Topic outline

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  General

  Living with the Internet - keeping it safe
  
  How can we be on the internet and keep safe at the same time?
  
  Work through the course to find out more...
  
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  Topic 1

  Introduction

  • Introduction Page
  • Computer crashes are often the result of viruses, worms or Trojans as unfortunately some internet users want to cause havoc or vandalise your computer. This unit provides a guide to the downsides of living...
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  Topic 2

  What this unit is about

  • What this unit is about Page
  • The recent huge increases in ownership of home computers and ever-widening access have been obvious boons to many peoples' lives but, as with many things that improve life, there is a downside. The downside...
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  Topic 3

  1 The growth of malware

  • 1 The growth of malware Page
  • The figures below show how the problem of malware has increased over the last 30 years.
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  Topic 4

  2 Viruses, worms and Trojans

  • 2.1 What is a virus? Page
  • A virus is a piece of computer code – a program – that has been written to gain access to files or programs on your computer. The virus may enter your computer via floppy disk, by email or by your Internet...
  • 2.2 Worms Page
  • Unlike a virus, a worm does not infect files on a host computer. Instead it adds a file to the computer that is malicious code, and runs it ‘in the background’. A computer has many programs running in...
  • 2.3 Trojans Page
  • The term Trojan comes from the Greek legend about the fall of the city of Troy. The story goes that, during the seige of the city by the Greeks, a huge, hollow wooden horse was left in front of the gates....
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  Topic 5

  3 How to protect yourself against viruses, worms and Trojans

  • 3.1 Patches and antivirus software Page
  • In this section we will look at two of the ways in which you can protect yourself from malware:
  • 3.2 What do we mean by patches? Page
  • Microsoft Windows is an example of an operating system (OS). These operating systems contain millions of lines of code, and inevitably there will be some errors in that code. Some malware writers set out...
  • 3.3 Antivirus software Page
  • In conjunction with these patches, you should also install antivirus software. This is because patches and updates are not always issued quickly enough to protect your system from new viral attacks. In...
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  Topic 6

  4 Avoiding viruses, worms and Trojans

  • 4.1 Email attachments Page
  • Following some simple rules should help you to minimise the risks from malware. The first rule is:
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  Topic 7

  5 Firewalls

  • 5 Firewalls Page
  • Another tool that you could use, especially if you access the Internet using broadband, is a firewall. Firewalls can be software or hardware, single packages or complete computers.
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  Topic 8

  6 Hoaxes

  • 6.1 Identifying hoaxes Page
  • The hoax message relies on the naivety of users in order to mislead them.
  • 6.2 Protecting yourself against hoaxes Page
  • Hoax messages are usually received via work colleagues, family or friends. You may also see them if you are on mailing lists or you read messages on newsgroups.
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  Topic 9

  7 Spam

  • 7.1 What is it? Page
  • Spam is unsolicited commercial electronic messaging. It can be used to advertise a product, or it could be a hoax message designed to mislead.
  • 7.2 Should I unsubscribe from mailing lists? Page
  • Many spam messages have a line at the bottom offering to unsubscribe you from a mailing list, but you should be very wary of doing this. Quite often the senders of the spam will use the ‘unsubscribe’ option...
  • 7.3 ADV: Page
  • Some spam mail includes ‘ADV:’ in the title. This indicates that it is part of the system used in the US to allow spam mail but to highlight that it is an advertisement. You can then make an informed choice...
  • 7.4 The 419 money fraud Page
  • Here is an example of a special type of spam message; you may have come across this before.
  • 7.5 The spread of spam Page
  • A staggering 25 per cent of all incoming mail messages to the Open University in February 2004 were marked as spam by our automated spam filter. Is this a problem that is getting worse?
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  Topic 10

  8 How to protect yourself against spam

  • 8 How to protect yourself against spam Page
  • People and organisations can only send spam if they have a collection of email addresses to send to. They ‘harvest’ these addresses:
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  Topic 11

  9 Adware and spyware

  • 9 Adware and spyware Page
  • The previous sections of this topic have been concerned with email, but the Internet provides yet more problems, in the form of adware and spyware on the Web. You may have seen pop-up messages on your...
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  Topic 12

  10 How to protect yourself against adware and spyware

  • 10 How to protect yourself against adware and spyware Page
  • Steps you can take to protect yourself against this intrusive software.
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  Topic 13

  11 Cookies

  • 11.1 What are they? Page
  • When you visit a website the chances are that it will deposit a cookie on your computer. A cookie is a plain text file that cannot pose any threat to your computer and cannot pass on viruses. Therefore,...
  • 11.2 How do advertising cookies work? Page
  • Many websites host advertising banners, and these advertisements may place a ‘third-party cookie’ on your computer. This means that the cookie does not come from the website you are viewing but from one...
  • 11.3 Controlling cookies in Internet Explorer Page
  • It's important to remember that you have the ability to control cookies.
  • 11.4 Controlling cookies in Firefox Page
  • Open your browser.
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  Topic 14

  12 Other security issues

  • 12.1 Home page hijackers
  • A home page hijacker is malicious code, quite often attached to a web page, that resets the home page on your browser to one designated by the writer of the code rather than the one you chose. Although...
  • 12.2 Diallers Page
  • Diallers are a problem which only affects internet users who have a dial-up connection. A dialler is a type of software mostly used by pornography vendors. Once the dialler software is downloaded and run,...
  • 12.3 Further security issues Page
  • The problems discussed so far can have major implications for users. They may:
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  Topic 15

  13 How do you protect children online?

  • 13 How do you protect children online? Page
  • There is a lot of information available on how to protect younger members of the household, but quite often children know more than their parents and are able to bypass the protection that parents might...
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  Topic 16

  14 Where to learn more

  • 14 Where to learn more Page
  • GetNetWise provide a good general guide to safety on the Internet.
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  Topic 17

  References and Acknowledgements

  • Acknowledgements Page