What to look out for
To prevent confidential information on your PC from being available to anyone on the Internet or accessible to a number of third parties you, first and foremost, need to be self-disciplined. In other words don't just click "OK" or "Confirm" without reading exactly what is asked. If you don't understand the content of the question, choose "Cancel" and try to obtain more information.
Annoying/dangerous e-mails
If you receive an e-mail with a link at the bottom to unsubscribe, never follow this link unless you recognise the e-mail sender as a reliable information service (e.g. electronic newsletters coming from one of your suppliers) to which you did subscribe and that you wish to put an end to. However, never unsubscribe from a list to which you never subscribed. If you do, you are telling the spammer that the e-mail address to which he sent SPAM does in fact exist and can be used to send even more SPAM.
If you receive an e-mail asking to help with the transfer of a considerable sum of money and in exchange for your co-operation you will be given a huge percentage of that sum, be doubly careful. In all probability this is a con. The construction is always the same: someone supposedly gave you up as a reference and because you are so reliable, the frauds have got in touch with you and have a proposal that could be very beneficial for you. A large sum of money (usually from a former dictator, a murdered politician, businessman or senior official) is on a bank account and with your help needs to be brought to safety abroad. In exchange for your co-operation (without your help the money cannot be moved abroad) you can expect a big percentage of the total amount. As soon as you agree, the problems start. They encounter all kinds of unexpected obstacles and you are asked to transfer (small) amounts to arrange the formalities. Before you properly realise, the frauds have taken a considerable amount of your money and you still haven't seen a single cent of the promised money. Of course there is no money at all and you have been the victim of a con. Please always ignore these seemingly lucrative proposals.
Also, never execute attachments (extensions) that you receive by e-mail. You never know who sent it. The sender might have stolen the e-mail address from one of your friends/acquaintances. Just about all extensions are potentially dangerous, even photographs and videos.
Which websites
Only visit websites you know. Certainly if you end up on a site the origin of which you don't know you have to be very careful. Once again, we point out that some sites try to trick you into giving your passwords. In other words, only use your codes on sites you know!
Encrypted or certified websites allow you to find out who has requested the original certificate that is used to encrypt. In this way you can verify whether the encrypted site in question is effectively managed by a certified company. You can view the details of the certificate by clicking the little lock at the bottom of your browser.
Java, Javascript, VBScript and others
Nowadays a lot of sites use scripts to create animations and other fun effects on their website. However, these small programs can also be misused to infect your computer. If you increase the security level of your browser, you are asked whether these scripts may be executed or not. You can choose to switch them all off or per site.
IRC/MSN/ICQ
On-line communication also implies a number of security risks. A lot of these "communication tools" allow programs and photographs to be exchanged.
How can you protect yourself better?
Virus scanners & Adware/Malware scanners
Fortunately end users are able to protect themselves against a number of dangerous variations of these attacks. A regularly updated virus scanner and a tool that protects you against attacks that change the settings of your PC is essential. Often, the latter can be found under "adware removal" or "spyware removal".
Firewall - extra security
Firewalls are primarily used to protect entire organisations against possible Internet breaches. However, since a couple of years solutions are also available for the end user. Often these programmes are easy to install and use. They issue a warning when someone on the Internet tries to access the local computer and when a local program tries to access a service on the Internet.
This provides excellent security against 'backdoor' and 'Trojan' security problems.
Don't forget the router...
A lot of home Internet users have a router/modem that allows several PCs to surf the Internet. They can also be the target of attacks. So make sure they are well protected by securing them with a password. Again we recommend to regularly check the supplier or producer's site for possible updates.
Protection of wireless networks
In addition to the access via wired networks most routers/modems also allow wireless surfing ('access point'). Often the security settings of the wireless networks are not used. For hackers this is of course a perfect opportunity.
