IT Happens

I.T. Security 

In recent weeks and months, it has been reported that China has attacked or still is attacking certain companies and user’s e-mail accounts from around the world, including Australia. The companies that have indicated (directly or indirectly) they have been compromised are Google, Yahoo, BHP, Rio Tinto and others.

With this increased activity, it’s a reminder to all of us within the IT Industry that security isn’t something that should be an after thought.  So for this eNews Edition, the IT Department has added a few things that everyone can do to help stay a little more secure when using a computer that is connected to the Internet, whether it is business or home.

E-mails
Almost everyone uses Electronic Mail, it’s a great way to stay in touch with friends, family, clients and businesses but it is one of the weapons that Cyber-Criminals can use.  So whenever opening e-mails to read, you have to make sure that it is safe to open. One of the quickest and easiest ways of doing this is by looking at the sender and the subject of that e-mail. If the sender is  someone you don’t know, then it could be SPAM (annoying advertising or harmful e-mail) or it could be something worse so if this is the case, it’s best to delete the e-mail without opening. 

Web Surfing
Harmful web sites (also called a ‘Poisoned’ website) is another way Cyber-Criminals can attack your computer, so one of the best things that the IT Department here at Williams Hall Chadwick has found to help with this is a programme called Site Advisor (web address: http://www.siteadvisor.com/). It’s one of the best free programmes available. It basically helps you work out which web sites are good and which are bad.

Must Haves
It’s very important to have a Virus Protection programme running at all times on your computer and there are many free Virus Protection programmes available for downloading and of course, if you aren’t sure about a free Virus Protection programme, you can always pay for one which are available from all good Electronic Stores like Harvey Norman.

For Free Anti-Virus Software
Microsoft    - http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
aVast         - http://www.avast.com/en-au/free-antivirus-download
AVG           - http://www.avgfree.com.au/download.cfm?type=free

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