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With hackers and malicious software running amok on the Internet, many different defenses are required to protect sensitive systems. Most home computers and home networks are sufficiently protected with a combination of firewalls and security software such as antivirus and anti-spyware software. However, large “enterprise” networks need to take a more proactive role. After all, these networks can contain millions of sensitive records and are frequently targeted by hackers. For example, imagine the gold mine a hacker would discover if he could get into the databases of MasterCard or Visa!

Intrusion Detection Systems actively monitor network activity and traffic for signs of suspicious activities. Though this sounds quite similar to a firewall, it is actually quite different. Firewalls block openings but can’t distinguish between “good” and “bad.” If you must open a port in a firewall, the firewall doesn’t know whether incoming and outgoing traffic has good or bad intentions. Intrusion Detection Systems monitor the traffic in search of hostile or suspicious activities that signal an intrusion.

Think of firewalls as doors that you can open or close. Anyone can walk through the open door, right? And if the door is closed and locked, everyone will be shut out. Now, think of the Intrusion Detection System as the security guard at the door. The security guard may let people who work in, or live in, the building but he won’t necessarily let a stranger off the street through the doorway.

Intrusion Detection Systems come in many different forms such as network based, network behavior analysis, wireless, and host based. Each type does its job a bit differently with different ways of gathering information, detecting intrusion attempts, logging, and prevention. Large enterprise networks often use several different types of Intrusion Detection Systems as part of a larger security strategy.

Intrusion Detection Systems are geared for large networks rather than individual home users. If you’re a home user with a small network, for now, focus on basic security such as properly setting up your firewall, wireless network security settings, and security software. With the basics in place and properly secured, your network will protected from most threats.

Here’s a comprehensive list of various Intrusion Detection Products and Tools.

 Security software such as antivirus programs, anti-spyware programs, and firewalls block all kinds of incoming viruses, malware, and attempted hacks, most of the time without drawing much attention to itself. Depending on the program being used to safeguard your computer and its settings, you may receive a notification that a malicious attempt has been blocked or the software may automatically quarantine or block the problem files without telling you. If you want to see exactly what the security software has blocked, you’ll need to take a peek at the software’s log, quarantine, or history files.

For example, if you are using Microsoft Windows Defender, which comes with Windows Vista, and you want to see what Defender has blocked, you’ll need to first launch the Defender application. Once Windows Defender is open, click on the History icon. From here, you can either view items that you have chosen to allow or those items that are blocked from running on your computer. Your choices are: go to Allowed Items or go to Quarantined Items.

Defender also has different “default actions” which you can adjust. These changes affect how Defender alerts you when alert levels have been detected. For example, you can instruct Defender to automatically remove the offending malware rather than prompting you first.

Different security applications have different options for viewing what’s been blocked. For example, if you use Trend Micro’s Internet Security Suite 2007, you’ll need to open the interface and then click on the Other Settings tab. Next, expand the Logs section and then select the log that you want to view followed by clicking the View Log button. This particular application offers numerous logs that you can view including virus, updates, spyware, personal firewall, spam and fraud attempts, Trojan horse cleanup, and data theft prevention.

Like Windows Defender, Trend Micro’s product also allows you to adjust how you are notified when viruses, spyware, and other malicious attempts are blocked. Simply click the Notification and Tutorial Preferences tab followed by the Settings button.

The same is true of Paretologic’s Antivirus Plus product. Simply go to Active Protection and click on Logged Events. To change the settings, click the Settings tab.

Just about all security software products on the market today have a means for viewing logs, quarantines, and histories as well as customizable settings. Take a few minutes to get familiar with the particulars of the security product that you are using. It shouldn’t take too long to find the logs. If you can’t readily find them, check the Help files.   

Maintaining the security on your computer is essential to your financial welfare. From common scams to identity theft to phishing scams to hacking attempts, the Internet has become a hot bed for crimes against an individual’s right to privacy when it comes to personal, private data stored on a computer or laptop. Although you can get tips on what to do once you’ve been scammed or your personal data has been stolen, it is so much easier to deal with before it happens.

Fortunately, there’s a wealth of web sites out there that are more than willing to share lots of tips and helpful advice on how to protect oneself from identity theft and fraud via the computer or Internet use. The most important step that computer users should follow when searching for a website or other source for maintaining the security of their computers is to locate a legitimate site.

When looking for legitimate web sites consider searching using the advance search features that are available with the Google search bar. Open a search window up and then click on advanced search preferences, which is located near the top of the page to the right of the search box. Next, navigate to the bottom left-hand side of the page and click on the words, “date, usage rights, numeric range, and more.” Once the next box opens, click on the words “safe search” for an explanation or click on Yes to enable safe search filtering.

You can also conduct your search by typing your search phrase into the search bar and adding at the end of it inurl:.gov in order to specify that the results returned are from government websites. Many governmental agencies across each of the states have set up web sites that include lots of handy tips for safe web searching and more. You’ll find information to help computer users create secure passwords and much more.

Plus, each of the major manufacturers of computer operating systems has included useful tips for computer users on how to maintain the security of their computers on their web sites. Visit each of them and pick up as many helpful ideas as you can.

Another good source of security tips can be discovered through legitimate companies that offer anti-spyware and anti-virus applications. They also provide article directories where you can pick up lots of tips for maintaining your personal computer’s security.

Your Internet provider probably has some information that you can utilize as well concerning computer security settings and appropriate software applications.

Many manufacturers of computers, laptops, and software applications have incorporated useful web security tips into their web sites. In fact, many companies dealing in modern electronic equipment today understand the importance of Internet security. Therefore, many of these web sites will also have information specific to maintaining the security of your personal data that is stored on your computer.

Anyone who uses the Internet, belongs to a LAN, or works for a conglomerate and is part of a WAN has probably seen certificates and untrusted certificates. In particular, you might see the latter when trying to link to a specific website. If the certificate related to the website has been identified as being revoked, a message might pop up indicating that this is so along with a question as to what you want to do next.

Certificates

The primary purpose of certificates is to provide an easy, legitimate way to verify or authenticate something or someone. Electronic certificates can be used to verify the identity of individuals, documents, messages, websites, or devices. They can also be used to authenticate services of some type. Plus, certificates can be used to encrypt files to maintain their authenticity.

Generally, certificates exist without our noticing them. This is because valid certificates slip by without our ever seeing them. However, untrusted certificates will make an appearance via a warning that suggests that a specific certificate is not valid or that it is expired.

Untrusted Certificates

Untrusted certificates are generally certificates that have not been identified as valid or authenticated by the certification authority. In most cases, these certificates will end up in the untrusted certificate folder on your computer. In some cases, an untrusted certificate is one that the certification authority has already revoked.

How does a certificate get revoked? If for some reason, the certification authority cannot verify the identification information that has been provided in order to obtain the certificate, its validity becomes questionable. If the information attached to a certificate is not exactly as it was when the certificate was obtained, it sends up a red flag about its validity. If this happens, the certificate is revoked. Once a certificate is revoked, it is sent to the Untrusted Certificate folder. Once this happens, the certificate can never be used again.

Certification Authority

A certification authority is the name of the organization that is set up to issue certificates. In order to do so, the certification authority verifies the identity of the individual asking for a certificate as well as the organization for which the individual claims to be employed by. More than one certification authority exists. These organizations are responsible for establishing as well as verifying the authenticity of any public keys. The public keys that they verify can belong to other certification authorities or to individuals.

Technically, we are placing our trust in the certification authority to properly authenticate certificates. Both public and private networks rely on certificates to communicate sensitive information with a sense of security. Along with sensitive data comes a need to verify that the sender of the information is legitimate and that is where certificates and certification authorities come into play. The use of certificates makes it more difficult for people to impersonate someone, even through the anonymity of the Internet.

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Creating secure or strong passwords can go a long way in protecting the security of your computer and the personal data stored on it. Your passwords are the gateway to everything identity thieves needs to create new credit card accounts or open up loans in your name. Having the strongest passwords possible should protect you from identity theft.

Incorporating a few important facets is all that it takes to create strong passwords. One of the most important strategies is to use a lengthy password of 8 to 14 characters in order to make it more difficult to guess.

Combining letters and symbols in a random fashion also makes it more difficult for someone to guess your password. The fewer letters and symbols that you use, the longer your password will have to be in order to be a strong one. Only using letters in your password weakens it. Even adding to its length is not going to strengthen it very much.

While incorporating numbers into passwords is a common practice, incorporating symbols is not quite as widely practiced. Using the shift key to access additional symbols is also a prudent practice.

Incorporate complexity into your password by mixing upper and lower case letters. The more variety you incorporate, the harder it will be for someone to guess your password.

In fact, you can create a password by taking the first letter of every word in a simple phrase and then adding in some numbers or symbols. For example, take the phrase, “I have two daughters and two sons who live with me.” You can then change the phrase into the following password by using just the first letter of each word: Ihtdatswlwm. Let’s mix it up a bit more since this password duplicates two letters which is a definite no-no. Instead of the second ‘t’ for the word ‘two,’ use the number 2. For the second ‘w,’ you can use a slash symbol. Now, your password becomes Ihtda2swl/m.

Writing passwords down often becomes necessary when an individual accumulates too many of them. In fact, it is better to write your passwords down than it is to use the same password over and over again. The only thing that you need to remember is to store your passwords in a safe hiding place, away from prying eyes. I advise against the use of a password manager or other software storage tool since this can easily become compromised through the Internet.

Remember that the strongest password is one that uses length and variety. Some practices to avoid when creating a password are:

• Never use real words that can be found in the dictionary.
• Avoid using duplicate letters, numbers, or symbols.
• Never use letters or numbers in their proper sequence such as abc or 123.
• Never use personal data such as birthdates, social security numbers, or telephone numbers.
• Avoid using the same password for more than one website. If an identity thief does get a hold of this password, then he will have access to all of your online accounts.

 A digital signature is the equivalent of a written signature. The primary difference is that it is created electronically through special software. You can think of digital signatures as stamps that have been placed on messages or documents to verify the authenticity of the document or message.

The main purpose behind a digital signature is to authenticate the identity of the message’s sender or to authenticate the signer of a document. It provides the assurance that the sender is indeed the one who sent the message or document or signed the document itself.

The presence of digital signatures can also be used to indicate that the original message is intact and remains unchanged. The signature suggests that the message or document originated with the sender and that it has remained unchanged.

Digital signatures are used with all types of messages including encrypted ones. Although unsavory characters might attempt to forge a digital signature, it would be quite difficult to accomplish.

What are some of the benefits of digital signatures?

• Digital signatures can be set up for automatic time-stamping. This verifies that the original message has been sent and received so that the sender cannot claim otherwise later on.

• Digital signatures are easily transportable.

• Digital signatures are unique so they cannot be imitated by another individual.

How does a digital signature work?

In order to utilize digital signatures, special software and a private key are necessary. When an individual uses a digital signature, the software performs what is referred to as “hashing.” This action crunches all of the data into just a few lines, which is referred to as a “message digest.” Once a message digest has been created, it cannot be transformed back into its original form.

The message digest is then encrypted using the private key of the owner of the data. Once this process occurs, the digital signature is in place and the data has been signed. Next, the document or message is passed on to the intended recipient.

The recipient of the data can use a public key (belonging to the sender of the data) to decrypt the signature or changes it into a message digest. Then, the software hashes the data of the document into a message digest. This message digest should appear to be exactly the same as the message digest that was created at the time that the digital signature was decrypted.

Even though all of this back and forth might appear complicated, the software does all of the difficult work. One way to ensure that a digital signature is legitimate is to create a digital certificate for it. This only needs to be done once and it will provide the assurance that the digital signature is indeed legitimate. A digital certificate is created through the digital certificate authority center of a company with the input of a small amount of personal information about the owner of a key.