© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.1 Technology in Action Technology in Focus: Protecting Your Computer and Backing Up Your Data

© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.2 Physically Protecting Your Computer Environmental factorsEnvironmental factors –Falls –Excessive heat –Dust and other particles Power surgesPower surges –Surge protectors Power outagesPower outages –Uninterruptible power supply (UPS)

© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.3 Deterring Theft Motion alarmsMotion alarms LocksLocks Surrounds (cages)Surrounds (cages) “Phone home” computers“Phone home” computers Surround Motion alarm Lock

© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.4 Keeping PDAs and Cell Phones Safe PDA Bomb SoftwarePDA Bomb Software –Thief steals PDA –Thief launches a brute force attack on device to get access –PDA senses attack and erases data Bluetooth VulnerabilityBluetooth Vulnerability –Bluesnarfing Exploits an access flaw in Bluetooth software making data vulnerableExploits an access flaw in Bluetooth software making data vulnerable –Bluebugging Hacker takes actual control of the Bluetooth deviceHacker takes actual control of the Bluetooth device

© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.5 Protecting Your Computer from Unauthorized Access Access privilegesAccess privileges Password protectionPassword protection –Passwords should Contain 5 to 8 alphanumeric charactersContain 5 to 8 alphanumeric characters Not be a word found in a dictionaryNot be a word found in a dictionary Not be easily associated with youNot be easily associated with you Include special charactersInclude special characters Never be given to anyoneNever be given to anyone

© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.6 Good and Bad Passwords GOOD PASSWORD REASONBAD PASSWORD REASON L8t2meGaNDalf 351 Uses letters and numbers to come up with memorable phrase “Late to me” and adds it to a character name from Lord of the Rings plus a random number JsmithCombination of first initial and last name IwaLR8384GdY First initials of first line of Green Day song I Walk a Lonely Road plus a random number and an abbreviation for Green Day 4smithkidsEven though this has alphanumeric combination, it is too descriptive of a family P1zzA244WAter ShiPDowN Easily remembered word with mix of alphanumeric characters and upper- and lowercase letters, your locker number at your gym, plus the title of a book that you like (with upper- and lowercase letters) Brown5512Last name and last four digits of phone number is easily decoded S0da&ICB3N&J 3RRY Mix of numbers, symbols, and letters. Stands for Soda and Ice Cream and the names of famous ice cream makers with the number 3 instead of the letter E 123MainStYour street address is an easily decoded password

© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.7 Managing Passwords Free password management software takes the worry out of forgetting passwordsFree password management software takes the worry out of forgetting passwords Remembers passwords for you.Remembers passwords for you. Remember just one password to access the password management programRemember just one password to access the password management program

© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.8 Protecting Your Computer from Unauthorized Access Keeping IM sessions safeKeeping IM sessions safe –Allow connections only from the Buddy List –Disable file sharing, file transfer, and Direct IM

© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.9 Protecting Your Computer from Unauthorized Access Biometric authentication devicesBiometric authentication devices –Read unique personal characteristics FingerprintFingerprint Iris patternsIris patterns Voice patternsVoice patterns Face patternsFace patterns Mouse fingerprint reader FirewallsFirewalls –Prevent unauthorized access when connected to the Internet

© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.10 Windows Updates Microsoft frequently issues updates to patch security holesMicrosoft frequently issues updates to patch security holes In Windows XP, updates can be automatically loadedIn Windows XP, updates can be automatically loaded

© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.11 Backing Up Your Data BackupBackup –A copy of a file that can be used to replace the original Types of files to backupTypes of files to backup –Program –Data Backup routineBackup routine –Frequency –Changed files

© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.12 Backup Software Software programs for easy backupSoftware programs for easy backup –Schedule automatic backups –Can backup files, folders, or entire drives –Back up to USB device, CD, or DVD Entire system backup softwareEntire system backup software –Takes an image of the entire system –Stores on a separate hard drive –In case of failure, new drive is inserted

© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.13 Protection from Phishing Phishing attacks lure you to Web sites that look legitimate Free tools identify suspicious sites. Credit card providers offer services like “Virtual Account Numbers” for their customersCredit card providers offer services like “Virtual Account Numbers” for their customers

© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.14 Backing Up Your Data Backup softwareBackup software –Schedule automatic backups Online backupsOnline backups –Store backup files on Internet servers –Fees for the service