Defend Your Computer From Hackers :: Essays Papers

Defend Your Computer From Hackers How to Shield Your Computer from Internet Crime When you connect to the Internet, you are allowing you computer to communicate with millions of people who are also on the Internet. Suddenly, your hard drive is fair game. Some people called by various names: hackers, whackers, crackers, and some other more colorful names if your data is being destroyed. These people make it their business to find and make use of exposed hard drives. Sometimes, they just take an innocent look around; sometimes they delete files or even deposit a virus of nature. However, hope is not lost, with the steps outline in this paper you will be able effectively shield your computer from those who wish to make mischief. When you connect to the Internet, especially through a broadband connection any open ports, or shared file files and services are like a beacon for hackers’ automatic scanners. You see, along with granting you extremely fast downloads and browsing capabilities broadband connection also leave you computer wide open to the world since it an always-on connection. The risk is greater for those people that have static IP address. Since this address never changes hackers can come back whenever they wish. One way to see how vulnerable your computer is would be to have it tested by one the various websites that specialize in security. One very good website is hosted by the Gibson Research Corporation and has several helpful feature like â€Å"Shields Up†, the address for this site is www.grc.com. Another popular site with many useful utilities would be www.dslreports.com. If these sites show you some holes in your security they will recommend several actions. One of the easiest and most effective would be to turn off file and print sharing for your computer. The second thing you could do would be to obtain a personal firewall. In this area you have two options, hardware or software. If you want an inexpensive route then you can download a software firewall. Firewall? Just what is that? Well, it either a software program of hardware device that effectively blocks outsiders from entering your computer. Software firewalls just need to be installed onto your computer and can be either automatically configured of manually. Hardware involves connecting your computer into another device. Two of the more popular software firewalls are Zone Alarm (www.zonelabs.com) and Norton Personal Firewall (www.symantec.com). Using Zone Alarm, the above sites could find no exposed ports or even that this computer even was on; Zone Alarm completely cloaks your computer.