This document provides tips and recommendations for staying safe online and protecting personal information. It discusses monitoring credit reports, using strong and unique passwords, being wary of phishing emails and fraudulent websites, keeping software updated, backing up important data, and securely disposing of old computers. Key recommendations include checking credit reports regularly, generating complex passwords and changing them frequently, verifying website security before shopping or banking online, and using antivirus and firewall protection to prevent malware infections.

1. Internet and Email Security for Non-Techies

2. Our Agenda Little Background…why should you be worried about this? Monitor Your Credit Equifax 800-685-1111 Experian 888-397-3742 TransUnion 877-922-8228 LifeLock 800-LifeLock 10 Ways to Stay Safe Online Questions

3. Know What Others Know… About your credit Might be an indication something has happened to you credit worthiness Check it regularly – you can get a free copy of the report once every 12 months Review them carefully; check the inquiries companies are making, look for new accounts, and anything that just looks odd. To stop identity thieves consider place a fraud alert on your account with all three of the bureaus You have rights: FTC Website: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/deter-detect-defend.html Identity Theft Resource Center: http://www.idtheftcenter.org/

4. Secure Passwords Make it difficult to figure out Don’t place it on a note on the back of your keyboard or in your desk drawer A good password is: 8 characters long Has no personal information Does not use real words Mixes upper and lower case characters and numbers Something you change regularly (every 30 to 60 days) Tools to Generate Safer Passwords: PC Tools Secure Password Generator: http://www.pctools.com/guides/password/ Random Password Generator: http://www.randpass.com/ Bytes Interactive Password Generator: http://www.goodpassword.com/

5. Don’t Open that Email Unless you know who it is from Read the subject lines before opening, even if you think you know the person sending the message Turn off your preview window Make sure your antivirus and antispam software is updated regularly.

6. Buyer Beware – Shopping and Banking Online Make sure you know who you are doing business with, then ask a few questions: Are they reputable? Is their site secure? Is there a physical address and phone number on the site? Does the URL start with https: and have a picture of a lock in the broswers status bar? What is the companies return policy? Research a little…can you find online reviews of the company? Pay with a credit card to limit your liability.

7. Keep Your Software and Hardware Current Firewalls Virus Protection Browser Updates Operating System Updates Application Software Updates Run your anti-virus scan and other security software regularly (weekly or more) to catch the bad things before they make your computer “sick” or lose your identity.

8. Phishing and Pharming…not a sport or hobby Scams: Phishing is where the perpetrator sends out legitimate-looking emails appearing to come from a your bank, government, paypal, BestBuy, IRS, etc. in an effort to get you to give them your personal and financial information. Pharming is another scam where they get you to go to a website that looks like the real deal but isn’t, they then trick you into entering your information with the goal of stealing your identity and financial information. Social engineering…the bad stuff.

9. Backup Your Data A good backup helps when: A virus kills your hard drive When your computer crashes If your computer is stolen Backups safeguard what is important to you Pictures, Papers, Financial data, and Medical data The best backup method is to an external hard drive or large thumb drive Take your backups and place them someplace safe

10. Disable Hidden File Extensions Know what you are about to open…file extensions tell you what the file is: .exe = Program files (might be a virus or a good program) .jpg = Your pictures .doc = Your term paper Some of the malicious and virus files masquerade as other files. Know before you click!

11. Administrative Accounts…good in moderation Keep this account separate from your working account(s) Use this account for installing software or new hardware Use an account specific to you for day-to-day work If you are logged in as an administrator and catch a bad computer bug…it now has administrator rights to your computer.

12. Think Safe and Green When you leave your computer on and your Internet access open, you're giving potential hackers more opportunities to break into your computer. Always remember to turn off your Internet connection when you're not using it, and turn your computer off in between uses.

13. Clean Up…Before You Recycle If you donate, sell, through away your old computer wipe the hard disc clean with: Darik’s Boot and Nuke: http://dban.sourceforge.net/ ShreditX: http://www.mireth.com/pub/sxme.html DisposeSecure: http://www.east-tec.com/products/index.htm Wipe Drive: http://www.wipemydrive.com/ Deleting and formatting your hard disc is not enough.

14. Questions.

15. Links and Suggestions Anti-Virus AVG Anti-Virus (Free): http://free.avg.com/ Avast (Free): http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html Norton 360: ( http://shop.symantecstore.com/store/symnahho/en_US/DisplayProductDetailsPage/ThemeID.106300/productID.107120500?ClickID=blev1zugffvve11zqg6qknn6d6gfssfyng ) McAfee: ( http://us.mcafee.com/root/landingpages/affLandPage.asp?affid=101&lpname=13072vsp&cid=37094 ) 2008 Anti-Virus Review ( http://www.2009softwarereviews.com/default.aspx?Refer=1GAS&Keyword=EantivirusSsoftware )

16. Links and Suggestions Spyware Spybot S&D (Free): ( http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html ) PCTools: ( http://www.pctools.com/ ) Windows Defender (Free): ( http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=435bfce7-da2b-4a6a-afa4-f7f14e605a0d&displaylang=en ) Anti-Spyware Review 2008 (http://anti-spyware-review.toptenreviews.com/ )

17. Contact Information Richard G. Bush, Ph. D. Director, Undergraduate Management Programs Lawrence Technological University [email_address] 248-204-3078