Tutorial Blog 4: Intro to Basic Computer Security

For my final tutorial blog I felt it was a good idea to cover a topic everyone with a computer should have some knowledge about...Computer Security. While I'm no expert when it comes to the topic, there are some basics that every computer owner and user should know. To go over the basics, we'll start from the moment you boot up your system..

Hard Drive Encryption
One of the very first lines of defense you can install on your computer is hard drive encryption software. This software can be configured to prevent your computer from even booting without your password. This can be very useful if you have personal data on your hard drive. Another big advantage of hard drive encryption is that potential intruders are not able to access your hard drive even if they remove it from your computer and connect it to another machine.

User Login
While hard drive encryption is definitely not for every user, one line of defense that every computer owner should have is a User Login and Password. It's not the most sophisticated form of security available on a computer, but for simply locking your computer and preventing use by those in your immediate area (apartment, dorm, etc.) it is more than sufficient at preventing use.
With logins, there are many options today to prevent/allow access to your system. The most common is simply a password. Though some other options that have become more and more common on today's computers are biometric readers, such as finger print scanners, and even facial recognition using a webcam. These are all great options and can be used in conjunction with each other as well as independent of each other.. Most people I know that have the options of facial recognition or finger print scanning end up entering their password more often than using an alternative, though between facial recognition and finger print scanning, finger print scanning seems to be the more favorable because it's faster. A couple aspects of facial recognition that make it not as appealing are that you need proper lighting for the software and camera to work properly, as well as time to sit still and look at the camera so it can analyze you facial features. All in all, you really can't go wrong with using the traditional password approach to deter the unauthorized use.

Now that you've got your computer booted up and you're signed in...
One of the first things you should check to see that is up and running (usually only when you first start up a brand new system) is the firewall. This feature comes built-in on most operating systems and provides a first line of defense from unwanted access that can occur when connected to an internet connection.
Next, it would be a good idea to install an anti-virus program. There are many options out there from companies such as Norton, McAfee, Avira,...the list goes on. The names mentioned are all programs that usually require the purchase of the software and a licensing fee, usually for a year, however, there are many free options available for personal use. Some of these can be found on sites such as http://download.cnet.com/.
This brings us to our option as a supplement to anti-virus software, spyware and malware detectors. While most of the newer anti-virus programs include these features, there are many available, also free for personal use, and can be found on http://download.cnet.com/. A few I have used in the past are Spybot Search and Destroy, and Malware Bytes.

Just a few tips regarding website account passwords...
It's very convient to have access to everything from bank accounts to credit card accounts, and various other forms of personal information online. However, when it comes to accessing theses accounts, they all have their own login systems requiring a username and password. Just about every account advises that you make at least your password unique to that site. When you think about the number of accounts you have, that amounts to many passwords...for some up to 100 plus. One feature that a lot of web browsers have included is the option to remember login information. This is one feature I refuse to use unless it is an account that contains absolutely no personal information...even then, it's still a risk. Now, you can create a Word document or a spreadsheet that contains all of your usernames and passwords, but if you do, keep in mind it is liable to be discovered should someone gain access to your computer. Keeping that in mind, should you decide to make such a file, start with the name of the document or spread sheet. Make it something that doesn't stand out as the key to your accounts, as well as something that only you would know what it's true content is. Next, rather than spelling out your entire username and password, format them as such "u*s****m*" and "p*****r*", or something along similar lines. That way, the *s act as somewhat of a password. Another option to protect these types of files, should you create one, is to encrypt them. There are many free programs that allow you to encrypt files. That way you have one password, the more complex and obscure, the better, to access all you account login data.

All in all, computer security really isn't as daunting a task as it may seem. It just comes down to be aware of potential threats and taking the appropriate precautions to deter and mitigate those threats.

Secure Email Project Blog Post

This week we discussed secure email, as well as computer security and ethics.

Here you can find a couple of screen captures from my Mozilla Thunderbird Inbox that show the responses I received from Professor Means regarding my digitally signed email and my encrypted email, respectively.

Breach of Security Article:

In recent news, there was a breach data security for an email marketing management firm, called Epsilon. Epsilon handles the email information for roughly 50 major companies, including Target, Capital One, and Hilton Honors. In the breach, the names and email addresses of customers for these companies were compromised, though the full extent is not yet known. Though none of the compromised information could directly lead to identity theft, it provides potential thieves with more than enough information to phish and spam email accounts in attempts to gain access to customer accounts.

Since the breach, the companies affected have sent out emails to their customers detailing what happened and instructions to never provide any account information through email, even if the email claims to be from the company. The article also outlines some guidelines maintaining the integrity of your email account through various precautions and tips, such as reading all emails with skepticism, because though an email may look legitimate, potentially harmful emails are made to look as though the originated from a trusted source.

To read the article I summarized and find out more of the tips you should take, go to the following link: http://woodbridge-va.patch.com/articles/email-safety-after-epsilon-data-breach

VoIP Call Extra Credit Blog

In looking through the extra credit opportunities, I thought this would be an excellent one to take advantage of. You'll see in my video that I took place in a conference call with 2 friends of mine, Mike and Alec, who also happen to be in ISM3004. We used Skype to host our call and I used Jing to record my screen during the call. This was not my first time using Skype to call people though. I've used it to talk to my parents a few times, but I use it more often to talk to friends, especially those friends who live abroad. One of my friends lives in Australia and has been in Hong Kong for sometime and this has been a way to keep in touch rather than pay for expensive international calling. I also thought Skype would be good to have because I will be abroad for an internship this summer and rather than pay for a cell phone in another country, I'm just going to make sure my parents have and know how to use Skype so we can keep in touch during my time away. Overall, the conference call among Mike, Alec, and myself went well. I believe we are all very familiar with Skype, which made the call very easy, quick to conduct. That said, you can follow this link to watch and listen to our Skype call if the embedded video doesn't work.  Skype VoIP Call Video

DoppelMe Avatar Extra Credit Blog

To create my avatar I used the website DoppelMe.com. I've never made an avatar before and thought that it might be a bit of a task, but after going to doppelme.com and following the steps, it was actually quite easy to make one, and it's free. In following the steps, you start by selecting gender, skin and eye color. From there you are taken to the main page to build your avatar. Here you can choose a facial expression, hair, clothing, glasses, shoes, a background, and many other customization options to make your avatar reflect you. After going through all the steps, I wound up with my avatar without having to sign up for anything. One of the disadvantages to not signing up is you can't embed your avatar into websites. However, without signing up, you do get to see what it looks like when finished, which gave me the opportunity to take a screen capture of my avatar. Below you'll see what the last step of the avatar creation page looks like, and on the right-hand-side of the screen is what my avatar ended up looking like.