Hill Top Information Technology

It works like this:  You have a wireless access point for your computer to connect to the Internet.  If you do not set a password on that wireless connection, then anyone with a wireless device can connect to it and use your Internet connection.  That means a person who enjoys child-pr0nography can use your Internet connection, and then you get arrested for it.  And yes, I misspelled pr0n on purpose because I don’t want that word on my website.

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Watch the MSNBC video and see how it happened to one innocent person.  Luckily, the authorities figured out what really happened.  But still, getting arrested in your place of business is exceptionally inconvenient, even if you are completely innocent.  Security is always important.  Please consult your IT professional about your security and remain vigilant.

I’ll say it up front, I don’t like AVG.  In fact, I don’t like most anti-virus programs.  I’ve personally seen fake AV programs and other infections walk right past AVG and infect a computer.  I know some people have had nothing but good experiences with AVG; however, I’ve been doing hard IT for 15-years, so maybe I’m just unlucky.

And now update 3292 released yesterday has caused 64-bit versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7 to go “Blue Screen of Death”.  The BSoD is technically a Stop Error; usually a missing or inaccessible system file that is critical to the operation of Windows.  Most users are not technical enough to execute a system restore, and have to pay a lot of money for professional help.

Personally, I find this event completely unacceptable and way past the red line.  People count on AV software for protection and piece of mind.  It is supposed to prevent catastrophic failure, not cause it.  Product updates are supposed to go through testing cycles before being released to the general public.

Professionally, I recommend Norton Internet Security or Kaspersky Internet Security.  If a free version must be used, then I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials.  But don’t take my word for it, or anybody else’s.  Go lookup the hard numbers for yourself at AV-comparitives.  They regulary test AVG, avast!, AVIRA, BitDefender, eScan, ESET NOD32, F-Secure, G DATA, K7, Kaspersky, Kingsoft, McAfee, Microsoft Security Essentials, Norman, Panda, PC Tools Spyware Doctor, Sophos, Symantec, Trend Micro, TrustPort, and others.

How can this window sticker hurt you?

It tells criminals a lot about you.  The pedophile now knows you have three children.  The killer who’s going to break into your house now knows they have to murder two adults, three children, a dog, and a cat.  When I point this out to people, they always respond with “I’ve never thought of it that way before.”  Criminals aren’t necessarily creative, but they do see things differently than most law-abiding citizens.  If they find a weakness, they are likely to exploit it.  The best defense is information security.

The Prescott Daily Courier reports “Phone, web scams clogging local law agencies“.  The article contains a laundry list of stories about local people getting scammed, and they’re in good company.  Everybody gets fooled, even multi-million-dollar corporations.

Here are some things you can do to protect yourself. Continue reading »