Protect Your Home Computer

I remember the day when computers were first in my classroom. I laugh sometimes just remembering the green front Apple and Orange font IBM computers. When using them little did I know one day there would be graphic rich multimedia with unlimited connectivity to the world and information. This information world will have its pros and cons and I would need to find free ways to protect my home computer.

I also remember my friend as a child who had a computer wiz father. As a birthday gift he gave his son two little boxes with 8 numerical buttons and one little red LCD display on each box. These little boxes were a way for me and my friend to send codes back and forth from each other from our phone lines when at home. We created our own code talk to decipher messages. We felt like spies and had a great time messaging nonsense for hours.

Little did I know as a child that these seemingly simple things would grow into the powerful and world dominating PC and Internet. Even less did I know the impact it would have on all the lives of the world and how easy and fun it would become. As a naive child, I would never imagine the evil that would lurk to destroy such great technological advances.
With the birth of the Internet came the birth of viruses, spyware, and spam. The Internet world could now virally be infected with computer destroying codes almost instantly worldwide along with pop-up ads all over your computer screen and your inbox bombarded with propositions of the unthinkable and bizarre.

How to protect your Home Computer

Once introduced, the world forever would be on their toes watching their backs for this malicious onslaught of computer created menaces and dangers . The industry created to thwart the destructive codings has boomed and never looked back and it is doubtful that it will ever be out of demand as more lives rely on the Internet and the computers used to access it. Can people find free ways to protect your home computer?
Hundreds of different anti-virus, ant-spam, and anti-spyware software exists today and some can come at a bargain while others can cost you an arm and leg. Some are excellent while others are mediocre, but for today we will discuss good and honest protection that is free.
Spam as we all know can ruin a good visit to the inbox. For protection against spam you must be responsible with your email address and be careful who gets it. Applying for bogus free offers and money making schemes can open up your whole account to the dreaded inbox disease.
If you are needing spam protection you can open up a free email account with Yahoo Mail or HotMail and receive free spam protection with the service without any additional software or setup. Yahoo offers a yearly paid account with additional spam protection if the free version is not enough for you. Yahoo charges about $20.00 a year, which I myself subscribe to.
With spyware you can expect unexpected pop-ups, search intrusions, as well as the possibility of identity theft. This makes spyware no laughing matter and lucky for you you don’t have to pay to be protected. Lavasoft and AVG are just two companies that offer outstanding free anti-spyware software for your computer. Even Yahoo has gotten into the act and have given their toolbar users free spyware software that can be launched from their toolbar. I recommend running it once a day.
Viruses can literally destroy your operating system and even your whole computer which makes this last threat one of the most dangerous when it comes to your PC. You would expect to pay hundreds of dollars perhaps to protect your computer or maybe an annual subscription which is common too. Why even pay when you can get it for free?
There are two great anti-virus programs out there that you can use free for your home computer without any catch other than maybe a registration. I highly recommend these two products and use them for my own computers completely free.
Anti-virus #1: AVG has an anti-virus download that takes care of all the virus updates daily and scans your computer everyday at a specified time which is convenient for those who forget to protect their PCs.
Anti-Virus #2: Avast is an excellent program for keeping both spyware and viruses off of your computer and in the gutter where they belong. They have a more complex registration which requires email authentication and online registration, but only takes about 10 minutes of your time, a lot less time than the hours you have to work to buy a new computer or OS.
Don’t let the word free deter you from these great resources. It is amazing what these companies are offering the general PC population and you should take full advantage of their offer. I use all the mentioned software myself and it just goes to show, some of the best things in life really are free.

Providing security against email related threats has become a burden for most IT professionals in 2006. According to a recent study by Postini, spam and email viruses now make up to 80% of all emails sent out as compared to 50% in 2000. As a result, IT professionals now face a tougher challenge in providing network security for this amount of spam. IT professionals also have the disadvantage of defending against new forms of email threats such as spam zombies, directory harvest attacks, mass mailing trojans, as well as the latest email virus.

In this article, I have listed the seven most effective spam fighting tips for organizations with in-house mail servers. These seven tips are proven techniques I have used for my customers, partners and associates who wish to tighten their perimeter (network) security.

Firewall:
A firewall is your first line of defense against hackers, crackers, and spammers. Without a firewall, your network is a disaster waiting to happen and could give any novice hacker free reign over your network. If your organization has multiple Internet users, this tool is essential for securing your network.

Block Port 25:
On your firewall, allow outbound traffic on TCP port 25 for all mail servers. Block traffic on outbound TCP port 25 for all other computers and servers. On the Internet, TCP port 25 is used for email traffic through SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol). Blocking this port is a good security practice and prevents mass mailing worms and spam zombies from sending mail from your users’ computers.

Managed Email Filtering:
Consider using a managed filtering solution such as Postini, Brightmail, or SpamSoap. Managed Email Filtering services quarantine spam, viruses, and email threats before reaching the email servers on your network. In comparison to desktop filters and server appliances, managed filtering services provide superior perimeter (network) protection by preventing delivery of spam and viruses to your network and servers.

Check Relay Setting:
A mail server’s relay setting controls which computers and servers are able to send SMTP email on your organization’s behalf. Check your settings and limit the IP address range to email users on your local network. Some mail servers have settings to limit email relay through authentication. If authentication-based relay is available, setup and configure it too. NOTE: If the relay is not set properly, spammers will be able to send email from your mail server. This exploit is commonly known as an “Open Relay” or a “Spam Relay.” Use the Open Relay test at http://www.abuse.net/relay.htm to check if spammers can relay mail from your server.

Black Lists:
Setup your mail server(s) with a black list. A black list (black hole list) is a database or listing of known spam sources. Most modern email servers can be configured to query inbound email against online blacklists. Messages originating from these sources can then be blocked. I recommend configuring your email server with SpamHaus blacklist. Spamhaus.org is an excellent free service to use. Some other good blacklists are DBSL and SpamCop.

Reverse DNS:
Reverse DNS (rDNS) associates an IP Address with a Domain Name. Most mail servers, as an anti-spam feature, often use a reverse DNS lookup to compare an email address domain name with its IP address. If the IP address found from the rDNS lookup does not match the domain name, it is probably spam. If you haven’t done so, setup and configure reverse DNS records on your DNS server.

Anti-Virus Scan:
There are many tools that provide adequate anti-virus protection for desktops at the workplace. Most anti-virus software is good at detecting viral threats that proliferate email spam such as mass mailing worms, trojans, and directory harvesters. Large organizations might want to use enterprise anti-spam software with management and monitoring tools that will allow tracking of network virus outbreaks.

Recommended Links:
- http://www.spam-x.com [Postini service - managed filtering, 1 to 500 users]
- http://www.postini.com [Postini service - managed filtering, 500+ users]
- http://www.spamhaus.org [Blacklist]
- http://www.dbsl.org [Blacklist]
- http://www.spamcop.net [Blacklist]
- http://www.abuse.net/relay.htm [Open relay test]
- http://www.dnsreport.com [DNS report/open relay test]
- http://www.dnsstuff.com [Spam database lookup and open relay test]
- http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/02/17/spam.zombies.ap [Spam Zombie Article]

Email viruses and related threats delivered through spam have cost businesses billions of dollars in expenses and lost productivity. Each spam email sent or received from your domain costs your organization money and bandwidth. By implementing these seven tips, your organization can reduce spam and recover costs.

This article: © Copyright 2006 Todd Green and free for republishing.