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Security 247 - Low Tech Attack

Low Tech Attack: Sometimes the enemy is right inside your home or office.

While you may feel safe and secure because you have a firewall, network
scanning software, and virus/trojan horse protection, there is still a
potentially huge security hole that hardly anyone thinks about. That
hole is the people who have direct or indirect access to your PC.

How many people have access to your PC? Hmm, let's see. If your house
is anything like mine then there's the carpet cleaning company, the
exterminator, the telephone repair people, your children's friends, and
that's just for starters. How about the place that you take your PC to
when it needs repairing? Then there's your old PC which you sold at a
garage sale last week. Do you think that you're OK because you erased
everything on the hard drive? Think again. Data that's been erased can
just as easily be unerased unless you used special software that
permanently removes data form your hard drive.

Are you starting to see my point? How can you protect yourself from
these "inside jobs"? It takes some work. Let's break the threats down
one by one and talk about solutions.

1. Casual access by people who are allowed to be in your home

The best protection here is to use your PC operating system's password
protection security and to set your computer up so that it automatically
goes into lock down after x minutes of being unattended. Read your
operating system manual for specific instructions.

Also, if you have tradespeople into your home, don't leave them
unattended. Your PC isn't the only tempting target that might catch
their eye.

2. Sending you PC out for repair

When I buy a PC I always buy the in-home service contract. This not only
gets my PC serviced quicker than if I have to carry it in, but I can
keep an eye on the technician while the work is being done.

If you have to send your PC out for repair then make sure that all of
your sensitive data is encrypted. If you use Windows XP as your
operating system then it's easy to encrypt your data. Just follow the
instructions on this web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/learnmore/encryptdata.mspx

If you do not use XP, or you have a Mac, then you may have to opt for
using a third-party software program like this one which works on PCs or
Macs:

http://www.kremlinencrypt.com/

3. Selling or giving away your old PC

The best solution here is to electronically "wipe" your hard drive to
remove all traces of your personal data. There are software programs
specifically designed for this task. Here is the one that I use:

http://www.cyberscrub.com/

As you can see, not all PC attacks come from the invisible outside
world. There are threats lurking right inside of your own home. Be aware
of them and protect yourself; otherwise, your personal data could be on
display for the world to see!

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