Security

There are many security issues to be wary of when connected to the Internet and most businesses need to be connected to run their business, but the right equipment, coupled with the right software will allow you to use the Internet safely and without worry. We can examine and test your network to ensure that you are protected against all these threats.

Phrases:

Hacker: A Hacker is the name given to a person who tries to get access to your PC or network, by 'hacking' their way through your security system. A Hacker may be just looking for mischievous entertainment, or they could be trying to obtain personal or sensitive information. Most Hackers can be stopped by use of a firewall.

Firewall. A firewall can be a piece of hardware or software program that restricts the flow of data in and out of your PC or network. Depending on the setting, a Firewall can make your PC completely invisible to other Internet users, protecting you from attack. Firewalls can also prevent viruses and malicious software from uploading your critical data.

Virus:A virus is a small software application that accesses or runs on your computer without your knowledge. There are thousands of viruses that can do a range of things to your computer, from harmless pranks such as making your cursor dissapear to causing catastrophic data loss. Most viruses can be kept at bay by Anti-virus software.

Malware: Malware is similar to a virus except that it's purpose is to collect sensitive data, such as credit card details and passwords. These can be very dangerous, but again, Anti-Virus software would help to protect you.

Spam: Spam is a real problem to most people. This is the unsolicited junk email that floods your email inbox everyday. At the very least, Spam can be annoying, at worst it can block your inbox and cause disruption to your email service. Spam can often contain adult content that can be offensive to some people. A software Spam-Filter would help to combat this problem.

Pop-ups: Pop-ups are web pages or alert boxes that 'pop-up' while you are browsing the web. Although fairly harmless, they can become irritating and in some cases, they can trick you into downloading a virus onto your computer. However, many legitimate sites also use pop-ups, so most modern Operating systems have built in protection that allows you to choose whether or not to allow a pop-up to work. There are also many good 'pop-up blocker' software applications on the market.

Phishing: Pronounced 'fishing' is when a web page pretends to be somethig it is not in order to trick you into entering sensitive data. For example a page may be branded in a well known bank's colours and ask you to enter your password. Again, there are software solutions available that will detect if a site really is what it says it is.