Results of Anti-Virus "Poll"

According to the answers that I received in regards to what anti-virus software people use, if any, I got varied answers. Most people either used Morton or McAfee, with a couple people vwho did not have any sort of anti-Virus software. It is important to have the anti-virus software, as I said, so that your computer and your personal information is protected from any third parties.

Using Anti-Virus Software

Many people believe that by avoiding downloading things off the internet or by avoiding certain web sites, that they are protecting themselves from having any viruses or threatening software downloaded onto their computer. With doing these types of things, your chances of having a virus or threatening software downloaded onto your computer are lessened, but this doesn't eliminate these chances. Some examples of different anti-virus software include Norton/Symantec, AVG, McAfee, etc. There are some anti-virus software out there that is free to download, while others require you to pay and you get a certain time frame that it will last for before you need to upgrade it.

Do you have anti-virus software on your computer? What kind is it? 

My advice to you: if you don't have anti-virus software on your computer, get on it. And before you just go and download the first thing that comes up on a google search, do your research first. Some software will only cover certain aspects of protecting your computer, so your best bet would be purchasing a top name brand. This way, you are almost positive that you will be covered. I use Norton anti-virus and I have yet to have an issue. I've had it ever since I've gotten a laptop..my junior year in high school, and I've only ever had a virus once that wasn't detected because it took over the anti-virus software. You really won't find one that will do everything and protect you from everything, but having nothing is worse.

Not Just Protecting Your Identity; Protecting Your Dignity

I'm sure everyone has heard of the typical identity theft or a hacker gaining personal information through banks or a personal computer, but what about someone attacking you personally through your home computer? It happens.

An Orange County computer repair technician was arrested for suspicion of installing spyware on different laptops, allowing him to take videos and pictures of women, mostly, showering and undressing in the "comfort" of their own homes. Trevor Harwell, only 20 years old, installed software on his clients Mac laptops that took over their webcam. The software sent fake error messages to the clients stating that they needed to fix their internal sensor and in order to aid in doing so, they should put their computer near hot steam to clean the sensor.

Once he had access to the computers, and after the [not so bright] victims put their laptops in the bathroom with them as they showered, he would take photographs of the users. Harwell would use his cell phone to control a program, "Campcapture" to store the photos on a remote server and download them to his computer.

Scary, huh? It is reasons like this that I try to make people aware of the error messages and little things that pop up on your computer. Most users aren't aware of what is really going on when your computer is telling you to download something to save your computer from crashing or breaking. And most users aren't aware of what really happens if you do have a virus on your computer to compare to these viral messages. Your first reaction, when your 'reliable' computer is prompting you with an error message, is to do whatever you can to fix it, right? You don't want to lose all of your stored documents, videos, pictures, etc. Who does? But be aware. Do research before downloading a 'free' anti virus software. If you don't know how to do it yourself, take it to a professional. It's not a game and your identity, dignity, and privacy are no joke.

Sony: Careless or Carefree?

A group of hackers, calling themselves Lulz Security, are coming forward saying that they have broken into Sony Corporation's computer systems again and posted their results and findings on the Internet. They claimed that they had taken part in the prior attack on Sony's systems and now they have broken into their computer network  and accessed the information of over 1 million customers ... simply to prove the vulnerability of the system. During the attack, they had published the names, addresses, birth dates, email addresses, phone numbers and passwords of different people who had entered contests conducted by Sony.

Sony seems to be running into quite a few issues lately. On April 26, Sony had announced and warned their users that hackers had gained access to the personal information of 77 million of their users. On April 19, they pulled the plug on the Playstation Network because they had just then discovered the breach. On May 2, Sony revealed that hackers had gained the information of another 25 million users of its PC games system.

It seems that even though Sony is such a large corporation, they don't really have a hold on the security end of the stick. How can a company with so much money not have the correct tools and knowledge, especially now-a-days, to prevent these types of things from happening? My brother uses Playstation and was furious when the breach was going on. He was unable to use the product and was warned that a lot of personal information had been retrieved. Although he hadn't entered his personal information to purchase any of the products on the Playstation Network, quite a few of his friends had. It's rather scary now that kids can't even play video games now without parents having to worry about losing their personal and confidential information. What exactly is this world coming to?

Are you aware?

Now a days, almost everyone has a Facebook, and if you don't, you're considered to be out of the loop. While Facebook has its highest of highs and seems to be the number one social networking site today, what many don't know is that it definitely has its lows, as well. How many of you are really aware of the risks of having an account with this top site? Do you really read what you agree to when taking a survey or playing a game? Most of us don't because we put too much trust into something that we know almost nothing about. There are daily attemps from hackers at stealing someone's personal information, gaining passwords to someone's account, or simply trying to get you to click on a link that isn't what you think it is and will download a virus onto your computer. The little, addicting games that you play everyday require you to allow the application to access your profile information. For some applications, clicking this button is an open road to whatever you have saved on your profile.

There was a recent scam on Facebook that presented the user with a link, claiming that it is a YouTube video, with the caption, "This woman has a [sic] orgasm on a roller coaster! LOL." It claims that it will show you the video in return for you filling out a short survey. Now come on, we all aren't stupid. If you are the least bit computer savvy and have the slightest bit of common sense, you know that when a survey is promising you something it is almost always a hoax.

You need to be more aware of what you are randomly clicking on. These scammers and hackers try to make what they want to get you to click on more appealing to their audience. So yeah, sometimes it's tempting. Everyone wants to see what's so funny or what they think everyone else is getting a kick out of. But think about what you could potentially be doing not only to your computer, but to yourself. It is a lot easier than anyone thinks to get your personal information. They sell software for anyone to buy on the internet to help them to hack into anyone's personal accounts: Facebook, bank accounts, shopping accounts, etc. So next time your asked to agree to page terms or presented with a page that requires you to allow the page to access your information, click out of it. And protect yourself.

Read more about this Facebook story!

Are you one of those people that hears glimpses of what goes on in our world today? Do you tend to only really care about one topic in the news, and don't really want to know the rest?

That's me. That's how I am. 

Sure, we all want to know the weather, sports or the traffic, and no matter what you do, you can't get away from the local "drama". But you can find ways to just read about one specific topic that you may be interested in, without getting mixed up in all of the other news topics. This is my intention -- to focus on the one growing topic that is becoming more of an issue each day.

I'm a Computer Science major and have taken various computer security classes, and because of these, I have a growing interest in keeping up with the goofy stories and news topics that come up including hacking, identity and financial theft, new viruses, etc., all in regards to computer security. To some this may seem like a repetition of what they can read or hear in the news, but I intend on doing my best in trying to also give advice about what you can do to protect yourselves from these types of attacks. They're more common than anyone may really think, so this should be beneficial if anything. So, welcome!