1. Four Things You Should Do to Your Computer Today Don Yarman OLC IT Division OLC Chapter Conferences Spring 2007

2. The Four Things 1. Automatic Updates 2. Firewall 3. Anti-Virus Plus: A little discussion of spam & phishing filters Thats all Im saying; you may go about your business. If you need to know more or want to argue, please stay.

3. My Objectives Doing anything is better than doing nothing. My recommendations may not be the absolute best thing you can do -- thats a moving target anyway. Ill present a baseline of what you must do, some recommendations of how to do it, and well discuss what you can do above and beyond the minimum.

4. Credit where its due OPLINTECH list, 30 June 2004 How to keep your PC spyware and malware free for nothing! Jim Kenzig, Cuyahoga County PL http://www.thinworkplace.com/article_read.asp?id=62 http://www.thinworkplace.com/article_read.asp?id=62 WindowsSecrets.com Security Baseline http://windowssecrets.com/reviews/security-baseline/ http://windowssecrets.com/reviews/security-baseline/

5. What Im talking about Personal computers (at home or library) Windows operating system (esp. XP) Any Internet connection (esp. broadband)

6. 1. Enable Automatic Updates Latest service packs and hotfixes To enable: Go to your Control Panel (Start>Settings>) Automatic Updates or Security Center Second or Third radio button Second option? You have to install Third button not good choice if you dont have broadband at home

7. Older PC without Automatic Updates You can try updating manually http://update.microsoft.com, but Microsoft no longer supports Windows 98 http://update.microsoft.com WARNING: New Microsoft Update includes Office (Do you know where your Office disks are?)

8. 2. Install a good firewall Enable Windows Firewall. [Automatically enabled in Service Pack 2] Directions on Microsoft site http://tinyurl.com/hyenk http://tinyurl.com/hyenk

9. Not Windows XP? Obtain good software or purchase router with a hardware firewall Norton Internet Security 2007(PC Mag Editors choice) WindowsSecrets.com recommends Linksys hardware firewalls and ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite http://www.zonelabs.com http://www.zonelabs.com With software firewalls, the first time that you run any program that tries to access the Internet, a pop-up will ask if you want to allow it. (You will be amazed).

10. 3. Maintain Antivirus No excuses. Review leaders: ConsumerSearch.com says Scots Newsletter, WebUser.com, CNet.com Best: Kaspersky (compatibility conflicts) NOD32 (usability complaints) Worst: McAfee and Grisoft AVG; Norton mixed Free: AOL Active Virus Shield http://www.activevirusshield.com Grisoft AVG Free edition http://free.grisoft.com http://www.activevirusshield.com http://free.grisoft.com Spend the money. Update definitions daily.

11. Most programs are recommended by someone

12. WindowSecrets.com Security Baseline 1. Hardware Firewall Linksys Wireless-G WRT54GL 2. Security Suite ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 3. Antispyware Program Webroot Spy Sweeper 4. Update Management Windows Automatic Update

13. 3.5. Remove Ad/Spyware Best: SpyWare Sweeper http://www.webroot.com/ http://www.webroot.com/ Runner Up: Spyware Doctor http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/ http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/ Free: Microsoft Windows Defender http://www.windowsdefender.com Ad-Aware SE Personal http://www.lavasoft.com http://www.windowsdefender.com http://www.lavasoft.com

14. ConsumerSearch again

15. Spam & Phishing Bad News: Spamming has grown beyond exponentially Phishing has become a severe problem Good News: Browsers, email clients, and anti-virus software are now more holistic, and protection measures overlap.

16. Bottom line: Updates Updates Updates Critical updates to your operating system Access updates in your firewall rules Definition updates for your antivirus

17. Other things that help Spam management Yarmando loves Gmail Pop-up blockers AdBlock and FlashBlock Get off the bandwagon Use Firefox (Thunderbird is nice too)

18. Questions? OPLINTECH list http://mail.oplin.org/mailman/listinfo/oplintech The unofficial member list of the OLC IT division http://mail.oplin.org/mailman/listinfo/oplintech This presentation is available online at www.oplin.org/presentations/fourthings.ppt www.oplin.org/presentations/fourthings.ppt