Password protection for sensitive personal and other data is only as good as the password itself. Easily accessed “cracker,” “breaker,” or “recovery” software runs millions of passwords per second through a log-on box. A password of even 6 characters combining numbers, symbols and upper- and lower-case letters can be broken in 5 hours; only numbers, symbols or letters, in minutes.

Your password should:

• contain a minimum of 8 characters;

• not use any word found in a dictionary (dictionaries in any language can be downloaded to be used in cracking software);

• combine numbers, symbols and upper- and lower-case letters;

• not include personal information—it’s too easy to obtain a user’s name, address, birthday, and names of relatives.

• lock users out of the system after a few tries at the correct password fail (prevents hacking software from trying 1,000s of passwords per second).

Lastly, compartmentalize electronic files and allow access only to those authorized to use each file.

Password protection for sensitive personal and other data is only as good as the password itself. Easily accessed “cracker,” “breaker,” or “recovery” software runs millions of passwords per second through a log-on box. A password of even 6 characters combining numbers, symbols and upper- and lower-case letters can be broken in 5 hours; only numbers, symbols or letters, in minutes.

Your password should:

• contain a minimum of 8 characters;

• not use any word found in a dictionary (dictionaries in any language can be downloaded to be used in cracking software);

• combine numbers, symbols and upper- and lower-case letters;

• not include personal information—it’s too easy to obtain a user’s name, address, birthday, and names of relatives.

• lock users out of the system after a few tries at the correct password fail (prevents hacking software from trying 1,000s of passwords per second).

Lastly, compartmentalize electronic files and allow access only to those authorized to use each file.

We have all felt lost when searching for something on the Web. With billions of pages of information, sometimes even the simplest search can seem like looking for a grain of salt on the beach. However, with a little inside knowledge of how search engines work, you can target your searches and find what you are looking for a lot faster.

Search engines use automated software programs called spiders, bots or crawlers. These programs analyze Web pages and add the data they’ve collected to the search engines index. When you enter a term into a search engine, that term is checked against the search engine’s index. Any Web pages matching the term are listed in the results page, with the closest match at the top.

Most people search the Web using keywords, which can be single words, phrases or proper names. Keywords are effective for very specific searches, but don’t do as well for general terms. For instance, searching for Joe’s Bar and Grill returns just under 4 million results from Google®. If you’re looking for a specific location and it doesn’t appear in the first ten results, you might feel like you’re looking for that grain of salt on the beach.

For phrase searches, quotes are your first best friend. For example, searching for Web Search Engine returns more than 15 million results. However, by putting that phrase in quotes you will drastically reduce the number of results to just under two million and every result on the first page matches exactly the phrase you’re looking for. This one small tip is a huge time saver, but if you want to improve your search skills even further, you can use more advanced search techniques, such as Boolean searches or site-specific searches.

A Boolean search is based on the logical relationship among search terms. Boolean logic consists of three operators:

AND If you are searching for information about Ford Mustangs and you search for ford mustang, the search engine returns results about President Ford and horses. However, if you search for ford AND mustang, your search engine returns only pages that have both of those terms. These days, many search engines default to AND. Always play it safe and consult the Help files at your search engine site to find out which logic is the default.

NOT If you are searching for information about BlackBerry® devices and you search for blackberries, the search engine returns results about fruit and pies. However, if you search for blackberries NOT fruit NOT pies, your search engine returns items that are less likely to be about the tasty fruit and are instead about the “crackberries” we all know and love.

OR – If you search for cats, the results are limited to only pages that contain the word cats. However, if you search for cats OR felines OR kittens, your search engine returns pages that contain either the word cats, or the word felines, or the word kittens. This trick actually gives you MORE results, but can still be very helpful.
If you know what you’re looking for on a specific site but can’t find it when you look there, no problem add a site-specific tag to your search. For example, if you want to find information about strep throat on WebMD.com, just enter strep throat site: webmd.com into the search engine. The site command tells the search engine to limit its results to the site specified; in this case WebMD.com

With those few simple tips, you can greatly increase your search ability and get what you need on the Web in less time. That grain of salt is there you just need to know how to look for it.

Happy Surfing!

Source

Spam, or Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE), has gone from a nuisance to a plague, with many people now receiving more spam than legitimate email.

Server administrators do their best to stop spam by detecting it when it arrives. If they are successful in identifying an unsolicited message, they can either delete or filter it.

However, individuals play the most important part. We have the ability to stop spam from arriving. There are several things we can do to reduce the flood.

-Be careful when and where you post your email address!
The more places your email address is shown, the more chances a spammer has to add it to their list. If you don’t need your email address to be published on your web site, don’t put it there. Try using a comment form or a fax number instead.

-Don’t put your business card in a glass bowl!
Many restaurants and retailers have a bowl or box where you can enter a prize drawing by leaving your business card. Read the fine print. The reason many of these drawings exist is to collect your personal information for future marketing efforts. Often, there are no limits on what they are able to do with that information. Your details, including your email address, may be sold and re-sold to marketing firms.

How you deal with spam that does arrive will influence how much you receive in the future.

-If the email has a link in it, do not click it!
The more sophisticated spammers will place a unique ID in links that they use. This means that if you click the link, you will not only be subjected to more advertising on their Web site, but you will have confirmed that your email address is real and functioning. That makes you a prime target for the next advertisement.

-Don’t fall for the urgent demand!
Spammers try hard to make you click their links. They use tricks such as implying that your online banking account is at risk or some other ‘urgent’ issue. Don’t fall for it. Find a safe way to check your accounts otherwise you will be putting yourself at risk. Go to the Web site directly – NOT via the link in the email – if you want to check on your account.

Report the Spam!

Source

A computer is just like your car, there are things that you should do to it periodically to keep it running in pristine condition.  If you don’t maintenance your computer, and you start to see signs of sluggishness or errors, running these commands will help.  Some may take a while, so pull up a chair or start it before you go to bed.

1) Run a Disk Clean-up – A disk clean-up cleans un-necessary space from your computer.  Every time you install files and surf the internet, files are placed on your computer.  This takes up space and makes your computer slow.  This action should be done at least once a week or sooner depending on how much you browse the net.  This option can be found at, Start Menu > Programs > Accessories > System Tools

2) Run a Scan of your Anti-virus Software – Open up your virus program and run a scan to check for viruses.  If you don’t have any software installed, you can get a free version at http://www.avast.com.  All you do is register to get a code every 6 months.

3) Run a Disk Defragmentor – Defragging is a process that reduces the amount of fragmentation in file.  Basically everytime you install a file or create a data file, it creates fragments.  Running a defrag puts everything back were it should be.  This helps make your computer run faster. This option can be found at, Start Menu > Programs > Accessories > System Tools

4) Run a Scandisk – Running a Chkdsk or Scandisk is a tool that looks for problems on your hard drive.  It scans and fixes any issues.  Go into my computer, locate your C: drive, right click your mouse and go to properties.  Click on the tools tab and click on check now.  Make sure that you check the two checkmarks for automatically fixing errors and checking bad sectors.

5) Uninstall Programs – When you first buy a computer, sometimes it comes with a lot of un-needed programs or over the years, you have’t deleted anything.  To uninstall a program correctly, go to your, Start Menu > Control Panel and Add and Remove Programs (For Vista, Programs & Features).  Be sure you know what you are uninstalling.  Google it if you have to.  If you are unsure, leave it alone.

6) Delete Files – Browse through personal files and backup and/or delete any that you don’t need to clear up space.