Computer Security
Threats, Insights, Protection

Unsure just what you need to be adequately protected against threats surrounding your computer?

Even if you think your computer is adequately protected, you'd be surprised to discover some important details you may not know.

For example, you may have a specific type of antivirus software installed on your machine, however...

• Is it active or inactive?
• How old are the virus definition files? When was the last time it updated?
• Is incoming email scanned for viruses?
• Are files & documents automatically virus-checked when opened?
• Does the antivirus software scan for viruses in real-time (on-access)?
• Is antivirus detection software installed on each computer at your location?

If the antivirus software is installed on your machine but the program is not working or functioning correctly, then your machine is not properly protected against computer viruses infecting it and causing potential harm and damage to your files & data.

Other Security Issues Which Can Impact Your Computer Security Protection

Known versus Unknown Threats – Is Heuristics Enabled?
Some antivirus programs do not have heuristics built-in (sophisticated algorithms which allow detection of yet unknown viruses). Those antivirus programs which rely solely on their built-in virus definition files are unable to protect against the hundreds of new & emerging threats which appear each month. In addition, if your antivirus software has connectivity problems or operability issues, and is not downloading (in the background) updated antivirus definition files to keep itself current, then your antivirus program is not working properly or is impaired and cannot protect your computer system against harmful threats.

Web-surfing the Internet
Another issue is your internet surfing habits – if you are visiting websites frequently (doing a lot of surfing on the internet), you want to make sure that your antivirus program and other security protection software (ie firewall, antispyware, etc.) is protecting your computer against threats from those websites you’re visiting. For example, an unethical website owner or operator can put malicious code on their website so that when you surf onto it, it can cause problems with your computer particularly if it's running an unpatched version of the Windows operating system that doesn’t have security updates applied.

Email Monitoring – File Attachments
As is common knowledge, there are numerous viruses & worms which attack the Microsoft Address Book such as in MS Outlook, and then massively sends a malicious payload to each contact in your address directory. With the preponderance of this virus type in existence, and the ubiquity of the Microsoft platform, it has become essential to have email & program security protection in place.

Application Security Updates & Permissions
Weaknesses in code can be exploited as vulnerabilities. There have been documented instances of individuals being able to take over a computer remotely due to these security vulnerabilities.

Antispyware Protection
Is your computer running any kind or type of anti-spyware software? If it's not, then your computer is susceptible to being infected by tracking software and advertising programs that get installed to your computer (unbeknownst to you) by advertisers who are tracking your web surfing habits and your personal preferences, and conceivably sending this private information back to their headquarters.

Some customers become infected with persistent adware which is not detected by their antivirus program. It pops-up advertisements on the user's screen; when you try to get rid of them, they come back. It is extremely intrusive to have messages popping up on your screen which are trying to entice you into clicking on those advertisements.

In addition to your desktop resources being hijacked, this can drastically slow down your computer system and cause extreme performance problems.

Phishing Attempts
Phishing attempts are another vulnerability which exists on the internet. That is a situation where an invalid or illegitimate website is disguising itself to appear as a legitimate-looking website. So for example, an unscrupulous website operator at xyz.com is trying to disguise his site to have the same look, feel, and cosmetic appearance of ebay.com, for example, so that you’ll enter your eBay User ID and password into that illegitimate website and the next thing you know your identity is stolen and once again you're faced with threat scenario and vulnerabilities.

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Firewall
A good firewall can protect the "doors" to your computer. If you have no firewall in place, the doors are clearly opened to different individuals "walking in and out" and stealing the information and data you have on your machine. Even if you think you have a firewall in place, is it the right kind protecting you against the known and unknown threats that are lurking out there? Are some ports or applications inadvertently in an "open" state or lacking security?

Some think that having a hardware firewall will protect you against all threats. Not necessarily. This will oftentimes protect you from outside threats coming in, but not inside threats going out. So if an illegitimate or unscrupulous individual whose website puts malware (or malicious software unbeknownst to you) on your hard drive; then the next thing you know information that goes outbound from your computer (when there's nothing in place to stop such outbound activities), even though the firewall for inbound attempts is in place and protecting you, your outbound activities are unsecured. Other firewalls have known vulnerabilities which, when unpatched or not updated, could be exploited and caused to shut down.

Connected to a Network
Something else to bear in mind: Are you a solo, standalone computer, or are you hooked into a network? Whenever you are hooked into a network, you must be concerned about those others who are hooked into the same network and are sharing that network with you. Even though you don't believe that you're connecting to them, they might be able to connect to you. If they can connect to your machine, what files or folders are available that they can get to and potentially see (or steal) your private information and data?

Additionally, you frequently have a good handle on your own activities for safety, security, web surfing, but what about others' activities – people who are connected to the same network as you may be doing unscrupulous or harmful activities. Then if they contract a virus and it spreads through the network that you're on, guess what? Potential exists for harm to your computer or for getting infected by a virus on the same network that your computer is on.

System Resources & Efficient Performance
Locking the doors to your computer, however still having free & unencumbered ability to be productive and perform the computing tasks you're accustomed to, is essential. Inadvertently implementing the wrong software or redundant types of security can impact computer system performance. Accordingly, it is important to have streamlined levels of security which are compatible & stable additions to your system.

Automated Security vs. Manual Updating/Cumbersome Overhead
Another important factor is whether the security you implement is carefree or whether it requires manual participation to download & apply updates on an ongoing basis. You shouldn't have to get involved in performing constant updates. Programs should update themselves on their own without requiring your input or intervention.

If those programs can update themselves automatically in-the-background without requiring your input (i.e. valuable time), then it's a less obtrusive method of your system maintaining up-to-date security.

Often, this boils down to having correct software choices and the proper settings configured.

Making Corrections
If any or all of this seems complicated or confusing, we can help by analyzing what you already have, and recommend inexpensive changes or additions to get your computer functioning smoothly. Please fill out the form below:

ILINK TECHNOLOGY, INC.
5055 Avenida Encinas, Suite 100
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Phone: (760) 216-6560