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The Internet, your PC and You
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The Internet, your PC and You
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The Internet is the world's largest storehouse of information. It is a network of Computers that 'communicate' with each other by means of what is called the Transmission Control Protocol Internet Protocol (TCP IP). It was initially an experiment of the US Department of Defense to help different computers from different vendors to communicate with each other, that created the early Internet. Today, the Internet girdles the entire planet, with information in hundreds of languages being hosted on it. The Internet today includes chosen material from some of the best Libraries, Research Establishments, Culture Centers and other important contributors to knowledge. It is truly a knowledge repository that would have remained in the realms of Science Fiction, until the Internet made it real!
Each website (such as
WellOiledPC) Besides containing information on every imaginable topic, the Internet is also a huge marketplace and commercial center. People buy and sell every conceivable type of goods and service over the Internet - usually with a huge saving in efforts and costs, thus making it possible for buyers to make thrilling bargains!
We have not talked about one vital aspect of the Internet: of what use is this huge library, if it is not indexed, if it is not searchable? The Internet is definitely searchable and some of the top Internet Search Engines are;
Google is by far the most popular Search Engine today. Google along with Yahoo and MSN account for over 90% of all Internet searches made, currently.
To sum up, the Internet is a network of Computers that holds a universe of information (spread across these computers) that is indexed and searchable by connecting to it from any Internet-enabled Computer in the world. The Internet also makes it possible for you to pick up bargains as well as sell your goods/ services over it.
No, your Computer is not visible to others - PROVIDED you have disabled Files and Folder sharing and have up-to-date protection against Viruses and Spyware and your OS is fully patched. By default, Windows disables File and Folder sharing so that leaves us with up-to-date protection against Viruses and Spyware and OS patches, to worry about.
The author of this article has File and Folders sharing disabled on the
computer. The computer being used is also a
WellOiledPC
with all updates for the OS, Antivirus and Spyware programs installed.
Therefore, you cannot see the files on this computer, even if you knew its
'address'. Once this article is completed in the HTML (Hyper Text Markup
Language) format, it will be transferred (and this article includes all text,
pictures, graphics, links, etc., as well) to the
WellOiledPC
web server that hosts the
WellOiledPC
website. File transfer from the author's machine to the
WellOiledPC
webserver will be done by means of technology called File Transfer Protocol
(FTP). Your Computer can easily access our pages and the millions of other sites
that are similarly hosted on the Internet on Web Servers, once they are
'uploaded' by FTP, to the web server. This is so since your Computer understands
both TCP IP as well as HTML. HTML and the advances and embellishments to it,
including XML, DHTML, Java, PhP, ASP, ASP.NET, Flash, etc., are beyond the scope
of this article. |
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The process of sending a file from your computer to a server situated at a different location is called 'Uploading'. FTP or File Transfer Protocol is one of the protocols used for uploading files.
The process of receiving a file from a server somewhere on the Internet to your computer is called downloading. There are different ways of downloading data from the Internet - here are some of the most common download operations:
Yes, it is dangerous to your Computer and sometimes to you as well, browsing certain sites. Hackers get pleasure in bringing down computers and servers. Certain sites are home for their creations (Viruses and Spyware), which then download and install onto your computer, bringing it down! Again, your personal information - such as Bank Account Number, Credit Card details, PayPal Account, etc., are attractive targets for unscrupulous persons. If they could get hold of such information, they could vamoose with your hard-earned cash!
When you connect to the Internet, you are letting the world know your Internet Protocol (IP) Number. It is like announcing your Internet Address to the world, and there is no way to by-pass this! If your Computer is not patched and up-to-date, malicious viruses and spyware can and will infiltrate your computer and stream out your personal data to its makers, located anywhere in the world!
Apart from viruses and spyware that take advantage of un-patched computers, there are many sites that make a business of stealing personal information. Many of these are quite harmless - for example, you might click on a link that promises you a daily income of $1000 for the rest of your life - and using the e-Mail address you enter there, you would start receiving all kinds of e-Mail from the very next moment. Your mailbox would suddenly be flooded with e-Mail extolling the virtues of Viagra or advising you on how to contact singles in your locality or offering you Credit Cards even if you have been turned down before, and so on. At best, your time is lost in briefly skimming such mail and deleting them forever. There are other kinds of sites that go further and install malicious software onto your computer. While some sites disguise this process by calling the malicious file as a program that sounds so attractive that you download it, other sites do not even wait for you to click on the file - the malicious software downloads itself onto your computer even without your knowledge! The ONLY protection against such menaces is to patch your OS, AntiVirus and AntiSpyware programs - obviously you cannot stop visiting sites altogether!
Since Virus and Spyware creators are smart (though crooked) people, they constantly analyze and unearth loopholes in the Operating System as well as in the AnviVirus and AntiSpyware products. Therefore, AntiVirus and AntiSpyware manufacturers are perpetually behind virus and spyware creators. They are constantly trying to keep up with the latest viruses/ spyware! It is for this reason that you NEED TO update your computer as frequently as possible - merely installing an AntiVirus or AntiSpyware is of no use, as it gets outdated in a few days! All AntiViruses and AntiSpyware come with 3 months, 6 months or a full year's (or more) subscription. You are subscribed to an AntiVirus when you purchase a new Computer too, usually. All updates and patches to the program are free to you, for the specified subscription period. You need to renew your subscription before it expires.
Is there a list of 'Most Dangerous Websites'?
Interestingly, the answer is Yes! Symantec have recently (August 2009) taken the initiative to bring out a list of 100 'Dirtiest' Websites, in terms of infections. The selection is based on number of threats detected by their top-notch Security product, Norton Safe Web.
The Methodology used is briefly explained as;
Here is a brief of the 'Filthy Facts':
Here is a link to the page: http://safeweb.norton.com/dirtysites - DO NOT visit any of the sites listed therein!
Are some sites look-alikes of popular sites? How do I know whether the site I am visiting is the real one?
Popular sites like PayPal, Yahoo, the sites of Banks such as citiBank, etc., are attractive targets for hackers. This is because a large number of visitors flock to such sites and need to give out their personal information, to transact at such sites. By a creating site like, say the PayPal site, hackers hope to harvest personal information. The unsuspecting user, unaware that (s)he is not at the genuine PayPal site, would feed in his/ her user name, password, etc. At this point, a message would pop up at the fake site, informing the user that the site is temporarily down, or something like that - they now have all the information they need, to bleed you to your financial death! The creators of the fake site are now in a position to log into the user's PayPal account on the genuine PayPal site and withdraw all of his/ her money there! In today's terminology, this is called 'Phishing'. Phishing cases continue to rise the world over, unfortunately. Worse, phishing is definitely going to be the bane of Internet usage, in the days to come... Phishing and Cyber Crime go hand in hand. Read VeriSign's White Paper on the latest Phishing trends and how it can affect you, by clicking here!
You have three modes of checking the authenticity of the sites you visit:
Look out for a "Secured By" seal from authorities such as VeriSign, thawte, etc. Click on the Secure Seal and check for yourself, whether the visited sites is indeed secure, as claimed - it is NOT AT ALL DIFFICULT to display the Secured SiteSeal itself! You need to click on the 'Secured By' image and read the pop-up window, to be assured that the site is indeed the one it claims to be! Reproduced below are the Secure Seals of Verisign, thawte, SiteSafe and DigiCert. None of these images will cause a pop-up to appear - these are merely images! However, click on the Verisign seal on PayPal's site and you will receive a pop-up from Verisign, informing you that you are indeed at the PayPal site!
Latest versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox and other top-notch Browsers have AntiPhishing filters built in. Therefore if you visit a phished or unsafe site, your Browser gives you the option to close the site before going on to it, or go on to the site, despite the warning.
Now-a-days, you have Third-party solutions that check and warn you if a visited site is phony. You get a warning that the site you want to visit is unsafe. Once again, you have the option of closing the unsafe website before visiting it or continuing to the website, despite the warning.
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VeriSign Certificate |
thawte Certificate |
SiteSafe Certificate |
digicert Certificate |
NOTE: There are a number of Digital Security Certificate service providers in addition to those shown below.
Software such as Norton 360 and Norton Internet Security are solutions from Symantec that warn you, every time you are about to visit an unsafe website. These check out the Certificate (if the site holds one) and IP Number of the site, from its database of IP Numbers. If it finds a discrepancy in the Certificate or in its known IP Number, you are warned - if the information matches, you are allowed to visit the website without any warning being issued.
The add-on Web of Trust does the same too, though in a different way: Web of Trust compares the site's URL with its database of "Safe" and "Unsafe" URLs, before warning you. WellOiledPC is classified as a "Safe" Website - you can check out our WoT Reputation Rating by clicking the WoT graphic on our Home Page - click here to check us out!
The AntiPhishing filters of popular Browsers - including Internet Explorer, are adequate most of the times. However, a software solution such as Norton 360 is definitely the best alternative to clicking the Certificate of every site you visit or letting your Browser handle the issue completely, for, a site may be 100% genuine, but may not have gone in for Digital Certification. If a site has not gone in for Digital Certification, there is no way you can check its Certificate... Again, even when a site has a prominently-displayed Secured by seal, it is quite possible that you forget to click and verify the Security Certificate. If that happens, you could end up the loser!
With software solutions such as Norton 360, you are freed from the need to check each site for its authenticity, before entering any information in there - the software does all the checking automatically! Software solutions such as these do not check for the seal, but they unerringly catch a bogus site, even if it had the image of a Digital Certificate, while allowing you to continue browsing at a genuine site, even if it had no Digital Certificate.
Reproduced below is the status bar displayed by Norton 360, on visiting the WellOiledPC site:
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Norton 360 lets you know that it is continuously monitoring the sites you are visiting and whether the site you are currently at (WellOiledPC, in the example) is the genuine site.
A product such as Norton 360 is excellent protection against fraudulent sites, since it checks each site you visit. Norton 360 is an integrated AntiVirus and AntiSpyware solution and we recommend it wholeheartedly! Click on the Norton 360 advertisement below, to reach the site of our affiliates, oneNetwork DigitalRiver, the online sales agents for Norton products! Norton Confidential is also great protection against fraudulent websites and password thefts.
Order now by clicking on the links below and avail of the best prices on the Internet for these products! |
Here are our Guidelines for safe Internet Surfing:
