June

June 30^th :

Never recommend spam based web sites

• Never recommend spam based web sites and never forward spam messages to others.
• Many of us receive chain letters that invite you to forward the message on to your friends.
• Sometimes it will say you will get some amount of money for every email or bad luck if you send to less than five people.
• These are hoaxes created to promote spam. Never forward these emails thinking you will receive money for each recipient of their email.
• Spam is flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it.
• Do not reply to the spam message. This also lets spammers know they have found a valid e-mail address.
• Computer security experts estimate that as much as 30 percent of all spam is sent by compromised computers located in home offices and living rooms, but controlled from afar.
• So, never forward spam chain letters. Never respond to unknown emails - this can alert the sender that your email address is valid. Don't post your email address in public places (e.g., newsgroups, message boards, chat rooms) where spammers mine for email addresses.

June 29^th :

Don’t follow links in spam messages

• Never follow any links within an email message from an unknown sender. The links may take to a junk or a spam trap that silently downloads rouge applications to the PC.
• Links in spam may contain an encoded version of your email address, so following them may confirm that your email address is valid and read.
• The website that the spammer’s email links to will have an address (URL) that is similar to but not the same as the real bank's or financial institution’s site.
• It is common for spam messages to contain links to a website that is a convincing fake of the real company's home page.
• Thinking that the web site is real, there are chances of giving personal information, which are sent to the spammer.
• Never open attachments, and never follow any links from any message you receive. Instead, visit the site manually. This is a good practice.
• Because it would completely eliminate the likelihood of visiting a spammer site, or any spam site altogether.
• Protect your email address - treat it like your phone number. Use an email service that offers spam-fighting tools, like Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, etc,. Never send your password, credit card numbers, or other personal information in an email.

June 28^th :

Try to use different browsers to avoid browser vulnerabilities

• Multiple web browsers may be installed on your computer. Other software applications on your computer, such as email clients or document viewers, may use a different browser than the one you normally use to access the web.
• Also, certain file types may be configured to open with a different web browser. Using one web browser for manually interacting with web sites does not mean other applications will automatically use the same browser.
• For this reason, it is important to securely configure each web browser that may be installed on your computer.
• One advantage to having multiple web browsers is that one browser can be used for only sensitive activities such as online banking, and the other can be used for general purpose web browsing.
• This can minimize the chances that vulnerability in a web browser, web site, or related software can be used to compromise sensitive information.

Web browsers are frequently updated. Depending on the version of your software, the features and options may move or change.

June 27^th

Pay attention to “click here to close the window” dialogue boxes to avoid malware

• Don’t be tricked into clicking: You don’t have to click “OK,” “Agree,” or  “Cancel” to close a window.
• If you want to close a window or dialog box, consider the options provided by your operating system or Web browser, such as closing the window with the ‘x’ mark in the upper corner or typing Alt+F4 in Microsoft Windows.
• Pay attention when closing windows; some dialog boxes may have a prominent statement that says, “Click here to close window,” then in less prominent text adds, “and install software

June 26^th :

Never click on alerts related to anti virus

• Fake virus alerts are usually generated by a Trojan -- a program that takes control of your computer
• Do NOT click on any pop-up that advertises anti-virus or anti-spyware software, especially a program promising to provide every feature known to mankind
• Anti a virus/spyware programs often generate more "alerts" than the software made by reputable companies
• If a virus alert appears on your screen, do NOT touch it. Don't use your mouse to eliminate or scan for viruses, and DON'T use your mouse to close the window. Instead, hit control + alt + delete to view a list of programs currently running. Delete the "unknown program" from the list of running programs

June 25^th :

Keep your web browser set to its highest security level

• One of the best things you can do in order to increase computer browsing safety is to modify your browser’s security settings
• No matter which web browser you use, you can turn up the browser security settings. You can increase your settings to the highest level in order to avoid being exposed to malicious content.
• Is there a padlock symbol at the bottom of the web browser and 'https' at the start of the web address? If they are not there, don't enter any bank or card details
• Web browser is an important line of defense against cyber crooks and invasive advertising.  Set its security settings to the highest level possible.
• Use the latest version of a web browser for added security. Use automatic updates to keep your computer and web browser security up-to-date.
• By these security settings you can restrict cookies, blocking pop up ads and stopping the download of plug-in programs until you are sure that you wanted it

June 24^th :

Clear all Private data from cookies while leaving the PC

• History files, cache files and cookies files store lots of information about your computer activity:
• Information about visited websites, your purchase history, what images you seen, files you downloaded.
• And any person who has access to your computer can use these files to get full information your PC activities.
• Furthermore to protect your privacy you should delete history tracks every time you use your PC.
• Clear history provides an easy way to protect your Internet privacy. Clear All History will clear Internet history, search history, cache, cookies, index files, stored passwords.
• It will also get rid of other sensitive files like recent documents, recent used programs, etc. And furthermore Clear All History will do it automatically.
• It can be set to clear out all your private documents every time you start/exit your PC or after set period of time.

June 23^rd :

Read carefully online list archives

• Some email users have lost money to bogus / fake offers that arrived as spam in their in-box
• Some spam messages ask for your business, others invite you to a website with a detailed arena
• Never pay for a "free" gift. Disregard / ignore any offer that asks you to pay for a gift or prize. If it's free or a gift, you shouldn't have to pay for it
• Get full details of the company with whom you are dealing with. Don't do business with any company that won't provide its name, street address, and telephone number
• Protect your personal information.
• Share credit card or other personal information only when you're buying from a company you know and trust

June 22^nd :

Be careful at Public Wi-Fi Hotspots

• Don’t Use Public Computers for Online Transactions, because we don’t know what applications have been installed on those computers, so better don’t use it.
• In the Wi-Fi Hotspots may be the computers are installed with key-logger program, or already infected by virus or worm. So, do not risk your valuable personal information for this easy access
• Always make sure you are connected to a legitimate access point
• Encrypt files before transferring or emailing them
• Always use secure web browsing like https instead of http
• Be aware of people around you while browsing

June 21^st :

Beware of pop-ups bearing gifts

• Never respond to junk or spam emails
• Beware of pop up windows
• Don’t forward spam or chain emails either – they are just annoying to receive
• Some of the pop-ups claim that you are a lottery winner, and some others pretend to be "important security" messages. Don't click on them

June 20^th :

Disable automatic display of PDF documents from the web browser

• Disable web browser display for PDF documents
• Prevent PDF documents from automatically being opened in a web browser with Acrobat or Reader
• Procedure for Disabling the settings :
  • Open Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader 
  • Open the Edit menu 
  • Choose the Preferences option
  • Choose the Internet section 
  • De-select the "Display PDF in browser" check box
• Disable automatic opening of PDF documents in Microsoft Internet Explorer

June 19^th :

Don’t open, forward, reply to, or click on links or attachments in unsolicited e-mails

• Don't open unsolicited or unknown email messages.
• Don't reply or click on the link in the message if you get an email or pop-up message asking for personal information
• Never send your personal information via email because email is not a secure transmission method.
• If you believe there may be a need for personal or financial information by a company with whom you have an account or placed an order, contact that company directly in a way you know to be genuine (type the URL in the browser window)

June 18^th :

To access your e-mail securely, use encryption

• When checking your e-mail at an Internet café, hotel room, and airport or from home, use one of the following methods in order  to ensure that the information you’re sending on the wire is whether it is encrypted or not :
• Microsoft Outlook client after starting a VPN connection.
• Microsoft Outlook client configured for RPC/HTTPS;

June 17^th :

Be cautious about each and every communication that you do

• Be cautious about online communication like online chatting
• It is important to guard your identity and personal details at all times when using online services
• NEVER give your financial details to someone you’ve met through an online service and NEVER send any money to anyone that you met online
• It’s important to be aware of cultural, religious and political differences and sensitivities while doing online chats
• Don’t fall for false information given by people you meet online
• Report all inappropriate behavior to concern authorities

June 16^th :

Know that phishing can also happen by phone. Never give personal information by phone

• The Phishers also try to gather your personal information through phone by posing as employee of your financial institution and asks for your bank account number, Card number, Password, PIN Numbers, etc.
• You may get a call from someone pretending to be from a company or government agency, making the same kinds of false claims and asking for your personal information.
• Be suspicious if someone contacts you unexpectedly and asks for your personal information
• So In such cases verify persons identity such as person’s name, designation, Company’s name, phone number, address, before you provide any personal information

June 15^th :

Never enter your personal information in a pop-up screen

1. Sometimes a phisher will direct you to a real company’s, organizations, or agency’s Web site, but then an unauthorized pop-up screen created by the scammer will appear, with blanks in which to provide your personal information. If you fill it in, your information will go to the phisher.
2. Legitimate companies, agencies and organizations don’t ask for personal information via pop-up screens.
3. Install pop-up blocking software to help prevent this type of phishing attack.   
4. Use latest anti virus software and pop-up blockers software to protect your computer and data from unauthorized uses.

June 14^th :

Be suspicious of any e-mail with urgent requests for personal financial information

• Watch out for emails claiming to alert investors to a breach of security and asking you to submit personal information like account details and passwords etc – this is another version of a phishing scam!
• Verify the legitimacy of a web address with the company directly before submitting your personal information.
• It’s better to Contact the legitimate company named in the email to confirm whether the request is from them. Most companies do not ask customers to confirm personal information by sending an email
• If you have provided your personal information in response to a phishing email, you should assume that you will become a victim of identity theft
• If you provided your bank account or credit card number, you should cancel that account and open a new one.

June 13^th :

Watch out for phishing scams

• The most common form of phishing is emails pretending to be from a legitimate retailer, bank, organization, or government agency.
• The sender asks to “confirm” your personal information for some made-up reason: your account is about to be closed an order for something has been placed in your name, or your information has been lost because of a computer problem.
• Another tactic of phisher claimed to be from a state lottery commission and requested people’s banking information to deposit their “winnings” in their accounts.
• So follow some of the tips like Beware of all numbers before the site name, Beware of an unfamiliar or misspelled company name etc
• When in doubt about only suspicious, unsolicited e-mails, just hit the “delete” key.
• When in doubt, test it out. Like put the legitimate company’s name into an internet search engine to see if the website listed in your results has the same address as the company soliciting you via email. If not, the solicitation may be a fraud!

June 12^th :

Beware of the email policies of the organization with which we do our business

• Beware of the email policies of the organization with which we do our business. Many organizations have their set of email policies.
• Before getting associated, do read the policies of the organizations and accept the agreement.
• For example, while creating a new email account, some web sites may have the email policy that the personal information provided by you may be given to the third parties to access like banks, insurance companies, etc.
• And they might also send the promotional emails regarding their products and services. So read the email policy carefully before getting associated and then proceed.

June 11^th :

Do not use personal information over internet

• Do not disclose your personal information over the internet. The personal information like the real names, mobile numbers, address, date of birth and the passwords, never use them over the internet.
• Some web sites have polices that may give your personal information to the third parties.
• Also phishers, spam mails may use your personal information for fraudulent purposes. So never use your personal information over the internet.

June 10^th :

Configure email client in a secured manner

• To view your email securely, the configuration of email client must be connected securely to the email servers.
• Take proper precautions while entering the email servers IP addresses and the port numbers.
• Also use the advanced options like the “Secure Socket Layer (SSL)” which encrypts the normal data and make the email conversations secure.

June 09^th :

Handle email attachments carefully

• Never open an email attachment from someone you do not know or any attachment that looks suspicious as they might contain virus and malicious codes.
• Some worms or viruses disguise itself as screensavers / celebration greetings. Do not open such email attachments from unexpected sources. Do not execute any attachments unless you are sure what it does.
• For protection, use MS Office Viewer (Word/Excel/PowerPoint) to read office documents attached to emails. These viewers do not run the macro scripts embedded in the documents and can therefore avoid macro viruses. They are available for download at the Microsoft web site.

June 08^th :

Do not follow the web links that come through emails

• If you ever get an email that you think is legitimate, do not click on any links.
• Because the email that you get might not be from the legitimate source as you think.
• And NEVER click the links in any email. Most often the spammers or phishers will send emails claiming to be from your bank or Credit Card Company.
• These emails look very real and contain the links to web sites that may look exactly like the bank website.

June 07^th :

Be on alert for phishing email scams

• Email users are being bombarded with authentic-looking messages that instruct them to provide sensitive personal information. It's called "phishing."
• Avoid filling out forms in e-mail messages. Forward the suspicious email to the Federal Trade Commission's address.
• Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software, as well as a firewall, and update them all regularly.
• When you submit personal information, there are 2 things you should look for when you come to secure or safe pages: A lock symbol or icon will appear on the right side of the bottom bar on the page.

June 06^th :

Don’t respond to calls or emails for requesting your confidential information

• You receive an e-mail or pop-up message that claims to be from a business or organization that you may already deal with and that looks legitimate.
• Requesting your personal information in the form of example, an Internet Service Provider.
• Phishing also use instant messaging, with or without an associated website.
• The message describes an urgent reason why you must “confirm,” "verify" personal or confidential information by clicking on a link embedded in the message.