Computer Security

by Kane Summers


Why Home Security is Important

Your home computer is a popular target for intruders. Why? Because intruders want what you’ve stored there. They look for credit card numbers, bank account information, and anything else they can find. By stealing that information, intruders can use your money to buy themselves goods and services.

But it's not just money-related information they are after. Intruders also want your computer's resources, meaning your hard disk space, your fast processor, and your Internet connection. They use these resources to attack other computers on the Internet. In fact, the more computers an intruder uses, the harder it is for law enforcement to figure out where the attack is really coming from. If intruders can't be found, they can't be stopped, and they can't be prosecuted.

Why are intruders paying attention to home computers? Home computers are typically not very secure and are easy to break into. When combined with high-speed Internet connections that are always turned on, intruders can quickly find and then attack home computers. While intruders also attack home computers connected to the Internet through dial-in connections, high-speed connections (cable modems and DSL modems) are a favorite target.

Safari Security info on Apple's Site:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107784

To download open firmware software:

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/openfirmwarepassword.html

Setting up an open firmware password in Mac OS X 10.1 or later:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106482

The Canadian Anti-fraud Call Centre:

http://www.phonebusters.com/

Report Spam (email spam):

Send to the following Internet providers

reportspam@shaw.ca

report_spam@telus.net