The types of jobs and career opportunities for IT professionals are as vast and different as the industry itself. There are many different avenues you can take in the IT world, include the types of job environments and positions. Only one thing is for certain: you’ll probably be working long hours occasionally and you’ll have to work with computers. The rest of your career is up to you. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: General
Shopping online is becoming an area of major growth for the economy. As financial strains continue to hit the high streets, more and more shoppers are purchasing their products online in order to make savings. However, it is imperative that any transaction done online is kept safe and secure in order to prevent cyber criminals from accessing your passwords and private banking information. There are a few things you can do to keep your payments online safe.
Change Your Passwords
One way to keep your payments secure is by regularly changing the passwords you use to log into shopping sites. This will help you if your details somehow fall in the wrong hands as the next time someone tries to log into your account, you will have changed the password. Try to stay away from easily guessed or recognizable series of numbers and if you have to write your passwords down, make sure you don’t leave the piece of paper anywhere that strangers can read it. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: General
Information technology or IT continues to serve the needs of a business from start to the processes of change that it is required to go through as it expands. It is a necessary occurrence for increased IT security to be needed as businesses grow. Companies can protect themselves better by laying out the fundamentals of IT security through policies.
Every company operates on its own level of security in the aspect of technology use so it would be impossible to have complete uniformity between company policies. The most basic components however are essentially the same. Such components deal with maintaining data security discipline among employees and providing for the official use of the business equipments provided.Â
Electronic mail or simply email is deemed an official form of communication between the company and the customers thus it is important that those who are sending it are authorized to do so. Companies generally have the right to review online communication of employees done through company facilities which give them the chance to intercept and prevent communication which are contrary to company policy or puts the company at risk or danger. This right however has to be legally backed up by carefully worded terms and conditions. Most companies also include automatic disclaimer in email contents.Â
Employees need to know what constitutes transgression of company security if they are to be expected to act accordingly. There is also a need for policies to undergo periodic checking and evaluation to ensure that they are current to existing conditions and technologies. Employers must have access to sanctioning violators of IT security policies so that employees fully understand the consequences of their actions. Clear-cut written words that have sound legal basis provides the foundation of every IT security policy.
Categories: E-mail, IT Security Basics, Security Policies
Computer viruses are one of the most annoying problems of the modern digital age. Often created by computer coders with too much time on their hands, these bugs can be quite troublesome and can destroy valuable information stored on your computer. There are a number of anti-virus software programs available to help you monitor any possible infection, but prevention is always better than the cure. There are a few ways you can make sure you lower your chances of contracting a computer virus. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Tips
Checking accounts are very handy. With it you can pay your bills, pay for your purchases and keep track of your spending bills. Online checking account works the same way, except that they are more convenient to use. You can online fund transfer, unlimited ATM access and easy application procedures. Like with traditional banks, most of these are insured by the FDIC, which means that your money is safe and secured. Now here’s how to open online checking accounts.
Step 1 – Search online for online banks
When doing this, you need to consider the bank’s reputation, their accessibility, their security features, they accreditation and of how much fees they charge for the online application. Most of these banks do not charge you for anything but there are others that do.
Step 2 – Fill their online application
After deciding which online bank to enroll you into, it is now time to fill out the bank’s online application form. This may include your social security number, email address, physical address and name and birth date. After filling out the application form, they will give you some log in access including your password. They would usually ask you to change your password immediately and log back on to your account.
Step 3 – Read the terms and conditions
After signing up, it is important that you read the bank’s terms and conditions very carefully. Most of the times, the term contract are written in very small font so that customers will refuse to read them. But this is where you will find out about the hidden fees and other concerns that might cause complications in the future.
Categories: General, IT Security Basics, Physical Security
We all know the importance of having good and difficult passwords once we have access to a site or a network but one thing that many would have to consider would be the length. Others would want it short, but these are people who would not care of why they are given access. Others want it long normally something that they can easily remember such as their address or birthday. But how long should it be?
Traditionally, it should be at least 8 characters. Some are fine with 6 characters but for security reasons and avoiding hackers, it would be best to make it longer. A combination of alphanumeric characters would be better as it makes harder to crack for people who love to do mischief. So if this were the case, the potential combination would perhaps be your car plate number, bank account or even your driver’s license codes. With that in mind, you better make sure you also write it down and keep it in a safe place. This is in case you may forget it for some reason due to the tons of information you have stored up in your mind.
Regardless, a user should always make sure that the password he chooses is something he is familiar with. For most sites, we are asked to put secret questions to which we can answer for ourselves. But in choosing the right one, we must make sure that it is something only we know and not something that can be easily guessed by anyone. Failing to do so may put your access and credibility at risk.
Categories: Cryptography, Privacy & Anonymity
For each PC owner, there will be a preferred setting and software to use. It may depend on the impact and addition of processes or how they protect your computer from malicious intent stemming from viruses and spyware that are spread all over the web. But in the end, you may ask yourself which is the best among these anti-virus software solutions and which can really protect my computer from potent intrusion?
Seriously, there is no definite answer for this. We may see a lot of reviews and best ranked anti-virus software on the web but none of them guarantee 100% protection. Viruses and malware will always find a way and the degree of infection can start from minimal to dangerous at times.
While you can always rely on brand recall, depending on how you understand reviews and features that each software could give, trying them out one by one via their trialware options when you download and evaluation copy would be great. However, beware of some marketing gimmicks such as warning you of infections that may be dangerous to them yet minimal to others.
Anti-virus software selling is still a business and to get the nod of consumers, you have to impress them by showing them something. This is not to say that software companies are actually turning to these low way of marketing their product but why would you purchase an anti-virus software if you have nothing better to show than the price?
That is why you would be better of trying majority of these software programs. For sure you will know which are really needed and which are not.
Categories: IT Security Basics, Malware, Spyware
Getting hold of an anti-virus software these days is not as hard as before. Normally, you had to the nearest computer shop and ask around which best anti-virus software can keep your protected and then install it once you buy it outright. Through the years, software companies have allowed anyone to download their software, try it and then eventually be given the option to buy it. Some are even lucky enough when geniuses develop certain key generators to which they can crack the trialware into the full version. But all that seems checked now.
To date, there are still an abundant number of sites like forums that house such cracks and codes. Some of them work but not as plenty as before. Software companies have religiously sought to skim them one by one, blacklisting said codes to which makes freeloaders scratch their heads and continue to get a working key just to avoid a couple of dollars. Sadly, that is not as rampant as before.
If you think about it, this may only be the tip of the iceberg. Software companies may soon follow the cue of Microsoft in blacking out their screens if they are using pirated versions. If Microsoft can do it, then why not companies like McAfee or Norton? They are not small time companies and for sure, they have the funds to make it work like Bill Gates did.
Cheaters cannot complain and so do pirated users. So if that happens, it will all be due to the nature of being a cheapskate that did these people in.
Categories: IT Security Basics, Operating Systems, Spyware, Tips
Research has shown that a survey conducted within a large company shows that although telecommuting is very much productive for many firms it tends to be on the downside for those employees who do stay within the physical office itself. This can be in the areas of personal assistants/secretaries and other office workers who are left to run the office in the absence of their counterparts/coworkers. This leads to dissatisfaction in the workplace hence lowering productivity and encouraging home-bodies to engage in dangerous liaisons from within and outside of the office.
The hatred felt is seen in the rising occurrences of these same people becoming the entry point for attacks on corporate networks when they visit social sites to pass on the otherwise boring day. This is also counterproductive for their attention to work and the other nuances such as physical security and IT security is so much a threat that it is under study on how to improve the working conditions for these people. They are distracted and left to do almost anything they please which is where the security gap seems to be, using the corporate network to access social sites to which they are members of. Even the installation of hardware and software security measures cannot guarantee security coverage at all angles for the main security risk is still the human behind the keyboard who does the typing and not on the structure of the system itself. It might be helpful to get them out more often to allow their facilities more practice letting the steam and pressures/boredom to dissipate. Role rotation may be a key but is not always feasible for there are certain knowledge associated issues that have to be addressed to be able to do that. Training and re-training people allows them to sharpen skills and add new knowledge to their already bored lives.
Categories: General, Instant Messaging, IT Security Basics, Malware, Network Security, Physical Security, Privacy & Anonymity, Real-World Issues, Security Policies
This has been proven true by incidents broadcast around the world in minutes or hours after they have happened. Many have suffered the consequences of such incidents in the UK, US and mostly each and every place on earth where people have had their information taken and used for no good before there was even a sign that there was a problem.
Big business has been reminded again and again that complacency is it’s worst enemy and they have failed again and again at the area. Why? Well first, total protection is almost always imperfect and somebody out there with enough intent and resources can break-in however expensive the protection methods may be. Next is that the best systems for protection is always the ones that cost too much yet they still remain vulnerable and hackable. Contrary to most ad’s you see in print, the internet or your Television there is no one true solution to protection, for if the hardware and software measures succeed in protecting you, the human behind the computer/s are always the biggest risk. That is why even the most expensive solutions are used in conjunction with other solutions to provide the best of both worlds combining physical and software solutions hoping that combination will be enough protection from the continuous influx of attacks from the web and elsewhere. Encryption is nice but it takes a lot of computing power to implement making it too expensive for implementation on all levels of the company. All of these high-tech solutions and hardware would be nothing if the people using the various computer systems in the said organization fail to use them so the weakest link in every system is still the human. Strict adherence and compliance is the key with systems that process information somewhat autonomously already in use doing the searching and classification of information without the user’s input. This uses the latest in Artificial Intelligence with minimal intervention or input from the users.
Categories: Cryptography, General, IT Security Basics, Network Security, Physical Security, Privacy & Anonymity, Real-World Issues, Security Policies
