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Safe Surfing.
Your computer
starts acting weird. Advertisements start popping up, even when you're not
on the internet. Your homepage changes to some strange "search
page" or porno site. There may be some new "search bar"
hanging below your normal Toolbar. You may not be able to get to sites you
used to visit, or be routed to sites you never heard of and don't want.
What's happening?! Your first instinct is to blame the kids. Were
they visiting some place they shouldn't have been?
The good news is, you don't have to blame the kids. Whether or not they were visiting places they weren't supposed to is of course, another question, but it's not really their fault this junk found its way in. Anybody can accidentally acquire Spyware, and there are any number of ways to accidentally get it.
Web Accelerators. Everybody from time to time sees offers on websites or in pop-up ads, for "free web accelerators". And everybody from time to time wishes they could cruise the internet a little faster. Your natural inclination is, "Hey, I can afford free, and I'm tired of waiting on slow websites to download. I'll just download this free web accelerator." Now of course, there are some legitimate web accelerators out there. A few ISPs provide them, sometimes for free, and sometimes for money. But never ever accept a "web accelerator" from anyone but your own ISP, and even then, think twice about it. The only things most of them accelerate are the pop-up ads you'll start getting, and far from cruising the internet faster, these pop-up ads will slow your surfing to a crawl, and you'll be lucky to find half the websites you're looking for. All this is not to mention the fact that some computers simply find certain legitimate web accelerators "indigestible", and start having problems.
Searchbars And Toolbars. It's hard to imagine a subject that isn't covered somewhere on the internet. Of course, you kind of have to know how to find whatever your subject is. To find anything, you use a "search engine", like MSN, or Google, or Yahoo, or dozens of others. I like Dogpile, which is a sort of "super-search engine", which searches other search engines. On occasion though, you may run across a website that offers you a special "searchbar", and asks if you'd like to download it. Your answer should be, "Not no way, not no how". Avoid "searchbars" like the cyber-plague. Rather than helping you find what you're looking for, "searchbars" show you what they want you to see, and more often than not, come loaded with Spyware.
Pop-up Offers. A lot of websites, including a few that I visit, feature pop-up ads. Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes the pop-up ads help pay to support the website, or make it possible to host websites for free. They're like commercials on television. They may be a nuisance, but they don't hurt anything. Just close them out. But, if one should pique your interest and you decide instead to click on it, even by accident, be prepared! The result could very well be a nasty Spyware download.
Viewers. Beware of "viewer" downloads. These most often are found on pornography sites, but could be anywhere. The website will tell you that to view their material, you must download their "special viewer". This may be on the pretext of keeping children from viewing the material, but if you think about it, what's to keep kids from downloading the viewer? If a website requires a "viewer", no matter what you're looking for, you can find it somewhere else without this kind of download. Download a viewer, and you'll be viewing endless pop-ups. That being said, Adobe Acrobat is a viewer that we pretty much regard as essential for doing certain tasks, like reading PDF files. Have no fear of the Adobe viewer.
Free Game Downloads. There are plenty of free games on the internet that don't require any special downloads. We have a link to one such game site on our Launch page. If you're searching for special, downloadable games however, visit these "free games" websites with extreme caution. In some cases, all you have to do is open the wrong page, and you can be hammered with a sudden Spyware download.
False Warnings. From time to time when visiting certain websites, an official looking window will pop up warning you that your computer may be infected with viruses or spyware. These warnings are fake. Never click OK, and if possible, don't even click Cancel. The best way to close these little windows is to try to find the corresponding button at the bottom of your screen, right click on it, and click Close. If you can't find a corresponding button at the bottom of your screen, hopefully you can simply use the little X in the upper right corner of the window. These fake warnings, if you click on them, will scan your computer for spyware alright, and it will give you plenty.
Misleading Search Results. Most of us have done searches through Search Engines like Google, Yahoo, or Dogpile. You type in what you're looking for, then receive a list of possible websites and their descriptions. Some of these descriptions can be misleading however. For example, a search for a map of Scotland, should yield websites with something about maps, or Scotland in the web address. One result with neither of these words in the web address takes you directly to a Spyware site. Unwary searchers are then asked if they wish to download something, which they then presume is a map of Scotland, but which instead, eats holes in their programming. Check to see that the web address at least somewhat matches what you're looking for.
Spam Bait. Never ever give your Email address to any kind of business or organization unless it's absolutely necessary. Far too many businesses, even the giant "reputable" businesses everyone's heard of, sell those Email addresses to Spammers. If you have to post your address on a website, even if the only people to view it are close and trusted friends, replace the "@" symbol with "AT". Everyone will know what you're talking about. The reason for using "AT" instead of the @, is that hackers use programs called "bots", that crawl around the internet like lice, and can automatically pick up Email addresses posted anywhere. Using the "AT" trick, makes your address invisible to the bot programs.
Don't Answer. A few years back, Congress passed a law that all Spam messages had to have a "Remove" button, in case you wanted to be removed from the spammer's list. Unfortunately, Congress never thought to make it a law that the "Remove" button actually had to work, simply that it exist. Even more unfortunate, spammers got the idea to use that button in a more insidious way. Spammers never really know whether the millions of Spams they send out are still going to valid Email addresses or not. By clicking the "Remove" button, you're effectively answering the Spam, and telling the spammer that without a doubt, your Email does indeed exist. It also tells the spammer that you do indeed read Spam. And if that's not bad enough, even if the spammer conscientiously takes you off their list, (and we all know they have no conscience) there's nothing to prevent them from selling your address to someone else at a premium price, and the price will be premium because they can guarantee that it is a valid and functioning address.
Contrary to conventional advice, never click the "Remove" button on a Spam.
Do Your Windows Updates! Microsoft takes a lot of hits for the simple reason that there are so many slugs out there prowling around the internet looking for cracks to ooze into. Microsoft usually finds these cracks first and alerts the public by making "patches" available to fill the cracks. Once the vulnerability is known, hackers attack whatever computers they can find who haven't yet downloaded the patch. For this reason, keep your Windows updated. You can't depend solely on the automatically downloaded updates, as these don't always include all the security updates and patches. You have to go in and get them. Whenever you're on the internet, click on "Tools", then "Windows Updates", and Microsoft will determine what updates and patches you need. Now even Microsoft updates have been known to choke things up from time to time, but they are a necessary evil.
Defense! Defense! There is some good free software out there that will help after the fact. Ad-Aware and Spybot are good programs for digging out Spyware that's already found its way in, although some Spyware is so tenacious that it requires more work to dig it out. Zone Alarm is a good, free, firewall program, and recently, Microsoft has come out with its own "Microsoft One Live" program. Norton Internet Securities is a fair anti-Spyware/Firewall program, but it is huge, not always user friendly, sometimes hard to install, costs the big bucks, has the occasional hard to repair bug, and needs to be replaced every year.
In general, downloading anything from the internet entails a particle of risk. Even downloads with the best of intentions, may accidentally choke your computer, and some downloads, such as Windows Updates, Anti-Virus definitions, Anti-Spyware rules, etc. are simply a necessity. So be careful out there. The most advanced anti-virus, firewall, and anti-Spyware programs in existence can't keep viruses or Spyware out of your computer if you choose to download it, and all it takes is an accidental click in the wrong place. If you're suspicious of something, don't be afraid to ask us about it. In the meantime, watch where you're clicking!
Planet SOS
113 N. Fisher
Versailles Missouri 65084
Telephone/573-378-6464
Fax/573-378-4799
Email/planet@planetsos.com
