Online identity theft and Security

Identity theft
The fraudulent acquisition and use of person’s private identifying information, usually for financial gain. It can be divided into two broad categories:

Credit card fraud
Credit card frauds committed by making use of credit/debit card of others for obtaining goods or services. The threat emerge due to stealing of information like Credit card number, PIN number, password etc. Theft of cards and cloning of cards are also employed to commit such frauds. Hackers use complex techniques like Phishing, Skimming etc. to gain credit card information from innocent users.

Phishing
Phishing is a way of attempting to acquire information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail spoofing or instant messaging and it often directs users to enter details at a fake website whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one.

Skimming
Skimming is the theft of credit card / Debit card information. Thief can procure victim's credit card number using basic methods such as photocopying receipts or more advanced methods such as using a small electronic device (skimmer) to swipe and store hundreds of victim’s credit card numbers. Common scenarios for skimming are restaurants or bars where the skimmer has possession of the victim's credit card and makes note of card details for further use.

Vishing
It is one of the method of social engineering over the telephone system, most often using features facilitated by Voice over IP (VoIP), to gain access to private personal and financial information from the public for the purpose of financial reward. The term is a combination of “voice” and “phishing” is called as “Vishing”.

Social Engineering
Social engineering involves gaining trust hence the fraudster poses as a member of staff or even security guard. The fraudster would then ask the customer to check the card for damages. The fraudster would have gained confidence from his prey using various tactics such as offering assistance to the customer who perhaps would have tried to use the ATM without success or perhaps the customer who is not familiar with use of ATM machine and requires assistance.

Steps to be followed before Credit card & Debit card/ATM card usage 

1. Whenever you receive the card from the bank make sure the mail is completely sealed and there is no damage.
2. Whenever you receive the card from the bank immediately sign on the card.
3. Try to cover the last three digit number on the card.
4. Register your phone number to check the account transactions.
5. Change the pin number immediately.

Secure usage of credit/Debit cards at Shopping malls and Restaurant

• Always keep an eye how the vendor swipe your card.
• Always make sure that the transactions happen at your presence.
• Never sign a blank credit card receipt. Carefully draw a line through blank portions of the receipt where additional charges could be fraudulently added.
• Don’t give away your personal information in the survey forms given in restaurants/shopping malls.

Detect Virus in Computer

Many of us wonder how our Antivirus software scans for virus, worm, trojan. When we scan a computer or folder or local drive for virus what actually happens during the virus scan period?

What are techniques applied to trace the virus existence in computer?

There are five (5) techniques used by anti virus program to detect virus:
1. Signature Based Scan.
2. Heuristic Based Scan.
3. Threat Sense Technology.
4. Artificial Intelligence.
5. Proactive Defense.

Signature Based Scan:
Traditionally, Antivirus solutions have relied strongly on signature-based scanning, also referred to as “scan string-based technologies”. Signature based scanning anti virus program searches within given files for the presence of certain strings (also only in certain regions). If these predefined strings are found, then antivirus report “A Threat has been detected”.

According to Mcafee Lab, hundreds of viruses are released every day on internet, so it’s gigantic task to catch all those viruses. So, anti virus research labs will be working round the clock in tracking of new viruses and then designing new patches to anti virus program so, in this way anti virus program detect the latest unknown viruses and threats.

Heuristic Based Scan:
The first heuristic engines were introduced to detect DOS viruses in 1989. Heuristic is an adjective for methods that help in problem solving. In this scanning, anti virus program searches instructions or commands within a file that are not found in typical good application programs. As a result, a heuristic engine is able to detect potentially malicious files and report them as a virus.

Threat Sense Technology:
Earlier when a virus was found in computer then it was detected by antivirus experts after many days. By that period of time virus had done enough damage to millions of computers around the world. Now a days anti virus experts designed Threat Sense Technology, this technology monitoring the computer activities when a certain files does suspicious activity in computer, anti virus program keep eye on that file. Next, when you update your anti virus these files are send to anti virus labs of that anti virus that you are using. The security experts then analyze the file, if it is a virus or malicious code then they make it’s signatures and updates the anti virus program. So in this way virus can be caught by anti virus program within very short period of time.

Artificial Intelligence:
These programs monitor you computer activities. If any dangerous or specious activity occurred by a file, then anti virus program inform the user and give some options to user to perform certain actions. Now user of that computer has to take decision whether it is a virus file or something useful file. If user takes wrong decision then the software which is reported by anti virus get corrupted and antivirus quarantined.

Proactive Defense:
There is another technology in anti virus program is “Proactive Defense”. When any program or process in computer gets executed, then “Proactive Defense” tells the user about the activity of the program and asks user whether to allow it or to block the program or process execution.

Files get corrupt by Hackers

An attacker may be able to insert malicious code into any file, including common file types that you would normally consider safe. These files may include documents created with word processing software, spreadsheets, or image files. After corrupting the file, an attacker may distribute it through email or post it to a website. Depending on the type of malicious code, you may infect your computer by just opening the file.

When corrupting files, attackers often take advantage of vulnerabilities that they discover in the software that is used to create or open the file. These vulnerabilities may allow attackers to insert and execute malicious scripts or code, and they are not always detected. Sometimes the vulnerability involves a combination of certain files or only affects certain versions of a software program.

What problems can malicious files cause?

There are various types of malicious code, including viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. However, the range of consequences varies even within these categories. The malicious code may be designed to perform one or more functions, including
Interfering with your computer's ability to process information by consuming memory or bandwidth
Installing, altering, or deleting files on your computer
Giving the attacker access to your computer
Using your computer to attack other computers

How can you protect yourself?

Use and maintain anti-virus software: Anti-virus software can often recognize and protect your computer against most known viruses, so you may be able to detect and remove the virus before it can do any damage. Because attackers are continually writing new viruses, it is important to keep your definitions up to date.

Use caution with email attachments: Do not open email attachments that you were not expecting, especially if they are from people you do not know. If you decide to open an email attachment, scan it for viruses first. Not only is it possible for attackers to "spoof" the source of an email message, but your legitimate contacts may unknowingly send you an infected file. If your email program automatically downloads and opens attachments, check your settings to see if you can disable this feature.

Be ware of downloadable files on websites: Avoid downloading files from sites that you do not trust. If you are getting the files from a supposedly secure site, look for a website certificate. If you do download a file from a website, consider saving it to your computer and manually scanning it for viruses before opening it.

Keep software up to date: Install software patches so that attackers cannot take advantage of known problems or vulnerabilities. Many operating systems offer automatic updates. If this option is available, you should enable it.

Take advantage of security settings: Check the security settings of your email client and your web browser. Apply the highest level of security available that still gives you the functionality you need.

Mail Account Security

This article describes the Login Activity feature from within the Yahoo! Account Manager that can show you what login activity your account has had over the past several days if you are suspicious that an unauthorized person may have broken into your account.

We know that there is much concern now as to how accounts, such as your Yahoo! account can be accessed by people not authorized to do so. Yahoo! is also concerned about this and has a new feature now that can give your key information about each login your Yahoo! account has had over the last several days. The feature is called "Login Activity" and here is how it works:

1.     Please go to the Yahoo! Account Info website ( http://account.yahoo.com ). 

Note: You may be asked to log in to your Yahoo! account.

2.     Towards the middle of the page under "Sign-in and Security," select View your recent login activity. You should now be able to see all the login activity for your account for the past few days.

3.     If you feel you need to go back further, then click View More towards the bottom of the page.

Once you get there, you'll see four columns:

·         Date/Time: This indicates the date and time the account was accessed.

·         Access Type: This is the method of access such as a browser (IE, Firefox, Chrome, etc..), a mobile device, or a Yahoo! product like Yahoo! Messenger.

·         Event type – This shows exactly how the login took place.

·         Location/ IP Address - This is actually a pull-down menu that allows you to select how you wish the physical location to be displayed. (Location is selected as the default.)

·         Location - Indicates the Country and State of the computer you logged in from.

·         IP Address - Indicates the Internet Protocol Address of the computer you logged in from.

These may be the signs that your account has been compromised:

·         You normally access from just one or two computers, but you see multiple geographic locations.

·         The Access Type column shows your account was accessed from a mobile device, but you never use mobile to access your account.

If you see anything here that looks suspicious to you, we recommend that you change your account password. It is the easiest way to prevent suspicious activity.

You can also create a Yahoo! sign-in seal to prevent such illegal activity such as spam and phishing.

Boost Computer Speed

Generally computers develop many problems when they used for long time. One of such problem is in computer speed because stack of temporary files and internet files, fragmented data on hard disk and too many start up programs. To improve the computer speed, just follow the steps:

Delete internet and temporary files
These files are created while you operate the computer and using internet, most of these files are not important to system. So if you keep these files for a long time they will create havoc in computer speed. To delete the files:

1.Open ‘My Computer’ and click right mouse button on ‘Local C Drive’
2.Click on ‘Properties’ in the shortcut menu.
3.In the ‘Properties’ window ‘General’ tab you will find a ‘Disk cleanup’ button, just press the ‘Disk Cleanup’ button.
4.Then it displays a message window click ‘OK’ button to continue deleting temporary files from computer.

Perform Disk Derangement
When a computer used for a long time the data on hard disk will be scattered and it makes the system to find data too much time. So to overcome this problem just do the steps:

1.Open ‘My Computer’ and click right mouse button on ‘Local C Drive’
2.Click on ‘Properties’ in the shortcut menu.
3.In the ‘Properties’ window select ‘Tools’ tab.
4.Click on ‘Defragment now’ button.

Then system starts defragmenting your computer, it may take time depending on the size of your hard disk and no. of files.

Note: Do this Disk Derangement once in 15 days.

Disable Programs in Start up
You might have installed too many programs on your computer and most of the software programs assign automatically to start up. In this case opening too many programs at start up the system get slow down and take more time than usual. To get rid of this problem follow the steps:

1.Type ‘MSCONFIG’ in the run command window or command prompt C:>MSCONFIG then press Enter key.
2.In ‘General’ tab select the third option ‘Selective Startup’.
3.Click mouse on ‘Startup’ tab and remove the selection of those unnecessary programs from the list.
4.Then click ‘Apply’ button and ‘OK’ button.

Now Restart your computer and check the difference, you will be happy now with the performance of your computer.

Telemarketing Fraud

While there are many legitimate companies that use the telephone for marketing, consumers and business lose millions of dollars to telemarketing fraud each year. It's sometimes hard to tell the difference between reputable telemarketers and criminals who use the phone to rob people. You can protect yourself by learning how to recognize the danger signs of fraud. If you are a victim or attempted victim of telemarketing fraud, it's important to report the scam quickly so that law enforcement agencies can shut the fraudulent operation down.

Fraudulent telemarketers understand human nature. We all want to believe that it’s our lucky day, that we can get a great deal, or that we can solve our problems.

It’s important to know who you’re dealing with. If a company or charity is unfamiliar, check it out with your state or local consumer agency and the Better Business Bureau. Fraudulent operators open and close quickly, so the fact that no one has made a complaint yet doesn’t guarantee the company or charity is legitimate. Ask for advice about the type of pitch you received and the danger signs of fraud.

Some telemarketing pitches are blatantly fraudulent, and you should know the signs. It’s illegal for telemarketers to ask for a fee upfront if they promise or claim it’s likely they’ll get you a credit card or loan, or to “repair” your credit. It’s also illegal for any company to ask you to pay or buy something to win a prize, or to claim that paying will increase your chances of winning. And it’s illegal to buy and sell tickets to foreign lotteries by phone or mail.

Read More ....

Ten Commandments Of Facebook

Posting certain photos or information on the site puts you at risk of being fired, a victim of crime, or even worse. There are computer programs called 'data mining' that sweep Facebook to collect dates of birth, phone numbers, addresses etc. Here are the things you should never post on Facebook.

1. Date and place of birth: This places you at massive risk of identity theft. They are the most commonly used security questions on password resetting sites.
2. Mother's maiden name: A lot of sites use your mother's maiden name to authenticate who you are. They also commonly use the school you went to as a security question.
3. Address: It again puts you at risk from identity fraud, but also from burglars and stalkers.
4. Holidays: Don’t put any update about your holiday or outing that means you are basically saying: "Come and rob me."
5. Short trips away from home: Again, this can put you at risk of burglary and stalking.
6. Inappropriate photos: Don't post racy, illicit, offensive or incriminating photos. Bosses and prospective employers are increasingly looking at Facebook pages.
7. Confessionals: These can also get you fired or haunt you for the rest of your life.
8. Phone number: Unless you want to be bombarded with unsolicited phone calls from people trying to sell you something don't.
9. Children's names: These can be used by identity fraudsters or, more sinisterly, by paedophiles. It is much easier to steal a child's identity.
10. Don't post a full public profile: It won't just exist on Facebook, it will go on any internet search such as Google. Only give the bare bones such as a name. Keep everything else private.

Security of Firewall

A firewall is software or hardware that checks information coming from the Internet or a network, and then either blocks it or allows it to pass through to your computer, depending on your firewall settings.

A firewall can help prevent hackers or malicious software (such as worms) from gaining access to your computer through a network or the Internet. A firewall can also help stop your computer from sending malicious software to other computers.

View and edit advanced firewall options

• You must be logged on as an administrator to perform these steps.
• Windows Firewall with Advanced Security is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that provides more advanced options for IT professionals. With this firewall, you can set up and view detailed inbound and outbound rules and integrate with Internet Protocol security (IPsec).

Follow these steps to open Windows Firewall with Advanced Security:

• Click to open Windows Firewall.
• In the left pane, click advanced settings. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
• Note: You must be a member of the Administrators group or the Network Operators group to use Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.

Online Seller beware of Fraudsters

Buyers at online auctions and classified sites aren't the only ones who stand to lose money if they get caught in a scam. During National Cyber Security Awareness Month, advocates are issuing a warning to sellers as well.

Did you know that the online classified sales site Craigslist receives more than 100 million new posts every month? Billions of dollars in merchandise are bought and sold through the Web site every year. Similarly eye-opening: eBay reports over 112 million active users who have bought or sold an item in the last year. With so many transactions being processed and money changing hands, many scammers see Craigslist, eBay, and other online marketplaces as the perfect place to take advantage of consumers. In typical online buying scams, the buyer is at risk of “purchasing” fake or non-existing products. However, scams targeting the sellers of goods should be a concern to consumers as well. Seller, beware!

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. All month NCL, in partnership with the National Cyber Security Alliance, theDepartment of Homeland Security, and many other organizations is encouraging consumers to adopt safer online habits. Fraudsters often target people through email, tricking consumers into divulging personal information that leads to a scam. NCL’s Fraud.org receives hundreds of complaints every month from people who have been scammed online. Two consumers who fell victim to the fake buyer scam shared their stories with us recently.

This summer, a woman we’ll call “Mary” from New Jersey listed her Blackberry z10 smartphone on eBay for $425. She was elated when the auction closed and the phone sold for $485, well above her asking price. Upon receiving an email from “PayPal” saying the buyer had paid, Mary was ready to ship the phone. The buyer requested that Mary send the phone to Africa for the buyer’s son’s birthday, which she did. Days passed by and then weeks. Mary desperately tried to contact the buyer but was unable to reach her and later found out that the “PayPal” email was a forgery.

Read more......

Security for Browser

Browser hijacking is a type of online fraud. Scammers use malicious software (malware) to take control of your computer's Internet browser and change how and what it displays when you're surfing the web. If you are already a victim of a hijacked browser, the following instructions can help you free your browser from the hackers, restore browser settings, and boost browser security.

Help free your browser from hackers
Antivirus and antispyware software helps prevent and detect malware. If any malware does manage to bypass your firewall, antivirus and antispyware software will help remove that potentially dangerous software. If you have Windows 8 installed, antivirus software is included with the operating system. You are not required to do anything to set it up. If you are using earlier versions of Windows, Microsoft provides free antivirus software called Microsoft Security Essentials. Many of our partners also offer antivirus software.

Help restore your browser home page
If your home page keeps changing back to another page, this might be a sign that your computer is infected with a virus. After you have updated your computer with the latest antivirus software, restore your browser home page.

To change your home page in Internet Explorer 10

• Internet Explorer 10 is the latest and most secure version of the Microsoft web browser.
• Download Internet Explorer 10 to help protect your computer against viruses, fraud, ID theft, and other threats.
• In Internet Explorer, navigate to the page that you want to make your home page.
• Click the down arrow next to the Home icon on the Internet Explorer toolbar, and then click Add or change home page.
• Click either Use this webpage as your only home page or Add this webpage to your home page tabs.

Help boost browser security by disabling add-ons
Many browser hijackings come from add-on software, also known as browser extensions, browser helper objects, or toolbars. These items can improve your experience on a website by providing multimedia or interactive content, such as animations. However, some add-on software can cause your computer to stop responding or display content that you don't want, such as pop-up ads. Internet Explorer 10 and Internet Explorer 9 warn you in the notification area of your browser if an add-on is slowing down your computer. You can also view the add-ons that you already have installed and disable the add-ons that you don't want by clicking the gear icon, and then clicking Manage add-ons.

Security with HTTP

Secured HTTP
Let us discuss about what is HTTP? It is protocol to transmit the user request to remote server to open a website or web pages on internet. Its abbreviation is “Hyper Text Transfer Protocol” (HTTP) commonly used in internet browsers to open a website in the browser window. Actually when you type a website name in the browser, the HTTP protocol transfer your website name to the remote server eventually to open the web pages on your computer screen. HTTP protocol request send to the remote server through port 80 and your web address is preceded by http://websitename.

How Secure is HTTP?
Speaking In technical terms now a days HTTP protocol is not secured especially when you are making financial transactions your data can be stolen while it is transmitted to a web server. So we can conclude that sites that are using HTTP protocol are vulnerable for data theft. So, we need a alternative for HTTP to transmit the data in secured way.

You are Secure with HTTPS
HTTPSecure means HTTPS basically combination of HTTP and SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protocol allows the user to establish a secured encrypted connection between user and the website hosted remote server. HTTPS is commonly used by websites with sensitive transactions like online payments or banking transactions or personal data. Example FACEBOOK and TWITTER social networking sites are using HTTPS protocol to keep secure their user data. When you type the name of the website https://websitename appear automatically.

HTTP use port 80
HTTPS use port 443

Warning: Don’t do any online payments or money transactions with websites without HTTPS. First check the website whether it is giving encrypted security or not, then only you proceed for transactions.

Security and safe computing

Are you allowing other people to use your computer or share files with others while you are browsing Internet. So, be careful there are computer criminals (called as hackers) who attack other people's computers with intension to steal personal information. These people can attack directly or by breaking into your computer through the Internet and steal your personal information this could lead to attack on your computer by sending malicious software to harm your computer. To avoid such attacks you can protect yourself by taking a few simple precautions.

Protect your computerThese are ways to help protect your computer against potential security threats:

1. Update Windows regularly 
2. Install Firewall software in your Computer 
3. Install latest Anti-Virus 
4. Install Spyware and other malware protection 

Update Windows automatically
Microsoft regularly offers important updates to Windows that can help protect your computer against new viruses and other security threats. To ensure that you receive these updates as quickly as possible, turn on automatic updating. That way, you don't have to worry that critical fixes for Windows might be missing from your computer.

• To turn on automatic updating
• Click to open Windows Update.
• Click Change settings.

Make sure Install updates automatically (recommended) is selected. Windows will install important updates for your computer as they become available. Important updates provide significant benefits, such as improved security and reliability.

Under Recommended updates, make sure the Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates check box is selected, and then click OK. Recommended updates can address non-critical problems and help enhance your computing experience. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Use a firewall SoftwareA firewall is software or hardware that checks information coming from the Internet or a network and then either turns it away or allows it to pass through to your computer, depending on your firewall settings. In this way, a firewall helps prevent hackers and malicious software from gaining access to your computer. Windows Firewall is built into Windows and is turned on automatically.

If you run a program such as an instant messaging program or a multiplayer network game that needs to receive information from the Internet or a network, the firewall asks if you want to block or unblock (allow) the connection. If you choose to unblock the connection, Windows Firewall creates an exception so that the firewall won't bother you when that program needs to receive information in the future.

Use virus protection
Viruses, worms, and Trojan horses are programs created by hackers that use the Internet to infect vulnerable computers. Viruses and worms can replicate themselves from computer to computer, while Trojan horses enter a computer by hiding inside an apparently legitimate program, such as a screen saver. Destructive viruses, worms, and Trojan horses can erase information from your hard disk or completely disable your computer. Others don't cause direct damage, but worsen your computer's performance and stability.

Antivirus programs scan e‑mail and other files on your computer for viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. If any malicious code is found, the antivirus program either quarantines (isolates) it or deletes it entirely before it damages your computer and files.

Windows does not have a built-in antivirus program, so install a latest ant-virus software program and update the anti-virus regularly.

Use spyware protection
Spyware is software that can display advertisements, collect information about you or change settings on your computer, generally without appropriately obtaining your consent. For example, spyware can install unwanted toolbars, links, or favorites in your web browser, change your default home page, or display pop-up ads frequently. Some spyware displays no symptoms that you can detect, but it secretly collects sensitive information, such as the websites you visit or the text you type. Most spyware is installed through free software that you download, but in some cases simply visiting a website results in a spyware infection.

To help protect your computer from spyware, use an antispyware program. Windows 7 has a built-in antispyware program called Windows Defender, which is turned ON by default. Windows Defender alerts you when spyware tries to install itself on your computer. It also can scan your computer for existing spyware and then remove it.

Security Protection of anti-virus softwares

In order to protect your computers and servers from viruses, it is essential that you have virus-protection software installed. Virus-protection software, is software that knows about the different viruses that exist and can either remove the virus or remove files from your system that contain viruses.

There are different types of anti-virus softwares are available in the market. Each antivirus software product has its own benefits and features. Each of the products is very competitive and should have similar features available. The more important features of antivirus softwares are following.

Scheduled virus scans: Virus scans can be scheduled to perform automatically on the system. This is a great feature because you can have the virus-scanning software scan the system in the middle of the night, when the system is not being used. You may also choose what happens when a virus is found attempt to remove the virus from the file, place the file in a quarantine area, or delete the file. The benefit of a scheduled scan is that you do not have to physically perform the scan yourself.

Real-time protection: Real-time protection is the idea that the virus protection software runs in memory all the time and scans any file that you open. The benefit of real-time protection is that you are protected from viruses between the scan times.

Scheduled definition updates: Virus definitions are what the virus protection software uses to maintain its knowledge of what viruses are out there. The virus-protection software should have a feature that allows the definitions to be downloaded from the antivirus vendor’s site.

Scanning e-mail: Many versions of virus-protection software today support scanning e-mail messages as they arrive in your inbox. This is typical of virus-protection software that runs on an e-mail server.

Malicious Software

There are many types of malicious software, outside of your typical viruses, attack systems every day. The following sections outline other types of malicious software but understand that they are all considered types of viruses.

Trojan horses
Trojan horses virus are special designed and bundled in an exe file, when some one click on this exe file then it executes the virus program and takes control of the system. For example, NetBus is a very popular Trojan virus that ships as a file called patch.exe. A hacker e-mails the file called patch.exe and explains in the e-mail that this is a security patch you need to apply to make sure your system is secure. Unfortunately, patch.exe is the security hole! When you run patch.exe, it opens your system up to the hacker by opening a port so that the hacker can connect to the port at any time and control your system. Trojan viruses are normally loaded on your system by the hacker tricking you into running the program on the system. You can remove the Trojan with virus-protection software.

Worms
A worm is a self-replicating virus. By self-replicating, I mean that the worm doesn't need to be activated by the user opening the file. A worm is a virus that runs on a system and also tries to infect other systems on the network. The Nimda virus is an example of a worm virus. Worms are loaded on your system by connecting to your system from across the Internet. The worm is usually designed to infect the system by connecting through a specific piece of software.

Spyware and adware
Spyware is software that loads on your system and then monitors your Internet activity, while adware is software that creates pop-ups from time to time advertising a particular product or service. Both of these types of viruses infect your system when you surf the wrong Internet site. Spyware and adware have become a huge negative result of the Internet, so a number of products are available to eliminate spyware and adware. The most popular products used to eliminate spyware and adware are

• Spybot Search & Destroy
• Ad-Aware
• Microsoft’s Windows Defender

Security Check List

Security Checklist for Your Computer

Use this checklist to make sure you are taking advantage of all the ways that Windows can help keep your computer as secure and safe as possible.

Action Center

Use Action Center to make sure your firewall is on, your antivirus software is up to date, and your computer is set up to install updates automatically.

Windows Defender

Use Windows Defender to prevent malicious software, like spyware or viruses, from infecting your computer.

User Account Control

User Account Control prompts you for your permission before installing software or opening certain kinds of programs that could potentially harm your computer or make it vulnerable to security threats.

Backup and Restore

It's important to back up your files and settings regularly so that if you get a virus or have any kind of hardware failure, you can recover your files.

Windows Update

Set Windows Update to download and install the latest updates for your computer automatically.


Windows Firewall

Use Windows Firewall to help prevent hackers and unwanted software from gaining access to your computer through the Internet.

Security zones (Adding or Removing websites)

Internet Explorer assigns all websites to one of four security zones; Internet, Local intranet, Trusted sites or Restricted sites. The zone to which a website is assigned specifies the security settings that are used for that site. You can choose which websites to assign to the Intranet, Trusted, or Restricted zones. By adding a website to a specific zone, you can control the level of security used on that site. For example, if you have a list of websites that you visit and you completely trust those sites, add those sites to the trusted zone.

To add a website to a security zone

• Click to open Internet Explorer. 
• Navigate to the website that you want to add to a specific security zone.
• Click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options.
• Click the Security tab, and then click a security zone (Local intranet, Trusted sites, or Restricted sites).
• Click Sites.
• If you clicked Local intranet in step 4, click Advanced.
• The website should be shown in the Add this website to the zone field. Click Add.

Note: If the site is not a secure site (HTTPS), clear the Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone check box.

• Click Close, and then click OK (or click OK twice if you clicked Local intranet in step 4).

To remove a website from a security zone

• Click to open Internet Explorer. 
• Click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options.
• Click the Security tab, and then click a security zone (Local intranet, Trusted sites, or Restricted sites).
• Click Sites.
• If you clicked Local intranet in step 3, click Advanced.
• In Websites, click the website that you want to remove.
• Click Remove.
• Click Close, and then click OK (or click OK twice if you clicked Local intranet in step 3).

Download video stream from internet

A lot of system administrators to curb bandwidth and resources on their network have a tendency to block video streaming on the internet to prevent users from watching online streaming videos. So, we can download those videos from internet without any hassles.

There are many popular websites which are providing downloading services, such as: http://www.keepvid.com, http://www.savevid.com, http://www.zamzar.com and many more.

How to download a video stream from internet?
1. Start your browser and connect any popular video download website given above. And type the URL    name in the address bar.
2. Type the video stream URL link in the text box shown in website.
3. Choose your choice of down load format such as .FLV .MP4 and other formats and then click download. That’s all….

ICMP logging settings in Windows Firewall

If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings might prevent you from completing these steps.

To find ICMP and logging settings, open Windows Firewall with Advanced Security:

1. Click to open Windows Firewall.

2. In the left pane, click advanced settings. If you are prompted for an administrator

password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

3. In the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security dialog box, in the left pane, click Monitoring.

To change logging settings:

1. In the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security dialog box, in the left pane, click Windows Firewall with Advanced Security on Local Computer.

2. In the middle pane, click Windows Firewall properties.

3. Click the Domain Profile tab, and then, under Logging, click Customize.

4. In the dialog box that appears, change the settings you want to change, and then click OK.

You can specify ICMP settings by creating inbound or outbound rules using the ICMPv4 or ICMPv6 protocol.

Open a port in Windows Firewall

If Windows Firewall is blocking a program and you want to allow that program to communicate through the firewall, you can usually do that by selecting the program in the list of allowed programs (also called the exceptions list) in Windows Firewall. To learn how to do this, see Allow a program to communicate through Windows Firewall.

However, if the program isn't listed, you might need to open a port. For example, to play a multiplayer game with friends online, you might need to open a port for the game so that the firewall allows the game information to reach your computer. A port stays open all the time, so be sure to close ports that you don't need open anymore.

1. Click to open Windows Firewall.

2. In the left pane, click Advanced settings. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

3. In the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security dialog box, in the left pane, click Inbound Rules, and then, in the right pane, click New Rule.

4. Follow the instructions in the New Inbound Rule wizard.

Risks of allowing programs through a firewall

When you add a program to the list of allowed programs in a firewall, or when you open a firewall port, you allow a particular program to send information to or from your computer through the firewall. Allowing a program to communicate through a firewall (sometimes called unblocking) is like punching a hole in the firewall.

Each time you open a port or allow a program to communicate through a firewall, your computer becomes a bit less secure. The more allowed programs or open ports your firewall has, the more opportunities there are for hackers or malicious software to use one of those openings to spread a worm, access your files, or use your computer to spread malicious software to others.

It's generally safer to add a program to the list of allowed programs than to open a port. If you open a port, it stays open until you close it, whether or not a program is using it. If you add a program to the list of allowed programs, the "hole" is open only when needed for a particular communication.


To help decrease your security risk:

1. Only allow a program or open a port when you really need to, and remove programs from the list of allowed programs or close ports that you no longer need.

2. Never allow a program that you don't recognize to communicate through the firewall.

Firewall

A firewall is software or hardware that checks information coming from the Internet or a network, and then either blocks it or allows it to pass through to your computer, depending on your firewall settings.

A firewall can help prevent hackers or malicious software (such as worms) from gaining access to your computer through a network or the Internet. A firewall can also help stop your computer from sending malicious software to other computers.

View and edit advanced firewall options

• You must be logged on as an administrator to perform these steps.
• Windows Firewall with Advanced Security is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that provides more advanced options for IT professionals. With this firewall, you can set up and view detailed inbound and outbound rules and integrate with Internet Protocol security (IPsec).

Follow these steps to open Windows Firewall with Advanced Security:

• Click to open Windows Firewall.
• In the left pane, click advanced settings. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
• Note: You must be a member of the Administrators group or the Network Operators group to use Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.

Un-Blocking Torrents

Most system administrators use below techniques to block Bit Torrent on the network.

1. Disable installation of torrents clients like µTorrents on your system. The assumption is that without a torrent client a user will not be able to download a torrent file.

2. Block the download of any file that has a .torrent file extension. All torrent meta files have a .torrent extension. If a user is not able to download the torrent meta file, then it will not know the location of the target file and hence it will not be able to successfully download it.

3. Blocking the ports used by torrent clients like µTorrent.

Let us know how easy to bypass these commonly used blocking mechanism.
If your administrator does not allow you to install torrent clients on your system, then it is still possible for you to download torrents with the help of web based torrent clients which allow you to download the torrent file straight from your browser!

Web based Torrent Client
Open your browser and type www.bitlet.org in the address bar and open the website.
Type the torrent URL that you want to download inside of the www.bitlet.org webpage and download your torrent without any hassles.