• Rule 2: Use strong passwords and store them encrypted only - whenever you must use a password, such as for online banking purposes or for getting access to a Website, you should make the password hard to guess and crack. The suggestions might be trivial but follow the guidelines below when making up passwords use:

• both lower and upper case letters,
• some non-alphanumeric characters as well such as / & % ,
• please if possible, refrain from using a password that can be found in a dictionary, represents a date or a name (e.g., city),
• make your password at least 6 characters in length, longer is better, and
• use different passwords for different places.

1. one page brief that will tell you how to come up with a password that is difficult to crack but relatively easy to remember (you have to sign in to get access - if you are not a member, register for free - create a new account, and
2. free program that will allow you to store your passwords encrypted on your hard-disk - neat and easy to use and very handy indeed

• Rule 3: If in doubt, tell your firewall to disallow the action. It can surprise you how many 'people out there' want to know for no apparent reason what you are doing on the web. Why should they know if your server or PC is online or not. Your firewall acts like a traffic cop and sometimes will ask you if you will give permission for a particular activity to take place such as:

• Someone from PBUL-CHUMAK-NET.rosprint.net [212.176.49.56], port 30386 wants to connect to port 1080 owned by 'Firefox' on your computer. Details about application g:\firefox\firefox.exe

Permit Deny
Please click on deny and REFRAIN FROM MARKING

x 'Create appropriate filter rule and don't ask me again'

So it is smart to just say NO and to refrain from asking the firewall to create a rule for denying or permitting such traffic. If worst comes to worst the next time you start your machine again, you will have the option to permit the action if it is absolutely needed to get the services you want to get.

Incidentlly, if you need a good firewall, download CyTRAP's Choice firewall -- it's a real gem.  

• Rule 4: Use a good anti-virus and spyware program

• anti-virus software package you can download CyTRAP's Choice for a well engineered anti-virus software package and against spyware,
• CyTRAP's choice for anti-spyware software that works well without the hype

• Rule 5: Be vigilant and cautious. Don't open any attachments being sent via e-mail to you unless you expect them and yes, not even one that you received from your lover

Please check first if he or she sent you the attachment before clicking on it.... otherwise you are acting like somebody who jumpts down a hole without making sure how deep it is beforehand.... would you ever do this? NOT.

• Rule 6: Use an intrusion detection software (IDS) or program. These programs detect malware products by their behavior rather than by looking for a characteristic signature. You can compare this to a detective catching a thief using his modus operandi rather than his fingerprint. But sometimes the former is easier to come by than the latter, especially if the malicious user is really clever.

• Rule 7: Disable some Windows defaults that increase your risks. These are, such as:

Some file extensions are hidden by default in Windows. To get rid of this problem, in turn, being given the file extension - .exe or .dll as default, do as follows:

Start Windows Explorer and click on the Tools Menu,
Select Folder Options,
Click on View tab, Hidden Files and Folders,
Uncheck 'Hide extensions for known file types'

Autorun is enabled by default and can be turned off using Windows system tools. Nonetheless, a much simpler and easier technique is to do as follows:

• hold down the left Shift key when installing an XCP-protected CD or when putting a CD or DD into your drive, thereby preventing Autorun from being launched without you giving the okay first.

Having the default of Autorun disabled for DVDs/CDs is definitly smart - make sure you remember this command it can prevent you from disaster as the Sony/BMG example has taught us the hard way

• Rule 8: Make sure that you update your software regularly whenever a CASEScontact alert advises you about a newly discovered vulnerability and the patch that helps fixing this problem is being released. So you should be careful about:
  1. Using the Windows-update option the effective way
  2. check if your version is the most recent one, such as in Firefox click on tools > options > advanced > software update > check now

• Rule 9: Turn your modem off, whenever you are not surfing on the Internet or trying to send/receive e-mail. Would you keep your door unlocked whilst going to sleep? Most certainly not but having your computer stay online makes it viewable from the Internet and thereby increases the risk that a hacker comes by alling. In fact turn off your computer of (stand-by is not what we mean burns too much energy) as well, since it helps save energy on top of being another security measure.

Following the 9 rules outlined above will definitely reduce your risk for becoming a victim due to malicious code or a hacking attack, in fact combining:

• an anti-spyware tool, with
• anti-virus one, topping it off with
• a nicely tuned firewall, and, most importantly,
• cautious user behavior (e.g., neither open attachments without checking beforehand nor visiting untrusty websites)

will definitely improve the detection rate against a particularly nasty set of 100 assorted malware products that we downloaded from P2P networks and tested --> beyond 90% for sure.

• Rule 10: Use the Windows Live Safety Center- Find and fix safety and health issues on ==> offers you a complete scan checking for:

• viruses,
• wasted disk space,
• maintenance issues, and
• common open ports

Use Internet Explorer in order to download the free tool and run the test on your PC. Please remember that while this tool might find a virus or an infected file, your anti-virus software may have neutralized it already (i.e. anti-virus software A uses different techniques to clean files than B - enough to say that this can result in program A not understanding how B cleaned a file and flagging it as a virus instead).

Also, an infected file by itself does not justify you getting panicked. For instance, it could be in a directory your anti-virus program put it (e.g., it quarantined it) or you did not open the infected file anyway, because it was a suspicious attachment that arrived with an e-mail.

Please follow the maintenance tips regarding your hard-disk etc. closely, you will be glad you did.

Last Tip for 2005 will either be:

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