Security

Throughout the site click on any small picture to view a larger image in a new window.

They are in separate windows so you can continue to browse if you have to wait for more than a few seconds for the larger pictures to load.

Using a 56K dial-up Internet connection the larger pictures take an average of about five seconds to appear.

We (my husband) is paranoid about security and ‘spam’ of which he receives much more than I do. We decided to include on the site a summary of the security programs we use to reassure you that we do all we can to maintain privacy and remain ‘bug’ free.

We also try to save time by effective handling of unsolicited ‘spam’ e-mail but no system can be completely foolproof!

The descriptions given are very brief and do not give a full picture of either the problems or the programs designed to prevent them. Detailed information is given on individual web sites.

Many of the companies listed below sell suites of Internet security programs but we have preferred to ‘mix and match’.

Some of the programs we’ve used for a couple of years and, so far, we have avoided problems.

Firewall: Intended primarily to stop ‘hackers’ from breaking into our systems to steal information or, without our knowledge, use our e-mail address book to send mail containing bugs or viruses. Most firewalls can be set up to make your computer ‘invisible’ on the Internet, to block those annoying pop-up and banner adverts and keep sensitive information like credit card numbers and passwords in encrypted form.

We’ve used Zone Alarm free version for about two years and have stayed unharmed.

Anti Spam: Used to control all that unsolicited e-mail. We tried using our Internet Service Provider’s anti-spam systems but we kept losing things we wanted (mainly newsletters we subscribe to) because the ISP’s filters were too strict. Now, we do it ourselves. The program we use, Mailwasher Pro, sorts the mail into groups like ‘Friends’, ‘Known spam’, ‘Blacklist’, etc., and enables us to delete unwanted items before they’re downloaded into Outlook Express.

Much spam mail contains viruses or spyware but using a program like this keeps it away from your system.

Anti Virus: Used to stop and eliminate viruses and other ‘bugs’. There are several good ones and we use the free AVG as our basic anti-virus protection.

One drawback of many programs is that they depend on being up to date with definitions of known problems. If you are hit by something before a solution has been provided you have a problem. Now there are programs like Benign that ‘read’ your e-mail and recognise the types of code that are likely to carry viruses etc. and ‘sanitise’ it before the message is downloaded.

Anti Spyware: Spyware is an increasing problem. In simple terms these are small programs that, without your knowledge, can be received hidden in e-mail or, very commonly, downloaded to your computer when you visit a web site. Much of it is harmless and even useful, especially on sites you visit regularly, as it helps sites like, say, Amazon to ‘remember’ you. But some of it, also known as ‘Malware’ can track which sites you visit, what items interest you and even transmit every key you press on your keyboard. This could lead to you receiving lots of ‘spam’ advertising things in which you have shown an interest, being inundated with ads for pornography or, much worse, your credit card numbers or even your whole identity being stolen..

The first program we used was Pest Patrol - it came free with Zone Alarm during a special promotion. Later we discovered that different programs look out for different things. It was recommended to run at least two so we added Spy Sweeper. Then we read about two highly recommended free programs, Spybot and Ad-Aware, so we added those - and we still occasionally pick up minor pests. (We sweep our systems daily with each in turn).

SPECIAL NOTE

Be especially careful if searching the ‘Net for anti-spyware.

There are very many unscrupulous people claiming to sell this type of program but, in fact, are selling useless stuff or worse. Some of these programs are actually spyware.

Many of the people selling them use product names and web site addresses that are almost identical with the genuine ones.

Links on this page will take you to genuine sites and if you buy anything some will also pay us a small commission. If you prefer not to follow the links and are concerned about finding the right web site send us an e-mail and we’ll send you the right site addresses.

Two excellent articles on the dangers of spyware and malware appeared in the Daily Telegraph Technology section under the ‘Bootcamp’ feature. There’s an archive of previous articles and you should look for numbers 363 and 364