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Recommended: Operating system
The operating system which I am choosing is Windows Operating System. According to me this operating system provides fast updates and fairly secure. Developers in Microsoft do a reasonably great job at making windows operating systems secure before they release any version of it. But as we know hackers at the same time doesn’t take long to discover its security weakness and exploit them to infiltrate networks, steal data and take over or disable systems. Developers at Microsoft too realize that and they are prompt in fixing those loopholes by plugging and repairing them. Microsoft accomplishes this through regular updates available to all users of genuine Windows products. Because Microsoft usually releases security updates within a few days …show more content…
If a hacker is somehow able to gain access to your computer while you are logged in as an administrator, he will instantly have much more access to critical and sensitive areas on your PC. Microsoft Security bulletins released in 2013 reveal that 92 percent of critical vulnerabilities in Windows could be mitigated, reduced or eliminated if users were not set up as administrators. Therefore, you should create two accounts in Windows - one with administrator rights and one without. Since Windows limits access to many areas for non-admin user accounts, your PC and data are much less at risk.
Temporary Internet Files
Sometimes, though, AV and anti-malware programs may not detect or remove the bad files if they are in .ZIP or other compressed formats and stored inside your browser or temporary Internet files cache. Deleting temporary Internet files regularly also helps to improve hard drive performance, which means a faster PC. Deleting temporary Internet files varies depending on the Web browser you use.
If it’s Chrome/Internet explorer:
Control PanelNetwork and Internet Internet OptionsGeneral Delete (browsing History) Delete
If it’s Firefox (one can delete file directly from browser)
In Menu bar History Clear recent History
Data Management and
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Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware Software: it is imperative that you install anti-virus and anti-malware programs on your computer and keep them updated. This will help protect you from spyware and viruses that send document data stealthily to remote computers.
3. Firewall: Firewalls are an essential component in protecting your personal data and information. Most good anti-virus suites include a firewall that limits access to your computer. Windows includes a personal firewall that is reliable - as long as it 's enabled. Therefore, always ensure that you have a firewall application active on your computer to keep hackers and intruders from simply viewing or downloading documents on your PC.
4. Phishing Emails: Criminals and hackers use phishing emails to solicit passwords, social security numbers and other important personal information by utilizing fake templates and email addresses that resemble those of legitimate banks and websites. If you receive an email that does, mark it as SPAM and delete it immediately.
5. Surfing Safely: Keeping your browser updated to the latest version will help considerably in avoiding phishing or malicious websites. When visiting any website that requests your personal information, look for the padlock icon in the lower-right corner or the address bar of the browser window. If you don 't see the padlock icon, don 't enter any information that could identify
A common way that people steal information is through phishing emails. The thieves send a large number of emails to people, saying that they are their bank, or some other financial company. It says that you need to click on the link, then login. When you do, the thieves would have all the information they need to be able to use your account. Another type of phishing emails is someone telling you that you have been scammed, and that the only way to take care of it is by telling them your financial information, saying that they will need it. This, of course, will not help you in any way, as you were not scammed in the first place, and you told them your financial information, which they can use to take loans, use your money...etc. One last type of common phishing email is more directed towards parents and grandparents. The thief pretends to be their child or grandchild, in vacation, the thieves might know whether they really are in vacation or not from social media, and that they encountered a problem, and are in need of money, fast. People can’t really stop themselves from sending money as their children are very important to them. One common way that hackers steal information is one that people often forget. Hackers guessing password on your phone is one way they take information. That is why having weak passwords, such as “1234” or your
Using the internet might compromise the safety of user data in some sites which means that the OS
According to CloudEight Security Tips, Spyware and adware are the number one threat to computer users (“Say” 1). Computer users whose computer system or internet connection is slower than normal are a victim of this threat. According to Wikipedia, spyware is any piece of software that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge (Spyware 1). They have also defined malware, a piece of software intended to do harm to a computer, as a classification of spyware. These types of software will unnecessarily load ads, websites you didn’t intend to visit, or collect information thus slowing down your computer system or internet connection. It’s time to search and destroy these little pieces of software off of your computer.
As electronic commerce, online business-to-business operations, and global connectivity have become vital components of a successful business strategy, enterprises have adopted security processes and practices to protect information assets. But if you look at today's computing environments, system security is a horrible game of numbers: there are currently over 9,223 publicly released vulnerabilities covering known security holes in a massive range of applications from popular Operating Systems through to obscure and relatively unknown web applications. [01] Over 300 new vulnerabilities are being discovered and released each month. Most companies work diligently to maintain an efficient, effective security policy, implementing the latest products and services to prevent fraud, vandalism, sabotage, and denial of service attacks. But the fact is you have to patch every hole of your system, but an attacker need find only one to get into your environment. Whilst many organisations subscribe to major vendor's security alerts, these are just the tip of the security iceberg and even these are often ignored. For example, the patch for the Code Red worm was available some weeks before the worm was released. [02]
Spyware was once a word that no one had ever heard of, but it has evolved into a very popular word used when talking about the computer world. The definition of spyware is very simple. It is a software program that infiltrates computer systems and transmits information either back to its original source, or causes destruction inside the computer. C. David Moll of Webroot Software defines it as a program with the, "ability to access a user's machine without informed consent for financial gain," (Johnson). Spyware does not have one specific function. It can be created and modified to perform the exact actions that the creator wants done. Spyware infections invade privacy, destroy computer's internal programs, and are very hard to get rid of or filter. Spyware has become more of an issue as time has progressed. Many programs have been created to stop or try to control it, but it still runs ramped throughout the wires of the internet. Even the government has gotten involved to help control ever growing problem. Something has got to be done, before everyone's personal information is access, and all privacy is lost.
Specialists have proposed a few antiphishing strategies lately to counter or keep the expanding number of strike. As a rule, we can partition phishing discovery and counteractive action strategies into two classifications: email-level methodologies, including validation and content filtering, and browser integrated tools, which generally utilize URL blacklist or utilize Web page content analysis.
Computer security is the process of preventing and detecting unauthorized use of your computer. Prevention measures help to stop unauthorized users or intruders from accessing any part of a computer system. Detection helps one to determine whether or not someone attempted to break into a computer system, if they were successful, and what they may have done.
Slow Internet access: Spyware slows your connection down by importing information like pop-up ads, while sending out information such as user activity, bank account numbers etc.Less productive computer: Spyware can grossly slow a PC down because it operates in the background, taking up valuable resources. Other spyware applications store advertising on a computer's hard drive.
While many people don’t realize it, there is always a risk when you use the internet. You must be able to know how to defend yourself against these attacks, or you risk losing it all. References Denholm, Martin. The. The Number One Threat to America's National Security."
The popularity of Internet Explorer along with its poor security measures makes it a frequent target of spyware. Unlike worms and viruses where they self-replicate, spyware is designed primarily for commercial gain. Spyware copies important banking passwords and credit card information and sends it back to the third party. In the US there have been security measures to counter act the threat of spyware called policeware. (Reimer) According to the website “Paretologic” there was a “71 percent increase in spyware from 2008 to 2009”, and about “15 percent of spyware sends potentially confidential info inputted by users which is collected via keyloggers”. Simply clicking on the wrong links can download spyware onto a computer. One must be extremely careful and know the good websites from the bad.
A firewall is a network device, hardware, software, or a combination of the two, whose purpose is to enforce a security policy across its connections. It is comparable to a wall that has a window where the wall serves to keep things out, except those permitted through the window. A security policy acts like the glass in the window; it permits some things to pass, light, while blocking others, air. The heart of a firewall is the security policy that it enforces.
Also, when they are browsing the web, a lot of information about the websites that the user visited are kept in the browser. These are the cookies, caches, browsing history, and save form data. Another example is when a program is installed and uninstalled on the computer. The files of this program would leave traces on the computer and become junk files. These temporary items on the computer are not removed automatically after shutting down the system. They normally would just pile up and may lead to speed issues because they occupy hard drive space. So, it is important to clean up junks to keep the computer optimized and free up hard disk drive to store more valuable items.
An Operating system is system software that controls the system’s hardware that interacts with users and the application software. As we all may know, Windows Microsoft has always been a commercial high-level sale in the retail industry and an in domain operating system used today. But there are more operating systems than just Windows Microsoft than the general population may assume. Linux is another well-known operating systems, which is free and open-source software. Linux is also used in companies we would have never thought of like Google, NASA, USPS, Amazon and many more companies. Linux and Microsoft operating systems have been in competition to see which one is the best operating system in the market. There are so many resemblances
Be aware of e-mail scams and emails that might contain viruses or inappropriate content. Simply do not open emails from sources you do not know. Better yet delete such emails.