If you are judicious in opening email attachments and have the up to date anti-virus software on your PC and have turned off the file sharing option on your operating system (unless you need it for use in an office or home network) then your PC is reasonably safe. Try not to leave the PC connected to the Internet when it is not in use. It is advisable to install firewall if you have a permanent connection e.g. broadband access. As a further measure, make sure you keep back up copies of important information on floppy disk, CD-ROM or another storage device so that you can retrive your data in the event of virus attacks or computer break down.
Digital certificates are issued by certification authorities to authenticate a Web site or elements of Web sites. The certificate identifies the originator of the site, or element, and verifies that it has not been tampered with. When your Web browser is presented with a certificate, it will check to whether the certificate is issued by a legitimate certification authority. If there is a match, your session will continue. Otherwise, your browser will issue a warning and your safest action is to cancel your activity
Others will not be able to view your information, if a secure session is established and the information is encrypted during transmission. However, you should be aware that some Web browsers will store information on your computer even after you have finished conducting your online activities, this is called caching. Therefore, you should close your browser once you have finished using the Internet, particularly if you visit secure sites to conduct financial transactions, check account balances or view any other information that you regard as private and confidential.
Web browsers use standard security protocols like SSL, and S-HTTP to enable private information to be transmitted safely over the Internet. When you visit a Web site with the SSL protocol, a secure connection is created between your computer and the Web site server you are visiting. Once this connection is established, you can transmit any amount of information to the Web server safely. In contrast, the S-HTTP is designed to transmit individual messages.
Without using additional measures such as a digital signature, it is easy for fraudsters to imitate e-mails. But that doesn't mean you can't recognise scam e-mails. Cyber-criminals often place alarming, enticing or exciting subjects in their e-mails with the hope of tempting you to respond impulsively and divulge the requested information. So, always take your time to read the e-mail carefully. In case of doubt, it is better not to respond. If you do choose to respond, always first check that the mail is genuine by contacting the company that is the found to be the apparent sender by telephone, for instance.
'Phishing' refers to the practice of fraudsters 'fishing' for your details in order to find out and misuse your sensitive personal and financial information. Criminals may, for instance, make identical copies of existing corporate websites, or send scam e-mails to elicit a response from you and trick you into divulging your personal information.
One of the security mechanisms we use to protect our systems and your information is called a firewall. Our firewalls use a combination of industrial strength computer hardware and software that is designed to securely separate the Internet from our Internal Web servers, computer systems, networks and databases.
A worm is a virus that does not infect other programs. It makes copies of itself, and infects additional computers (typically by making use of network connections) but does not attach itself to additional programs; however a worm might alter, install, or destroy files and programs.