Safe Surfing
A Cautionary Tale
The internet is not out to get you
There are some simple
road rules to follow
Different types of nasties
Name: Virus
Type: Self-Replicating
Risk: Moderate
Threat: Low
Symptoms Include:
Odd behaviour
Strange popups
Ads
Flakiness
Treatment:
Be careful with email attachments (even if it came from a
friend)
Use a disposable email address for putting on web forms. Gmail,
Yahoo, and Hotmail are all good for this purpose
If in doubt, don't download it
Name: Worm
Type: Self-Replicating
Risk: Moderate
Threat: From annoying to lethal
Symptoms Include:
Slow network speeds
Sluggish operation
Treatment:
Be careful with email attachments (even if it came from a
friend)
Don't allow your browser to automatically download cookies make
it check with you each and every time
Use a firewall, or a secure operating system
If in doubt, don't download it
Name: Trojan Horse
Type: Malicious
Risk: Low
Threat: High
Symptoms Include:
Normal behaviour (!)
Missing data
Disabled virus software
Slow speeds
Treatment:
THINK before you accept file transfers
Be careful with file sharing programs like Kazaar, Limewire, and
Torrent
Be especially wary of any online program that claims to get rid
of viruses
Never download anything off a banner ad
If in doubt, don't download it
Name: Phishing
Type: Scam
Risk: High
Threat: Mildly irritating, often funny
Symptoms Include:
Poor spelling and grammar
Lots of promises
Very little payoff
Treatment:
If it sounds too good to be true, it's probably a phishing
scam
Just because it looks like it came from your bank, doesn't mean
it came from your bank
Check if you're not sure: http://hoax-slayer.com or
http://www.snopes.com/
Things to remember:
Be wary of downloads on email as well as over the net
Don't get carried away by great offers
If it sounds too good to be true, then someone is trying to get
into your system
And most of all keep your wits about you, and always think
before you click
Questions?
Lana Brindley
[email protected]
Twitter: @Loquacities
