Submarine Cable Map 2008

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Recommended Readings

A few minutes ago I was searching for some network security document for home user, to make sure my information can be trusted, usually I will 'google' before I post something; I found this,

http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/home_networks.html#I-C

and

http://www.dipol.com.pl/bib80e.htm

The first thing in my mind after reading this document = Post it in my blog!!!
I don't like C&P other people's work and post it in my blog, like what many people do;to me, I feel shame, but this is a good document, home users should read it. Any content that I steal from an websites I will sure give credits to the author.

Can hackers hack my computer?

The only answer to this question is, yes. No matter how secure is your system, Hackers can hack your computer. You should ask yourself, do hackers want to hack my computer?

In this post, I am going to explain about what is a security test.
The tool that I am going to introduce is PC Security Test

A Security test is performing a test on your computer. The purpose of this test is to know what hackers can do to your system. It means, after we have built a strong wall, we are now trying to break the wall like what the enemy does and see the results. How strong is the wall? What method can hackers use to break in to your system?

This tool is a very user friendly and GUI tool, anyone who can understand English should be able to use this tool without any problem. This tool is for computer literates who wish to have a basic security test on their computer.This tool is made for commercial use, not for enterprise or corporate network. This tool will perform a security test so that home users will be aware.

Let's look at a screen shot of the tool.
Now to perform a security test. Click on any test that you want to perform, I would recommend you to start with a standard test first before you perform other tests. Now as I have said earlier, this tool is very user friendly, easy to use and suitable for home users; So I am not going to make screen shot but I will briefly explain about this software.

There is 3 steps that you need to practice when you are using this software:
1)READ
2)Click
3)R-E-A-D!

This software will hack your computer like what a hacker will do to your computer. This software will not harm your computer; For example, in 'standard test', this software will copy a virus to your computer and run it. After all test have been done, the virus will be removed and the software will show you the results of the test. If this software can successfully get information, bypass your anti-virus, or control your hardware that you use; It means your computer is vulnerable for hackers to exploit your system.

After performing the tests, to increase your knowledge on computer security, you may try to answer the quiz. The quiz will ask you questions to test your knowledge on computer security and provide the explanation. READ every single word and you will definitely learn something from this software.

Choosing An Antivirus Product

It is very important to have an Anti-Virus software installed in your computer. Script kiddies are creating virus that bring potential harm or damage to your computer. Now, I cant give you an exact amount of how many virus being are created in a day, but I am sure that virus are created every second not day.

Virus usually come from the internet, Instant Messenger (MSN,Yahoo,Skype,AIM...) or USB thumb drive, in one of my previous post, I have introduced McAfee Site Advisor and some screen shot of how can virus infect computers by just viewing a web page. If an image is attached with a virus or any malware, once the image is loaded in your browser, it means, your machines has been infected. You do not need to click on the image or save it into your computer.

Sometimes, viruses come from Instant Messenger, for example MSN Messenger, in this software, a feature call Sharing Folder, where you can share folders with your contact.
If User A have shared a folder with Contact B , and Contact B's Computer is infected with virus, trojan or spyware that has the ability to spread, User A will be infected.

Another situation usually that usually happen is autorun in USB Thumbdrive. Some virus will spread and duplicate itself into any mass storage devices that is plugged into the computer. The thumbdrive is plugged into another computer and infect that computer.

Virus also come from email attachment, today, almost all the anti-virus has
the intelligence to detect and scan email attachment and warm the user if there is a malware or any potential threats that will harm the computer.

Solutions? Anti-Virus

If you ask me what Anti-Virus is the best, I will tell you the is no such thing as best Anti-Virus in this world. Triangle again ><, if the anti-virus is too sensitive, you will end up saying that anti-virus s*cks, if it is too weak, you will say lame or useless . If you ask me what Anti-Virus I trust the most, i would say Symantec Norton and Kaspersky, I Trust Norton Anti-Virus because Norton has a large list of Virus Definition and the solutions; how to remove the virus manually, no other anti-virus company has a list larger than Norton. For Kaspersky, everyone knows it is famous for strong detection, the anti-virus's ability to detect a virus or a malware is very high. Both of product are recommended if you are willing to spend money for your anti-virus. Another product to consider is BitDefender, My experience of using BitDefender is it is quite sensitive in when scanning and it updates the virus definition every hour, without disturbing the user or slowing down the performance. You may consider McAfee, it is a quite famous anti-virus solution.


Free Anti-Virus List?
If you are not willing to spend money to buy an anti-virus product, there are some free anti virus available in the Internet. The one I trust the most for free anti-virus is BitDefender Free Anti-Virus.
A few more to consider:-

1)AVG Anti-Virus 8.0
2)Avira AntiVir Personal
3)avast! 4 Home Edition

No screen shot :(, all are based on experience and some important testing. If you want to compare some famous Anti-Virus Product, this website has a very detail comparison and review.