P ROTECTING D ATA Threats to your privacy and the integrity of your computer’s data come from a number of sources. Understanding how to protect yourself against cybercrime is very important. Many computer crimes start when an unauthorized user hacks, or gains unauthorized entry, into a computer network. This often happens when the intruder learns the password to access the victim’s computer and the network. Following are ways such criminals learn passwords: Guessing—too often, computer users choose passwords that are easy for them to remember, such as birthdates, names of pets, names of celebrities, and names of family members. These passwords are easy for intruders to guess.

P ROTECTING D ATA CONT. Finding-Sometimes people keep passwords written on pieces of paper near their computer. Other times, criminals simply look over someone’s shoulder as he or she types the password and use it later. An intruder can also search the trash in the hopes of finding user IDs and passwords. Sniffing-Some criminals may use packet sniffers. A packet sniffer is a program that examines data streams on networks to try to find information, such as passwords and credit card numbers. Pretending-Some intruders pretend to be network administrators. They call network users and ask for their passwords, claiming that the passwords are needed to solve a problem in the system.

P ROTECTING D ATA CONT. Modifying-Network software makes the people who administer a system into superusers. Intruders who have superuser access can modify virtually any file on the network. They all may change user passwords to ones they know. The single most important step you can take to defend yourself is to protect your passwords.

P ROTECTING D ATA CONT. Here are some tips to help you keep your passwords safe: Do not use birthdates, personal names, pet names, or other information that is easy to guess. Create passwords that are at least six characters long. Use a combination of letters and numbers, mixing uppercase and lowercase letters. Make your passwords as random as possible. This makes them harder to remember, but it is important for your safety that they be difficult for others to guess.

P ROTECTING D ATA CONT. Change your passwords often, at least once every few weeks. Do not keep a record of your passwords on your computer or written on a piece of paper near your computer. Never give out your passwords to anyone. Never type a password while someone else is watching.

P ROTECTING D ATA CONT. When you go online, surf from sites that protect your identity. Anonymizer and IDZap are two sites offering this service. Although you may not be able to do this at school, on a home computer you can sign up for a free e- mail account from a Web site such as Hotmail or Yahoo! mail. Use that address when you register at Web sites or participate in other public Internet spaces. This will protect you from receiving unwanted mail, or spam, at your primary address.

P ROTECTING D ATA CONT. Be careful of Web sites that require you to register. Do not fill out a registration form unless the site clearly says that the data will not be shared with other people without your approval. Another way to protect yourself is to stay away from computer scams. Make sure you do business only with established companies that you know and trust. Follow a simple rule: If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. Read the fine print. If you order something, make sure the item is in stock and that the company promises to deliver it within 30 days. Never reveal financial or other personal information, even if the request sounds legitimate.

P ROTECTING D ATA CONT. Although corporations and government agencies are far more likely to be targeted than an individual or a school, any system is vulnerable. Antivirus programs protect computers from viruses. These programs use a special technique to examine program and data files. Once they find a virus, they delete it or at least quarantine the virus so it can do no harm. Simply installing an antivirus program is not enough to protect your computer. New viruses are created every day. Software publishers update their antivirus programs to defeat each new attack.

P ROTECTING D ATA CONT. You must update your version of the program to take advantage of these changes. Fortunately, the companies generally make it easy to download updates over the Internet. To protect yourself from viruses, follow these simple rules: Install an antivirus program on your computer Be sure to keep this program up-to-date Always check files that you download from the Internet for viruses before saving them to your hard drive. If your antivirus program can do so, set it to monitor incoming messages and to check files. Always check the disks you borrow from someone else before using them on your computer.

P ROTECTING Y OUR C OMPUTER D ATA  A computer contains parts that break, just like any other piece of equipment. It’s important to protect the data on your computer in the event of a power failure.  Just like any other device that runs on electric, a computer can be affected by power fluctuations or outages. These problems can lead to the loss of data.  A power surge, or a sharp increase in the power coming into the system, can destroy a computer’s electrical components.

P ROTECTING Y OUR C OMPUTER D ATA CONT. You can help protect your computer from power problems by attaching an Uninterruptible Power Supply, or UPS, between your computer and the power source. This battery powered device goes to work when it detects an outage or critical voltage drop. It powers the computer for a period of time. A UPS can also protect against power surges by filtering sudden electrical spikes. You can limit the amount of data lost due to a power problem by saving your work regularly.

P ROTECTING D ATA CONT. The only way to completely protect your computer against data loss is to back up your work. This protects your data in case the computer’s hard drive fails. Hard drives are reliable pieces of equipment, but they do sometimes crash, or shut down improperly. When that happens, they can no longer read or write data. If that happens to you, you will be unable to access any of the information stored on your computer.

P ROTECTING D ATA CONT. Backing up is simply creating a copy of the data on your hard drive that is stored separately from the hard drive. To back up data, you can use floppy disks, removable high-capacity media like Iomega Zip or Jaz disks, a second hard drive, a shared network drive, or a recordable CD. You can back up data to different degrees: Full backups copy everything stored on your computer. They should be done at least once a month. Incremental backups copy only those files that have changed since the last full backup. These should be made regularly, such as once a week.