{"id":3472,"date":"2014-07-11T11:00:54","date_gmt":"2014-07-11T18:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onehub.com\/blog\/?p=3472"},"modified":"2014-07-15T11:48:49","modified_gmt":"2014-07-15T18:48:49","slug":"9-tips-to-keep-your-networked-computer-safer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onehub.com\/blog\/2014\/07\/11\/9-tips-to-keep-your-networked-computer-safer\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Tips to Keep your Networked Computer Safer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"network_security\"<\/p>\n

Earlier this week the New York Times<\/a> reported a story on a large scale electronic payment scheme aimed at Brazil. Hundreds of thousands of computers are potentially affected, and it is estimated that the equivalent of billions of dollars have been pilfered. However, you don\u2019t have to be sending \u201cBoletos\u201d to be an appealing target. Any login or credential information you use on your computer is appealing and has potential value to cybercriminals.<\/p>\n

With ever-increasing use of personal devices and laptops on networks everywhere, it\u2019s more important than ever to be mindful of information security.\u00a0For example, just visiting a malicious web site can compromise a vulnerable computer, and enroll it in a botnet.\u00a0The computer may appear to be functioning normally, but it is serving more than one master. Botnets such as \u201cKelihos<\/a>\u201d can install additional malware, which (among other things) can monitor outgoing traffic on well-known email and FTP ports, watching for passwords and other interesting traffic.\u00a0It can also listen to other computers on the same network segment (depending on the network topology), capturing credentials if they are sent in the clear. These captured credentials are aggregated and sold by whoever is controlling the botnet. <\/p>\n

Even if your laptop or device is not compromised, you can\u2019t be sure about all of the other devices owned by people in your network. You could be vulnerable to malware installed on their <\/i>computer.<\/p>\n

Here are 9 tips to help practice good IT hygiene:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Passwords should be long and strong, and different for each service you use.<\/li>\n
  2. Keep your software defenses (firewalls, browsers, etc.) up to date.<\/li>\n
  3. Use well-regarded personal firewalls on your computing devices.<\/li>\n
  4. Use anti-malware and anti-virus tools. Different tools detect and nullify different threats.<\/li>\n
  5. Perform periodic scans of your computer even if it\u2019s only on \u201ctrusted\u201d networks.<\/li>\n
  6. Be very careful about opening links or documents sent to you via email. Don\u2019t know the sender? Don\u2019t open the document.<\/li>\n
  7. Make sure that you use encrypted protocols, like HTTPS for web traffic, encrypted FTP (FTP with TLS, or SFTP), and encrypted SMTP. If a nosy, compromised neighbor on your network segment is listening, they won\u2019t be able to capture your credentials in the clear.<\/li>\n
  8. Avoid risky online behaviors. If the information on your laptop is critical to your livelihood, make sure you have multiple, time-separated backups. Don\u2019t mix business and leisure on your computing devices.<\/li>\n
  9. Use multi-factor authentication for access to important or valuable resources, so if your computing device is compromised, the attacker will have greater difficulty using your credentials<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This list is by no means exhaustive. With ever more advanced security for personal computers you can always \u201cgo deeper\u201d to protect your computer\u2019s vulnerabilities. Don\u2019t get complacent about security. \u00a0Even \u201csafe\u201d networks can be vulnerable, so don\u2019t think your device is safe just because you\u2019re not using a public network.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Earlier this week the New York Times reported a story on a large scale electronic payment scheme aimed at Brazil. Hundreds of thousands of computers are potentially affected, and it is estimated that the equivalent of billions of dollars have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onehub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3472"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onehub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onehub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onehub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onehub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onehub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onehub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onehub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onehub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}