Peer to Peer File sharing networks

Beware lest you begin to download what you think is a valid piece of software from Kazaa or any other P2P (peer to peer) file sharing network. Here is how it works. Peer to Peer networks such as Kazaa allows you to register on their service and then network yourself with others with similar interests to download all sorts of software. This software ranges from music files (mp3's etc) , software titles (usually pirated or hacked), movies (usually pirated or hacked) etc. I know that this is not an all inclusive list but it seems that movies , computer software and music are at the top of the list. What happens is you are downloading what you think is a movie when in all actuality you might get an advertisement for goods and services and if you are really unlucky you might be the winner of a nasty worm, trojan horse or virus of some sort that will be more than happy to email itself out to everyone in your windows address book (.wab file) not to mention possibly destroying data and infecting your registry so that it can respawn itself every time you reboot your computer. Doing this with your computer and your data is like walking through a minefield without taking the time to look for the mines. If you step in the wrong spot you will get your toes blown off. The last time I checked most of us like our toes (or computer data) and it is painful to lose them.

Here are some simple rules for computing safely not only for yourself and your data but also to be a responsible netizen.

A. Do not use hacked software
B. Always have your anti virus software updated on a regular basis
C. Most anti virus software has Live Update that works automatically in the background, you set it and forget it
D. Backup your data on a REGULAR basis.
E. Have multiple backup media for redundancy (IE separate hard disk and CDR or cdrw or external usb hard drive)
F. Always configure your anti virus software to monitor both outgoing and incoming email
G. When forwarding e-mail please do not forward every e-mail address from the multiple forwards that you received
H. Most folks dont like attachments when they are not expecting them so try not to send forwarded email as an attachment.
I. Stay FAR away from P2P file sharing networks.
J. If you have a broandband connection that stays on all the time PLEASE purchase a switch/router/firewall to provide an extra level of protection between you and the outside Internet. Do not be fooled into thinking that the built in software firewall that comes with XP will be the end all solution to all of your security needs.
K. If your computer came with a System Recovery CD be SURE to lock that baby in a safe place. This CD will restore your computer back to its factory defaults and contains all the drivers for the hardware on your system.
L. Atleast once per month run Windows Update and allow the Microsoft site scan your computer and tell you what critical updates are available. ALWAYS read what the update is and if it is listed as critical and it FIXES a security issue on the Operating System be SURE to do it without fail.


Ok, that is not an all inclusive list but it contains some very basic common sense things that sometimes folks just forget or take for granted. Now, lets assume that you are the unlucky soul that gets caught with your cyberpants down around your ankles. You just made a boo boo and all of a sudden your computer is rebooting itself or you notice that your outbox on your email client is busy and you did not intend to send out an email to everyone in your address book.

The FIRST thing you should do is to reach behind your computer and remove the modem line (telephone wire) or your ethernet cable (that runs to your DSL or Cable modem). Why is that you ask? This will disconnect your computer from the LAN (local area network) internally and the Internet (Wide area network) externally. That means that your computer is infected but will not be able to pass the infection on to other people (computers) on your local network or external computer users on the Internet (like ME)....

The SECOND thing you should do is turn your computer OFF and go find the Anti Virus Rescue disks that you created when you first installed your anti virus software. If you have not done that PLEASE go do that right after you read this. It WILL save your bacon in the future. Here is something that you might not know. Not only do you need to do regular backups to different media you also need to recreate your Anti Virus rescue disks so that you can keep them up to date with the latest virus definitions. If you installed McAfee or Norton Anti Virus 2 years ago but have not updated your rescue disks then the chances of your rescue disks being able to DETECT a new virus is slim to none.

Some of you are rolling your eyes right about now thinking "good grief do I REALLY need to do all of this stuff all the time??" I bought this thing to surf the web and check email and the sales man told me that it would just work right out of the box. No one told me about all of this.... The answer is YES. Imagine if you bought a new car and drove it and drove it and never did any type of maintenance to it or changed the oil or put new tires or brake shoes on it. How long would your car last ? I can garuntee you it would not last anywhere near as long as it will if you take good care of it. Over the years hardware and software manufacturers have made progress with regards to making computer products that are VERY user friendly and very automated. However, ongoing maintenance has to be done or you will eventually run into problems.

When I first started writing this article I was going to just warn you about Peer to Peer networks and the inherent dangers of using them. Once I started there then I started to remember some of the common sense things listed above that can help protect all of us. This article is not intended to be a complete computer survival guide and there are so many other things that can be discussed in detail. This goes without saying but I think I need to say it anyway. If you do not know what you are doing and everything I am saying above seems to sound like greek find a family member or someone that you know that is computer savy and have them explain things to you in a way you will understand and help you to protect yourself better. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Well, anyway, you know what I am saying here. It is better to be proactive than reactive. When you get to the point that you are having to react to a disaster there will usually be some smoke and flames that will result in either data loss or some type of damage to your computer. That is the last thing either of us want or need. Am I right??