In computer news this week: 03/19/2003

Lead: Protecting your computer from internet cyberterrorism during the Iraq War:

When the Gulf war happened the WWW - or what we know as the internet today - had not taken place. Today we face a new kind of warfare which might effect anyone who uses the internet today.

There have already been countless attacks from foreign countries on U.S. Government and military websites attempting to shut down these websites. These attacks can be traced to specific countries and specific computers.

Anyone who uses the internet today should take precautions during the next few weeks.

Back on February 13th I did a show entitled "What do you do when the Iraq war crashes the internet?" and I had a list of things to do to prepare for the internet not being avilable for awhile. This transcript is online on my Rawbytes website, and included that:

This may mean you have to go back to the old days in a way. You might have to actually talk to people on the telephone, so you need to have a list of phone numbers for people you usually email. And you need addresses too, in case you have to snail mail them letters.

You need to know where information sources are - not online information sources - and you can start at your local library.

Today I'll talk about some things I've done and which I think everyone should do in the event of war.

It would be a good idea to keep your antivirus program completed updated. If you don't have an antivirus program, most of the major vendors allow you to download a free 30 day trial version.

There is a clear possibility that a computer virus might be unleashed on the internet during the war. This means that you have to keep your antivirus program updated daily too; as most vendors update their programs daily to keep up with the emerging viruses.

There are programs known as firewall programs - a different type of program than an antivirus program - designed to prevent hackers from entering your computer through the internet. Again most of the major vendors allow you to download a free 30 day trial version also. If you have a highspeed internet connection - DSL or cable modem - this raises your vulnerability and interest to hackers - as they can sniff these connections out, and sometimes attack them.

Doing a complete backup of your critical data is always a good idea, and it would be a good idea to make another backup in a few days. You can never have enough backups,. And having more than one increases your chances.

And most important - you want to be vigilant. I am going to be extremely wary of emails, as I always am, but even more so. Remember that an email from a friend can just as easily contain a virus as one from someone you don't know. Emails with attachments increase the vulnerability of viruses, and I actually have created several outlook filters to automatically delete emails that are forwards which contain attachments. I talked about how you can do this if you use Microsoft Outlook email last week, and that transcript is also online at my website.

And if you're really worried, you can just turn your computer off and keep it off for the entire duration. You'll find that there's another whole world out there of non-computer users and things to do, and as Martha says, It's a good thing.

For Raw Bytes, This is Frank Delaney

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