A big issue is: How safe are we on the net?
For the most part, if you are visiting standard sites that employ pure HTML coding you should be very safe. Sites that use Java, and other binary control files may offer some risk. Sincere systems, and site operators do their best to have good clean code. Most sites are for serious business, and are very careful to be safe for all visitors.
The key is not to download any programs or executable files, unless you are very sure about the security of the site that is offering these programs. It is very hard for system operators who have large banks of programs, to offer to take responsibility for each file that is available.
If you are the adventuring type that likes to download a lot of free programs, it is suggested strongly to have a good antivirus program. There are a number of good ones out there. You should shop around to see which one you feel comfortable to use.
There are a number of types of viruses. The most common ones are the ones that attach themselves to other programs, infect systems, and other programs as they are transferred across. Normally the user is not aware that he, or she has one until it is too late.
Another common one is the macro virus. This one usually travels with spreadsheets and word processor files. In most cases these viruses are damaging, and can cause a lot of grief and expense, as well as a lot of an unecessary waste of time.
The only real safe download is pure ASCII text, or standard picture files such as GIF, BMP, and JPEG files. These types of picture files are mostly used on WebSites.
Some simple rules about how to avoid a virus:
Never open any Email attachment unless you are sure that it is from a safe source.
Never download a program unless you can scan it with an up-to-date good quality virus scanner. The virus scanner is only as good as its most recent update. If there is a newer virus it is not gauranteed that the virus scanner will spot it.
When participating in the News Groups do not open any of the attachments that you may see in the letters, unless you personally know that the source is a safe one.
A Word On Cookies:
A cookie is a set of code that is uploaded to the user's browser's cache area. This code is used by some site operators to keep track of the activity that has occurred on his or her site. The application, and the use of cookies can get very involved.
In the case of this site, cookies are issued by the banner operators to know which banners the user has viewed. This allows the banner dispensing software to issue different banners to the users. They then can also keep statistics on what banners are viewed more often and from which area.
There are some companies that issue cookies that will track the user to know what search engines he or she has used, and also some of the utility sites that they visit.
No harm can be done to your system with these cookies. It is not good to delete or block them. Many sites use cookies for good use. They then know your activity on their site, and will be able to let you see other new things. This is especially true when on interactive sites.
A Word On Browsers:
Your browser is very safe. There are some privacy issues, but nothing is absolutely fool proof. There are people out there who spend their life time trying to figure out ways to monitor people's activity, and if they are malicious they can cause some problems for users. However, this is very rare.
When you are on the net, you are in a wide-open network. Every active IP number is reachable. If this number is known, then with the proper software utilities it is reachable. Unless you have a dedicated IP number, each time you come on to the system, you are issued a new number at random. Each provider has a bank of IP numbers that are issued to users. This makes it more difficult to keep track of the users. This then also adds some security for the users.
It is however possible to take control of a person's browser button on a limited basis if the commands are known. Below is the example of a code that would make your browser display the contents of the root directory. This one is active just to show an example. If you put this command in your browser's address line, or simply click on it, it should display your root directory. If a site has this command in a hyperlink, the same would happen when you click on it. Naturaly it can be masked behind a graphic or some other type of text. If you try it, press your BACK button to return.
>> { file:///c:/ } <<
This demonstrates that there is truth to the fact that expert programmers can write code to look and see the contents of somebody's hard disk. This way they can know what programs you have and are using. Some large corporations may be doing this to see what products you are using on your system. This way they can determine what type of software to advertize to you, and most likely to know if you are illegally using a software of their own.
For the most part the Internet is safe. It is the use of common sense that is the key to anything that you do. The internet is big, and there is a lot out there. The safest way of operating is not to download any software that you are not absolutly sure about the security of its source. Also, do not open any email attachments unless you are sure of the security of their source.
