Wireless Networking Precautions

           This topic my dad didn't really teach me much about when getting my first laptop. I grew up with dial up internet which is the slowest kind of internet you can have. This would be because it goes through your phone line. I didn't have to worry about Wifi internet. Which means, this topic of caution when it comes to wireless networking is not my forte. I now have my laptop but it is different because at home I couldn't use internet. Now that I am attending college, I have wireless internet in almost all locations on campus.

           Some precautions you can take when using wireless internet, would be to make sure you have installed anti-virus software as well with a firewall. Anytime you use a wireless router you should have a firewall too. Where ever you can use your laptop with wireless internet that means others can too. Hence why you take all of these precautions. You should also password protect your router so that when others try to connect to your wifi, they can't get in because there is a password in the way.   Because wireless internet is becoming more popular, public places like coffee shops and restaurants are having wireless internet free for people who come there. This means that when you go there you can connect to the internet. If you do chose to do this, do not use personal information like your social security number or credit card number. People share this network which in result can see your computer. That is why you don't want to use personal information when not within your own home. Learning these new tips for wireless internet I hope will protect you from hackers! Keep your personal information to yourself and keep on reading tips about computers and security right here!

 http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Wireless-Network-Security-Home.html
http://www.itlist.com/security-precautions-for-wireless-internet-users/

Strong Passwords: How to Create and Use Them

            Now this post is a pretty obvious one but I am still going to talk about strong passwords. From personal experience, I have not always chosen the best passwords for websites and important information. With this post, it will help me and also you to create and use strong password. That way, no way will anyone steal your information from websites and you get hacked. It will be useful as with the other posts from before, for online safety!

          
          The experts say that for a successful strong password it should be 14 characters when allowed. To me that is a lot to remember but I guess if it results in my transactions online not being hacked, I will try it! The experts also say that, you should use a variety of letters from all over the keyboard. That way people trying to steal your password, will have a harder time trying to figure out what your password is. To trick the people trying to hack you, think of something that is meaningful to you so that you remember. Then add numbers to the thing and tada! You have a strong password. That might sound confusing so I will give an example. Lets say that I have a puppy named Sparky. Well I can take that name and add my initials and my birthday number. It would end up being, FaSs12S1p6a1r9k9y1. Now that is longer then 14 characters but you see how capital letters, lower cased letters, and numbers are all throughout the password. I hope this post did successfully help you create a stronger password!

 http://www.watchingthenet.com/how-to-create-strong-passwordsand-remember-them.html
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/fraud/passwords/create.aspx

Internet Parental Control Software

         This is a post where I describe the different software that helps parents control the Internet for their children. Now if this wasn't for a project, then I would not be talking about this. Because I am a kid and would hate if i ever was limited on what I can look at online. Regardless, it protects children from getting into the wrong information online. I just got through in my last post talking about internet filters and honestly, parental control software also goes hand in hand with it. Besides kids protection, this software enables employees to have limits on what they go on during work hours.

  Now on to the specific software and terms. There is a specific software that claims to be one of the best. This would be called Safe Eyes Parental Internet Filtering Software by Internet Safety. It blocks pornography which is the main reason parents want to protect their own children. Research says that, 50 % of children are exposed to pornography in their own homes online. I think that if this is the reason parents put so much protection on the computer and internet, then getting this software is fine with me. This specific version has a list of different topics that you can chose from to block from your children. I hope that this post helps you all with protecting your children and if you don't have any, thanks for reading my blog anyway! 

http://www.softforyou.com/
http://www.winmentalhealth.com/parental_internet_control_software.php

Internet Filters

        Think about Internet filters and tell me that parental guidance doesn't have to do with it. Well if you did honestly tell me that you would be wrong! They go with each other like hot dogs and ketchup.Internet filters are the specific devices that let parents protect their kids from certain sites. the filter out the harmful and bad sites. Well, sometimes the internet is tricked by what it sees on the site when it really isn't harmful but that is besides the point.

     A huge advantage to having internet filters is that it blocks spam! No one likes spam what so ever. In every mail site online, such as AOL, Gmail, and even Yahoo, all of them have filters to block spam mail. So in terms of websites, you can get different downloads that block spam websites on your computer. Another big thing internet filters block is pop ups. You know how annoying they can be pop ups about vacations, or places you should go to eat and buy items. Well internet filters are the solution! It also can help with time management for kids. Keep on protecting your children along with reading this blog with cool tips about the computer and safety!

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/terms/internetfilters.aspx
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/internet-filters-tips#tip_answer_1

Internet Parental Guidance

           Since I was a little kid, I grew up with computers and the Internet. It is a whole different world then my parents or even my grandparents because it was just getting started in their generations. But now, me and my generation have grown up with Internet. What comes a long with that territory is internet parental guidance. I automatically think of parents blocking sites so that their children cannot get on to them. In my life, I had AOL as a kid and still today. With AOL comes different levels so that parents can protect what their kids are logging on to. When I was little, my dad would have such strict site restrictions, if I typed something into Google images it wouldn't show up since it was "inappropriate" but really it was not.

        Down to the facts of internet parental guidance. Well it is all within the title. Kids need their parents to guide them in life, I can wholeheartedly admit that I need my parents. That also is with computers. Personally, the internet is a complicated place and without my dad helping me a little bit when I was younger I would have been lost.

http://www.resources.safestware.com/privacy-security-for-the-family.htm
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Importance-of-Parental-Guidance-on-Childs-Internet-Use&id=5214435

Digital Image Steganography

         Digital image steganography sounds really cool to me. Personally, I think it is like how you can write with invisible ink to send a message to someone else. In reality, digital image steganograpghy is in a way invisible ink but for messeges but digitally. Before we get into the big details about digital steganography, a little but about regular steganography. Something interesting I found while researching what digital steganography is, would be how steganography has changed through the ages. In an article it mentioned how messeges were tattooed on shaved heads and then the hair would grow back so it would be hidden. I found this fasinating even if I don't like tattoos, but because this is still having hidden messages.

        This is exactly what digital image steganograpghy is. A more modern version of what it used to be. All it is, is hidden messages in images, HTML, audio and video files. Usually, image steganograpghy is only hidden messages in images. It was said that some terrorist groups used a different steganography, digital stenganography. The way I see digital image steganography is that it is made up of millions of different colors. When you make an image on the computer, each color represents a code of numbers. It would make sense if you are trying to hide a messege within an image, you would have a code with what the numbers mean. That would make up the image. I hope you enjoyed this fascinating post about digital image steganograpghy and keep on reading this blog!

http://www.garykessler.net/library/steganography.html
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-digital-steganography.htm

Computer Forensics

       You might always be wondering what is Computer forensics, well I do too. I always liked forensics as in the science but didn't know that there was even such thing as Computer forensics. Well, according to Google definitions, Computer forensics is "The application of computer technology and techniques to aid legal investigations." To me that sounds like Computer forensics is used to help in criminal investigations by using computers somehow. Computer forensics is usually used for computer crime but also can be used for some other cases. 

        An interesting fact I found is that Computer forensics has been used in crime since the 80s. Its funny how long it has been around but I am just hearing about it because of a class project. Computer forensics is used for all different cases to help solve crimes such as fraud and cyberstalking. When Computer forensic cases occur, there is more then one technique used. Cross-drive analysis, which is information from different hard drives are combined, Live analysis, which is when you can examine computers from within the system, and last but not least deleted files, which most would understand, recovery of deleted files. Stay tuned for more fun facts and interesting information about computers; this is the blog to come to!

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&pwst=1&defl=en&q=define:Computer+forensics&sa=X&ei=gpj2TLPZDcGBlAeg_-C1BQ&ved=0CBMQkAE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_forensics