there is over 10 billion dollars spent on pornographic materials each year. There are over 2 million known pornographic web sites with over 2500 new sites being developed each week. A lot of the websites and companies are overseas and are therefore not regulated by US law. All of this is readily available to any internet user unless you are using a porn blocker. The software is available, so you should consider protecting your children from internet porn today.

   
Why should I use a porn blocker?

Why Use a Porn Blocker

According to a survey conducted by the London School of economics is 2002, 9 out of 10 school aged children have viewed pornographic material on the internet. As anyone can tell you, many of these sites target innocent search terms and keywords and most children will click on a URL in search results not knowing what they will see then the site loads. For reasons like this a porn filter becomes an obvious investment for your home computer.

   
What are features I should look for in a spam filter?

Choosing a Spam Blocker

When you are choosing a spam blocker for your home or small business, there are several features you should look for to ensure that you are getting your money's worth.
1. Easy and/or automoated setup.
The software should automatically detect your email addresses, your network information and your email address book so that you don't have to worry about remembering proxy settings or complicated setup parameters.
2. Automatic Operation
It should automatically designate and seperate spam emails according to suspicious email headers and unknown addresses and send notifcation to the end user. It should also be checking to see if the landing sites in the email are pornographic.
3. Easy Access to see your filtered email.
4. A filter list and white list - or designated domains from which you automatically accept or reject emails.
5. Specified email addresses from which you accept or reject emails.
6. In Depth Training

   
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Lynda Moultry