Complete Idiot's Guide to Computer Security

Contents

 

Introduction xiii



Part 1: Know Your Enemy 1

1 ‘Don’t Buy A Computer, But…’

Beware The Enemy On Your Desktop 3

Are You The Master Of Your Own Computer? 6

Meet Our Cast Of Characters 7

Thinking Secure Thoughts 11

Operating System Alert 12

Watch Out For Relatives, Friends And Colleagues 14

The Balanced Approach To Computer Security 15

2 ‘…If You Buy A Computer, Don’t Turn It On’ 19

A Mish-mash Of Mismatched Machinery 19

Causes Of Hardware Failures 21

Acts Of God (And The Electric Company) 23

Doing It Yourself 25

Is Your Computer Out-of-date? 28

Buying A Machine With Security In Mind 31

3 SOS (Save Our Operating System) 35

Pity Your Operating System 35

The Windows OS And Application Software 38

-How Application Software Integrates With The OS (The_ Windows API) 39

Knowing The Weaknesses In Windows 40

Responding To Windows Error Messages 41

Updating Your OS From The Internet 43

Configuring Your OS For Stability And Security 45

4 Building A Secure System 55

Do-it-yourself Computer Building 55

Designing Your Own Hardware Platform 57

Planning Your Disk Drive Configuration 59

Choosing The Right Software 61

Organizing Your Computer Work Space 63

A Quick Look At Other Operating Systems 66

5 Vicious Viruses, Wiggling Worms And Bouncing Bombs 69

What’s Bugging You? 69

The Low-down On Computer Viruses, Worms And Logic _ Bombs 72

How Computer Viruses Attack Your Computer 76

Spotting The Invaders In Your Own System 79

Tracking Down Anti-virus Software 87

Dealing With the Aftermath 90



Part 2: Taking Control Of Your Own Machine 93

6 Thinking Digital 95

Understanding Digital Data 95

Digital Data Representation 98

Storing Digital Data 99

Programs Versus Data 100

Data Storage Locations 102

Data Security Strategies 105

7 The Curse Of Software 109

Why Software Is So Fragile 109

How Software Operates Within The Windows Environment 110

Common Software Problems 111

How To Deal With Software Crashes 113

-Emergency Brakes – The Three-finger Salute 115

Taking Control Of Software Operations 117

Stopping The Auto-starters 121

-Housekeeping Routines – Keeping Your System Spick And _ Span 125

8 In With The New And Out With The Old 129

Loading Up Trouble For Yourself 129

How New Software Installs Onto Your Computer 130

The Hazards Of Installing New Software 132

How To Install New Software Safely 135

How To Remove Rogue Software Completely 137

9 Back-ups – Computer Lifesavers 141

The Terrible Risks To Stored Data 141

You Are Backing Up Your Data – Aren’t You? 142


-The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Different Back-up _ Media 143

Deciding On A Back-up Strategy 144

Using Windows’ Back-up Utility 150

Save Disk Space With A Compressed Back-up 152

Third-party Back-up Software 152



Part 3: Going Cryptographic 157

10 What Have You Got To Hide? 159

Your Right To Privacy 159

Scrambling Your Secrets 163

The Mechanics Of Data Encryption 163

Choosing Your Passwords And Pass-phrases 168

Hiding The Existence Of Data (Steganography) 170

Encryption Algorithms – The Tricks That Frighten _ Governments 171

11 Locking Up Your Secrets 175

Choosing The Right Level Of Security 175

Level 1: Basic Security 177

Level 2: Serious Security 182

Level 3: Advanced Security 189

12 Wiping The Slate Clean 195

The Tracks You Leave Behind 195

The Delete That Doesn’t Delete 199

Deleting Your Data Completely 201

Deciding On Data Deletion Techniques 204

 

Part 4: Networks, From LAN’s To The Internet 209

13 Netwo