In computer news this week, 02/16/2000

When you connect to the Internet, did you know that then hackers can connect to you?

With the recent hacker attacks on the Internet last week, disabling some of the major Ecommerce sites, people are again worrying about the security - or lack of - on the Internet.

Last year on Raw bytes I did a series on Cookies - those tiny pieces of information that websites use to track where you go, what you do, and what you buy. Cookies are invisible to you, but they're there. It's being done without your permission - even legitimate sites do it - and unless you take actions to block cookies - a lot of your personal information is no longer confidential.

But there's an even bigger threat on the internet that you need to be aware of and protect yourself against, and that 's the threat of hackers breaking into your computer while you're connected to the internet, snooping around in your files, and downloading or deleting anything they want to.

The technical problem is that most IBM compatible pc's are by default set up to share their resources, in anticipation of networking. One of the ways Microsoft took over the PC world was by building free networking into windows, so that all you needed was to add a network card to your computer to network. This enabled them to bury Novell and other earlier networking companies.

The upside is that free networking is built into all newer versions of windows; the downside is that when you connect to the internet, your pc is theoretically shareable by hackers.

You can check this easily with windows 95 or 98 by Double Clicking on the My Computer icon on your desktop, then right click on your hard disk, then from the popup menu click on sharing - and then see if sharing is turned on or off. By default it is on, and if you're in any kind of a network it will be on. There are other sharing issues related to lower level software.

This means that when you connect to the internet, your computer becomes a target for hackers, who are constantly running what is known as port scanning programs to see what computers are connected to the internet, and which ones they can get into. Unless you take precautionary measures, you are vulnerable. A hacker can be looking at files on your computer and downloading or deleting them, while you are cheerfully surfing the internet.

This doesn't mean you have to run out and spend hundreds of dollars for protection. Many Internet Service providers provide free protection programs, and there are many free ones on the internet. These are generically referred to as Shield programs, meaning they shield your computer from hacker attacks.

One site you can find a good free vulnerability detection program is at www.grc.com - Gibson Research Corporation, which some of you old timers might remember is the company that introduced Spinrite, one of the best Dos PC utilities ever, and which is now available in windows versions.

At GRC.com you want to download a free program called IP Agent, which is very small - less than 20K, and which will download in seconds. Then you can run this program anytime you connect to the internet, to test your computer 's vulnerability to hackers. At this site you can see what information hackers might be able to get from it.

Next week I'll tell you about an actual shield program you can download from this site. It's unfortunate that nobody tells users about potential problems like this, which makes the internet a scary place for a lot of people.

Last week I read news articles about complaints about Doubleclick.com, the leading internet advertising solutions company, which has been accused of collecting personal information about internet users without their permission via cookies. The company has lauched a major informational campaign to inform users about their policies, and to allow users to opt out of receiving cookies. You can read about this at Doubleclick.com.

The Internet still has the potential of doing great things, but it sure keeps hitting a lot of bumps in the road.

For Raw Bytes, this is Frank Delaney

3414 E. 30th

Spokane, WA 99223

(509) 245-3736

fdspokane@aol.com