Crystal Figurines and Crystal Gift Collectibles

Just some simple thoughts to help add in the awareness of security and safeguarding personal information and data...

Real World Shopping Tips

Minimizing Risk
Only carry cards you need everyday in your wallet or purse. When leaving your house, consider which cards you need to bring with you for that trip or errand. And for the cards at home, keep them secured (and hidden).

Keeping a List
Don't just keep a list of cards and numbers at home in a secure place, but update them regularly. Place a reminder in your Calendar program.

Shredding
Anything with identifying information should always be shredded. That is, if its not being retained for record-keeping purposes such as paperwork to cover IRS tax returns, consider shredding it. Even information that you don't know is valuable. The "Better safe than sorry" cliche plays well in suggesting to remove all traces of information relating to you.

Opt-Out
Junk mail in your curbside mailbox - don't want it? There is at least one place you can go where you can opt-in to an opt-out junk mail list. Such a place is the Federal Trade Commission / For The Consumer / FTC Consumer Act web page. This would be akin to the National Do Not Call Registry for phone numbers to keep telemarketers at bay.

And although attempts to unsubscribe from junk e-mail will most likely only get you on more just e-mail lists, phone and junk mail opt-out lists could prove worthwhile. At the very least, you'll have a place to file a complaint should you continue receiving junk or telemarketing calls. Good news is, with junk snail mail, someone is actually paying for it to arrive in your mailbox. That means jobs. And jobs are good. Junk e-mail on the other hand is relatively (if not completely) free to the senders who clog up our network systems and internet. However, that rage is a bit off-topic for now. Digressing, you should either shred your junk mail, or opt to not get it at all.

Powerful Online Shopping Tip

The majority of sites in spam-related industries are mere hoarders, looking for unsuspecting surfers and online shoppers with loose browsers and system security flaws so they can wrap their code around your system and either siphon any information it can provide, or lay a little code in there for future use at their discretion.

That in mind, here's a powerful online shopping tip for you: Have two browsers installed on your computer; one for well known web sites you visit frequently, like when ordering affordable crystal gifts at GiftsForYou.Biz, and one for finding items where you know pop-ups, info-grabbers and code-jabbers are well-known. Some examples of these industry sites are lyrics, clip-art, cell phone accessories, pharmaceuticals, and even medical research sites on specific medical areas that are known for off-topic usurping (adult-type content related). The browser for spam-related items should have Java, JavaScript, Cookies, and ActiveX (if applicable) scripting all turned off. That leaves your 'normal' browser to breathe free and smell the cookies as true customer-centric sites intend them to.

I hope this little suggestion helps, and that you'll take stock that GiftsForYou.Biz is a 'breathe free' site.

For Your Local Computer

The following items should be as common in computers as a keyboard and mouse. In other words, you should strongly consider getting them installed and running. Please note, not that it should matter, but I make nothing from these recommendations.

Firewall - Hardware Highly Important!	LinkSys
If you're going to be connected to the internet for any time longer than about 15 minutes at a time, if you consider nothing else, get a hardware firewall! A software firewall is simply not strong enough, and cannot block near what a hardware firewall can with data coming to you. On the other hand, a hardware firewall will not block things going "out" from your computer either, which is where a good software firewall will protect you.
Firewall - Software	Sunbelt Personal Firewall / ZoneAlarm
They say not to have 2 or more firewalls installed. First, do not include the hardware firewall in this count (it serves a somewhat different purpose than software firewalls, and should not conflict with anything). Second, some firewalls perform better at some tasks than others. However, there are some firewalls that will conflict with others. Sunbelt is quite strong if configured properly, however, if running Windows, I would couple ZoneAlarm with Microsoft's built-in firewall.
Antivirus definitions updated every 1-2 days	SystemSuite
Although I really like the SystemSuite utilities, I do not use it's firewall. And although others may disagree, for me, Norton and McAfee both tend to eat more computer resources and have caused quite a few headaches.

	Spybot & AdAware (both)	Detect and remove unwanted code installed without your knowledge
	MailWasher	Allows removal of spam "before" it gets to your computer
	Spamcop.Net	Want to feel like you're helping in the battle against spam?

Antivirus
Antivirus should provide static scans, along with real-time and e-mail monitoring. Antivirus definitions should be updated no less than once per week (although I follow my prompt to update mine every day).

Installing Programs
A tip regarding installing programs on your computer - never accept the installation defaults. If you install a program on your computer, you should become at least somewhat familiar with its settings (what it's capable of and what its setup to allow ... or deny). A strong example of this was when wireless routers first hit the scene. The default installation had security turned off. Every router installation, a subsequent connected computer, was vulnerable to anyone drifting by your range (e.g., your next door neighbor could walk right in to your computer with hardly an effort).

Uninvited Software
Your "Program Files" folder should be checked each and every time a new piece of software is installed so you can determine if "other software" came along for the ride (was installed alongside your primary install). Although not always, this is typically prevalent with Freeware or Shareware. GPL software on the other hand typically only installs additional software if the additional software supports the application.

Log Files
Check your logs for any program that supports them; especially security and system programs. Firewall programs and routers both will show connections coming in and going out. Your operating system has them too; Windows has 3 major event logs under administrative tools (if you have access to them); application, security, and system. Once you start looking over them, you'll start seeing patterns (which will help you notice what might look suspicious).

Lock It Down
Just because no one else may sit at your computer doesn't mean your computer and the information within are secure. You lock your doors and windows, and you should consider doing the same with your computer. How much worse would a home robbery be if your computer and files were wide open for the thief to peruse and use. Consider password protecting your important files; such as accounting and financial data. Just pretend you're in an office somewhere others might have local access to your keyboard while you're at lunch.

Speaking of lunch, never leave your computer unlocked if you're not at your desk. It can take someone less than a minute to find critical information, destroy your data, or install a virus. And if your operating system supports it, consider encrypting your sensitive folders as well.

E-mail Security
If you use Outlook, and you lock down your PST files, remember to lock down your archive PST files too. However, last I knew, Outlook can't backup to a password protected archive file unless it has already been opened and the password entered.

Snooping - You can, and should
While browsing your Program Files folder, alert and system logs, and other sections of your computer, spend 5-10 minutes researching something if it doesn't make sense. You don't have to become an expert (I'm certainly not), but the more conscious you are in these regards, the less obvious you'll be.

Powerful Online Shopping Tip (repeated)
Browsing/Surfing the Net - Use your favorite browser to visit known sites. But if you're searching for clip-art, lyrics, or doing research on anatomy or gambling, install a second type of browser and turn off Java, JavaScript, and Cookies.

Hosts
If running SpyBot, an excellent and powerful software protector, or some other software that supports it, you may want to lock down you "hosts" file. In addition, you'll also want to keep your hosts file updated regularly (about once per month). You can find great information on your host file at the MVPs.org page Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts File

Shredding
Shredding hard drives and portable media. Yes. That's correct. Shredding is not just for the junk mail in your mailbox. Hard drives and portable media (such as CDs and Flash cards/drives) can contain valuable information. Even information that you don't know is valuable. You should always consider removing all traces of information relating to you. The bad guys already know how to do this. You should know too.

Personally, if a portable media is bad, I burn it (safely, but thoroughly). For me that includes floppies and Flash drives. Fortunately, they now have shredders for CDs and DVDs.

Hard drives are a different story. You don't want to burn them, and they can't be shredded with your CDs and DVDs. In this case, you'll want to wipe them clean. Shredding drives takes powerful software; yet this software is available for free or cheap. Check out the SourceForge.Net site to find free wiping software (such as the Disc Wipe Utility. It should be government level, and perform overwrites.

Wireless Networks
After you install your wireless adapter, router, or access point, step number one is to change the password (if it has one).

For access points, also give them a new AP Name. Rename the SSID, and disable the SSID broadcast. Mixed mode and "Open system" are good, and make sure the Wireless Security is enabled.

Some of these steps may only help a little, if arguably at all, but when it comes to security, although we can never block absolutely everything, I believe it truly is better safe than sorry, and try to lock or change around as much as I can.

If you have a cordless phone, you might want to try different channels if you find it interferes with your wireless network. Even though, I had a cordless phone that knocked our laptop off the network no matter what channel was used.