There are many ways to combat internet problems though. One piece of software that is free and also comes in a premium version is AVG. AVG is probably one of the best anti-virus software out there. I have not had any issues on my computer since switching to it. McAfee and Norton cost a ton of money, and yet I always hear how they never work well. AVG works like a pro every time.

You can run scans with it every day which will check for a bunch of different things: spyware, adware, malware, Trojans, worms, viruses, you name it. The paid version is only about forty bucks and my friend has it. He says that it is good, but all you really need is the free version. AVG is compatible with all versions of windows, including the new Windows 7. It helps speed your computers performance up by removing anything that could possibly get in your way of a great browsing experience.

The paid versions also help in anti-spam for your email, but more importantly, it puts up an advanced firewall to block hackers from getting in. It will pop up on your screen if anything on your computer is trying to gain access to something it should not be accessing.

In this day and age where identity theft and scammers, AVG is one of the best internet security tools you can have to combat this. And again, the best part is that AVG has a free version that does more than most paying programs. AVG has updates that occur daily that help against any new threats. These download automatically once you open up the program, so you know that you are getting the most up to date protection. AVG Free is the best internet security product out there.

1. Always make backups of important information and store in a safe place separate from your computer.
2. Update and patch your operating system, web browser and software frequently. If you have a Windows operating system, start by going to www.windowsupdate.microsoft.com and running the update wizard. This program will help you find the latest patches for your Windows computer. Also go to www.officeupdate.microsoft.com to locate possible patches for your Office programs.
3. Install a firewall. Without a good firewall, viruses, worms, Trojans, malware and adware can all easily access your computer from the Internet. Consideration should be given to the benefits and differences between hardware and software based firewall programs.
4. Review your browser and email settings for optimum security. Why should you do this? Active-X and JavaScript are often used by hackers to plant malicious programs into your computers. While cookies are relatively harmless in terms of security concerns, they do still track your movements on the Internet to build a profile of you. At a minimum set your security setting for the “internet zone” to High, and your “trusted sites zone” to Medium Low.
5. Install antivirus software and set for automatic updates so that you receive the most current versions.
6. Do not open unknown email attachments. It is simply not enough that you may recognize the address from which it originates because many viruses can spread from a familiar address.
7. Do not run programs from unknown origins. Also, do not send these types of programs to friends and coworkers because they contain funny or amusing stories or jokes. They may contain a Trojans horse waiting to infect a computer.
8. Disable hidden filename extensions. By default, the Windows operating system is set to “hide file extensions for known file types”. Disable this option so that file extensions display in Windows. Some file extensions will, by default, continue to remain hidden, but you are more likely to see any unusual file extensions that do not belong.
9. Turn off your computer and disconnect from the network when not using the computer. A hacker can not attack your computer when you are disconnected from the network or the computer is off.
10. Consider making a boot disk on a floppy disk in case your computer is damaged or compromised by a malicious program. Obviously, you need to take this step before you experience a hostile breach of your system.

Botnets are networks of computers that hackers have infected and grouped together under their control to propagate viruses, send illegal spam, and carry out attacks that cause web sites to crash.

What makes botnets exceedingly bad is the difficulty in tracing them, sometimes even with the best internet security software, back to their creators as well as the ever-increasing use of them in extortion schemes. How are they used in extortion schemes? Imagine someone sending you messages to either pay up or see your web site crash. This scenario is starting to replay itself over and over again.

Botnets can consist of thousands of compromised machines. With such a large network, botnets can use Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) as a method to cause mayhem and chaos. For example a small botnet with only 500 bots can bring corporate web sites to there knees by using the combined bandwidth of all the computers to overwhelm corporate systems and thereby cause the web site to appear offline.

Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service on January 19, 2006, quotes Kevin Hogan, senior manager for Symantec Security Response, in his article “Botnets shrinking in size, harder to trace”, Hogan says “extortion schemes have emerged backed by the muscle of botnets, and hackers are also renting the use of armadas of computers for illegal purposes through advertisements on the Web.”

One well-known technique to combat botnets is a honeypot. Honeypots help discover how attackers infiltrate systems. A Honeypot is essentially a set of resources that one intends to be compromised in order to study how the hackers break the system. Unpatched Windows 2000 or XP machines make great honeypots given the ease with which one can take over such systems.

A great site to read up on this topic more is The Honeynet Project (http://project.honeynet.org) which describes its own site’s objective as “To learn the tools, tactics and motives involved in computer and network attacks, and share the lessons learned.”

Keylogger is a program that runs in your computer‘s background without the user knowing that it’s there. It secretly records all of your keystrokes for you to view later on when you have the time to check. typically the program is used by companies that want to monitor what their employees are doing when they are suppose to be getting work done. It is also used by hackers who want to get hold of private information for the user without them having any knowledge of what is going on. The program will record the information for as long as the application wants. The attacker then carefully reviews the information in hopes of finding passwords or other information that would prove useful to them. For example, a keylogger can easily obtain confidential emails and reveal them to any interested outside party willing to pay for the information.

Keyloggers can be either software or hardware based. Most software-based keyloggers are quite easy to distribute and infect, but at the same time are more easily detectable. Hardware-based keyloggers are a little more complex and much harder to detect. Keyloggers have become one of the most powerful applications used for gathering information in a world where encrypted traffic is becoming more common.

With all the X-rated along with other improper material on the web, it’s important to protect our children from viewing such things that can be harmful. Keyloggers is one of those types of program that can help with making it happen.

There are some people out there who are phishing for your personal information and identity to use against you. While others just want to use your computer to attack other unknown targets. You need to protect yourself as much as possible from these types of characters. Here are just a few easy and cost-effective ways to secure you computer.

Make backup disks and store them in a safe place away from your computer. update and patch the operating system, web browser and the software frequently. If you have a Windows operating system, start by going to www.windowsupdate.microsoft.com and running the update wizard. This program will help you find the latest patches for your Windows computer. Also go to www.officeupdate.microsoft.com to locate possible patches for your Office programs.

If your computer does have a firewall, install one. Without a good firewall, viruses, worms, Trojans, malware and adware can all easily access your computer from the Internet.
Review your browser and email settings for optimum security. Why should you do this? Active-X and JavaScript are often used by hackers to plant malicious programs into your computers. While cookies are relatively harmless in terms of security concerns, they do still track your movements on the Internet to build a profile of you. At a minimum set your security setting for the “internet zone” to High, and your “trusted sites zone” to Medium Low.

You need to install an antivirus software and make sure you set it for automatic updates to assure that you get the most recent versions. There are many different programs out there to choose from.

Don’t ever open any attachments from sources that your not familiar with. If you don’t trust the source, delete it. It not enough to recognize the address because many virus can spread from familiar addresses.

Never run a program that originates from an unknown source. You will see one the claim to be from legitimate companies like Microsoft, but you will see in the box that it’s from an unknown origin.

Disable hidden filename extensions. By default, the Windows operating system is set to “hide file extensions for known file types”. Disable this option so that file extensions display in Windows. Some file extensions will, by default, continue to remain hidden, but you are more likely to see any unusual file extensions that do not belong.

Don’t leave your computer on and connected to the internet. I know some of my friends that never turn off their computer as well as the internet, they’re just waiting for a problem to happen. A hacker can’t get into your computer if you’re not connected.

Don’t wait until something bad happens to your computer. Do it now and save yourself a lot of headaches.