In part I, we discussed how dangerous an unprotected computer is on the internet and presented options for protecting your computer by adding a router and making changes to your bios. I will continue with a discussion of web browsers and email.
Web Browsers
IE is a browser that, while it has a lot of great features, can also be very dangerous to use. With the release of service pack 2 (SP2) for XP, a lot of holes have been filled in, but unfortunately, it created other holes. Not to mention that if you have a computer that is running a version of Windows prior to XP, you don't have those patches, either. So what to do about IE? With the use of popup blockers, anti-spyware software and anti-virus software, it is relatively safe. I will get into the reasons why I say "relatively" safe when I get into anti-spyware and anti-virus software. Again, abstinence is always the best course of action. In other words, use another browser. A really good choice is Firefox. The only problems I have ever faced with Firefox is there are some sites that take advantage of certain proprietary features of IE that Firefox doesn't support. Recently I've been experiencing some issues with its built-in popup blocker stating that it blocked the popup but it still appears behind the main window. A look in the support forum suggests that it is a configuration issue which I've followed. I will post an update at some point indicating if it worked.
Email
One thing to consider with email is that you should never open an email attachment unless you know exactly what it is. Even then, make sure you scan it with your anti-virus program. Another concern with email is phishing. Phishing is where emails are sent out pretending to be from a trusted source such as your bank or credit card company claiming that there is some sort of problem with your account. In order to correct this problem, you must follow the link and enter in your account information. 1 in 20 people fall for this. There are two ways to catch these. First, a legitimate company, whether it be credit card or bank, will never ever ask you to give your account information. They know it--why would they need it again? Second, often the link you are to follow, while it looks legitimate, will actually map to a very different URL. Here is a sample of what I'm talking about involving PayPal. The one that I point out is another reason for using a browser other than IE. According to the website that I got this information off of, it says that the site uses a Java program to overwrite the address bar in IE. It also looks at the browser and closes down if it is not IE. I'm not saying that IE is bad, just that as a security precaution you should be using something other than IE.
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