Protecting Computer Equipment
The question came up in class this week on "How do we protect computers?"
When we think of protecting computers, we usually consider the following:
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Viruses, Worms, Trojans, |
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Spyware, |
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Adware, and |
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Surge protection |
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User complacency |
There are a number of products on the market that will prevent problems,
but the following are what I use on my home systems.
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Viruses, Worms, Trojans
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Spyware
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Adware
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Surge Protection
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Surge protection involves
protecting equipment from power surges from lightening
strikes, etc. Many quality products exist in multiple
price ranges. A UPS or Uninterruptible Power Supply
provides power from a battery source when the power goes out
giving the user time to save work and shut down the system
properly. Some UPS contain software that will
automatically shut down a system.
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User Complacency
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All the tools listed above
require responsibility on the part of the computer user:
- Antivirus software, anti-spyware, anti-adware
require that the programs download definitions of newly
identified threats
- Also, checks must be frequently run to make sure the
computer system has not be infected.
- The Windows Operating System should also be updated
regularly. This can be setup to be automatically
completed at
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
- Users should not open e-mail or attachments in
e-mails from people they do not know.
- Users should not open e-mail if it does not have a
"reasonable" subject line.
- Even if you religiously follow steps 1 - 5 above,
you may still find your equipment infected - make
backups of all important files on your system.
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IF you suspect your system might already be infected, try one of the
following solutions:
Links to other information sources:
DPetty 
