The Smiling Pirate

The Internet gives you access to information, entertainment, and countless products and services. Sounds harmless. But at the same time, it can leave you open to online scams, identity theft, and more.

Here’s a few tips The Smiling Pirate recommends to help keep you safe while on your computer.

1. Protect your personal information. It’s valuable. Especially to someone whose looking to steal it from you. To help minimize your risk of identity theft, never share your personal information with anyone unless you know how it will be used and protected. Never reply to or click on links in any email’s asking for your personal information.

2. Know who you are dealing with. When shopping online, look for a seller’s physical address and working telephone number. Don’t just settle for the company that has the lowest price. Do your research beforehand. It will help ensure a better buying experience online. Look them up on the Better Business Bureau Web site to see if they have any complaints against them. You can also Google the business to see if anyone has left comments about the business that may help you decide whether or not you should buy from this vendor.

3. Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software, as well as a firewall on your computer to keep your computer free of unwanted attacks. Update them regularly if they are not set to update automatically. Use an anti-virus software that removes or quarantines viruses, and use anti-spyware software that offers real-time protection if available. If real-time protection is not available (on most free versions), be sure to set the software to scan regularly. Ensure that the firewall you are using is configured to block ports that you do not need to keep open. Windows firewall is a good start but there is not much that can configured on it. There are several freeware options available with more configuration options.

4. Be sure not to overlook your Internet browser settings. Browser settings that are configured incorrectly can also leave your computer vulnerable. Select security settings within the browser high enough to reduce your risk of being hacked.

5. Utilize Windows Update. This will ensure that you have the latest software patches and security updates for your system.

6. Protect your passwords. Never share your passwords on the Internet, over email, or on the phone. Try to have different passwords for your various accounts. That way if for some reason one of your passwords is leaked out and an account of yours is compromised, it will not affect your other accounts. There are several freeware applications that are available that can securely manage your passwords. If you don’t feel comfortable using a software application, use an old-fashioned method; pen and paper. Write down your passwords and secure them in a lock box. It’s always a good idea to have a hard copy backup of your passwords.

7. Backup your important files. Don’t put so much faith in a hard drive or USB stick. They do go bad. If you want to keep all of your files on your computer, back them up to another location like an external hard drive. It is good practice to keep a copy of your files off the primary drive in your computer. That way, if your main drive fails (the one with the operating system on it), you won’t lose your files. If you have very important documents that you created on your computer and that is the only place you have them, print out a copy. You can always scan them back in or (God forbid) re-type it. It’s better than losing them all together if your drive crashes.

I can’t take all the credit for discovering this great piece of FREE software. While working at a previous job, someone asked if I would evaluate a piece of software that they wanted to use. The software was Jalbum. I had never heard of it; but from the way it was described to me, it seemed very cool. I downloaded it and instantly fell in love with it. I think you will feel the same way when you try it out.

Jalbum offers 30MB of space when you sign up for an account. You do not have to sign up for an account in order to take advantage of the Jalbum software. If you have your own Web space, you can upload your photos to your Web space and point your Jalbum to the location on your site.


 

Download Jalbum here

Malwarebytes is an anti-malware application designed to thoroughly remove even the most advanced malware. This product has been designed to quickly detect, destroy, and prevent malware from appearing on your machine. Unlike many other lightweight malware applications, Malwarebytes delivers a full-featured product that is quick and gets the job done.

As an IT Professional, I’m always looking for an application that will work when it’s called upon that I can keep in my software toolbox. Malwarebytes is definitley one I’ll be using regularly. Download the free version and try it yourself.

Download Malwarebytes here

If you follow The Smiling Pirate for free software, you can now follow us on Twitter as well. All new posts on TheSmilingPirate.com will also be posted on Twitter. Keep up with the Pirate Posts while on the go. Search smilingpirate on Twitter.

Spyware Terminator is a very popular, free spyware scanner simply because it works. It works well on manual and scheduled system scans as well as real-time protection while surfing the Web. Although I suggest several spyware scanners on The Smiling Pirate, I never really choose one over the other. I’ve found that using several spyware scanners to combat spyware usually works out in your favor rather than choosing one spyware scanning application to do all the work. There has been many times when I’ve scanned computers with more than one scanner only to find that one software scan picked up a threat that was missed by another. It happens.

So, if you are fighting a spyware battle on your machine and you feel like you are on the losing end, download Spyware Terminator along with another spyware scanner and see if you can knock it out with either of them.

Download Spyware Terminator here

With malicious code surfacing daily, it’s important to have a reliable anti virus software that will combat what these creeps are writing before it wreaks havoc on your machine. Most people drive over to the local Best Buy and pick up the most popular brand thinking that’s the sure thing. That’s not always the case. Although they will work, most of them come with a ton of bells and whistles that you just don’t need. I feel the simpler the better. All of the sophisticated stuff should be on the back end of the anti virus software anyway.

A few months back I mentioned another free anti virus program named Moon Secure Anti Virus that I was using which is more of an open-source program. For me it worked. Some felt that since they never heard of it before it couldn’t possibly be good. Well that’s simply nonsense. Others would rather stick with the more popular programs that can be found on the “most downloaded” list off sites like CNET. (i.e. AVG)

Recently, while at work, a buddy of mine mentioned a company that offered a free version of their anti virus software for non-commercial and home users. The name of the software is Avira AntiVir Personal Edition. I decided to check it out and see what it was all about.

I installed the software and ran an update to get the latest definitions. After I had the latest definitions, I ran a quick scan which was easily accessible from their simple interface. Since the initial install, it has been updating and running without problems. I must mention though that after you install the software you will occasionally be presented with a window that includes information about updating to the Premium Edition. Although this can be an annoyance, keep in mind you are getting a very good piece of software for free that is protecting your computer from potentially harmful items. If the window popped up once in a while I wouldn’t really mind. However, the window pops up every day. Odds are, if I didn’t buy the premium version yesterday I’m probably not getting it today either. They should adjust the time interval of the window pop up on the next release. Other than that, I think the software is solid.

If you download the software and you really like it but the window pop up starts to bother you, we won’t leave you out to dry. Keep reading below the download link and you will find a way to stop the window from opening. It involves some manipulation, but it can be done. (The information below is not endorsed or supported by Avira. It works, but you’re on your own.)

Download Avira AntiVir Personal Edition here

1. Start – Run – Type “secpol.msc”
2. Click on Software Restriction Policy – go to Action (at the top) – Create New Restriction Policies
3. Right-click on Additional Rules (on the right) – Choose New Path Rule

4. Now click Browse and find the “avnotify.exe” file (C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avnotify.exe)

5. Make sure the security level is set to “Disallowed” and click OK.

Done. What you have done is disallowed the execution of “avnotify.exe”, which should suppress the popup window.

Windows XP Home (and Media Center)

1. Boot into Safe Mode (repeatedly press F8 after boot)
2. Login under the Administrator account
3. Navigate to C:\Program File\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avnotify.exe
4. Right-click “avnotify” – Go to Properties – Security – Advanced
5. Look under the Permissions folder for a listing of all the system users. Do the following for all the users:
6. Edit – Traverse Folder / Execute File – Deny – Click OK
7. Reboot (into Normal mode) when finished