Protecting Your C omputer & Your I nformation

1. Protecting Your Computer & Your Information

2. Threats • Virus • Worm • Trojan horse • Rootkits • Blended methods • Spyware & Malware • All of the threat can have varying levels of impact from annoying to disabling.

3. Virus • Attaches itself to a program or file. • Has the ability to spread from one computer to another. • Almost all viruses are attached to executable files and will not infect your computer until the executable is run. • Usually require some form of human action to spread.

4. Worm • Really a sub-class of virus but significant enough to be classified separately. • Spreads from computer to computer without any human interaction. • Capable of replicating itself until it consumes all available memory or processing capacity.

5. Trojan Horse • A program that hides inside of another program. • Usually embedded in software that appears legitimate that the user download and executes. • Embedded program often activates in response to an event or date. • Does not reproduce by infection other files nor does it self-replicate.

6. Rootkit • Infects the system kernel or disk boot record. • Typically very difficult to detect and remove. • Sometime spread as a DRIVE-BY download where just visiting an infected website infects your computer.

7. Spyware & Malware • Often tracks users movements. • Creates logs of keystrokes, emails, websites visited, etc.

8. Regular user vs. Administrator • For day-to-day use of the computer you should be logged in as a regular user. • Only log into an administrator account when you need to perform an action that requires administrator rights. • Always be cautious when an application asks for administrator rights.

9. Updates • Perform regulars updates of your operating system (OS) and your applications. • Turn on automated updates. • Make sure updates are scheduled to run.

10. Backups • Ideally back up your full system. • Back up your data on a regular basis. • Back up to a separate physical device. • Back up to a removable media. • Test your backups to make sure they are good. • Encrypt your data on removable flash drives.

11. Useful Software • Virus Protection • Microsoft Security Essentials (free, full version) • MalwareBytes (free limited version for home use) • Spyware/Adware • Ad-Aware Personal (free limited version) • Spybot-Search & Destroy (free limited version) • Firewalls • ZoneAlarm • The software listed above is (or at least was) free for personal use.

12. Useful Software Links • McAfee VirusScan @ NDSU • http://www.ndsu.edu/its/software/ • Ad-Aware • http://www.lavasoft.com/ • Spybot Search & Destroy • http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html • ZoneAlarm • http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/home.htm • A Guide to Firewalls & other software • http://www.firewallguide.com/

13. Phishing • Anti-Phishing Phil • http://cups.cs.cmu.edu/antiphishing_phil/ • A game based tutorial that teaches users how to identify phishing URLs, where to look for cues in web browsers, and how to use search engines to find legitimate sites. • This is now a commercial product but you can still play the first round for free.