Hey there!

In case you're wondering about how much damage viruses can do, consider the fact that Bank of America, Verizon, and First Energy got his hard in early 2003 with the Slammer virus.

Bank of America lost their whole ATM network for almost 72 hours. Verizon lost carrier capacity in 7 states. And First Energy, of Northeast Blackout fame, lost dozens of mission critical systems in their control room.

Apparently, First Energy didn't get the memo when they got hit with the Slammer virus, so they left themselves wide open for the Blaster virus.

Should we even be surprised that the Great Blackout of 2003 might be directly attributable to lax network security and inadequate virus protection at First Energy?

Read Bruce Schneier's excellent analysis in Cryptogram - December 2003

Common sense goes a long way.... But apparently not at First Energy!

Get good information on PC virus protection here:

Antivirus Software - Reviews of the top three antivirus software solutions for home users.

Later gator...

Hi there,

A good firewall is an absolute necessity these days for going online. And the best, hands down, are the Zone Alarm products from Zone Labs.

Zone Alarm - Zone Alarm review and links to downloads, free trials, and agreat $20 off promo deal on the flagship Zone Alarm Pro.

If you want to skip the reviews and grab the promo price, here's the direct link:

Zone Lab Pro - Special Promo: Save $20 off Zone Alarm Pro. Limited Time Offer. Buy it now for $29.95.

Zone Labs install base is well north of 20 million users, so you know it's a great product.

Later tater...

Hey everyone,

Time for two new tips:

Spyware Removal - Remove spyware and adware from your PC. This page reviews three excellent spyware removal solutions.

Free Spyware - Here's the free spyware remover info, just in case you're on a tight budget.

Either way, you need to get the adware and spyware off your computer. Besides the invasion of privacy, this stuff triggers popup ads, leaks confidential information about you, and seriously degrades your system performance.

Later...

Boy howdy.

Another day, a couple more tips.

There's always more viruses sneaking in to your system in different ways. Some particularly pesky ones are those that affect you instant messaging client.

AIM Profile Virus - AIM virus removal info.

While we're on the getting rid of viruses topic, there's several good sites for free virus scans. If you think your PC is infected, read this page:

Free Virus Scan - Details on free virus scan websites that are reputable and fairly easy to use.

When you've got a virus, that's important!

Later...

Howdy!

Time for a couple more quick computer security tips, but first a news flash.

Spam is ruining email for everybody!

Bet you hadn't noticed, heh.

Guess what. You can retake control with a good spam filter.

Here's a couple of good links:

Spam Filters - Reviews of three spam filters. Yes, they cost money, but they really do a great job. And in case you forgot, 99% of virus infections come from opening email attachments that you wouldn't even see with a good spam filter.

Free Spam Filters - Free spam filters for those of you to cheap to buy your own. They're aren't as good as their commercial brethren, but for the price, who's complaining?

Cheers!

Hey there!

Time for two more internet security picks. I know that some of you are still going online without taking precautions.

It's about time you at least got some free computer security going:

Free Zone Alarm Firewall - Zone Alarm is the industry standard in personal firewall protection with over 20 million installs. Make sure you're one of them!

Free Antivirus Software - This site offers excellent reviews of the top three choices in free antivirus software. Try them out and see what fits.

Now stop surfing naked!

Hey there blog denizens!

Internet Insecurity is all about battening down the hatches on the old PC.

After all, you are connected to the Internet, aren't you?

Two recommendations today:

Spybot Search & Destroy - The best free spyware detection and removal tool out there. Get it, use it.

Windows Update - The only way to plug all those pesky security leaks that are constantly being discovered in all flavors of the Windows operating system is to go here. Scan your system, get the patches you need.

When finished, be sure to select Check For Updates Automatically, so that you'll be prompted each time a new security hole is discovered and patched.

You'd think there wouldn't be any more left, but they keep coming out of the woodwork...

Remember: Don't be a Luser!

Unsecure signing off