COMPUT3R, M0B!L3 H4CKIN 71P5 & 7R1CK5

I know we featured a password tip in the newsletter just the other day, but in the meantime, one of our loyal readers (thank you Mr. Kenneth J. Roberts!) sent me another great password idea. It's the method he uses for all of his passwords and I thought it was so great, I just had to pass it along to all of you as well. So, if you ever have trouble coming up with secure passwords, you might want to give this a try. It's a sure fire way to remember every single one you create. Here we go!

Now, I'm sure you're wondering why the title to today's Quick Tip is "Sing Your Password," right? Well, that's because a great way to create a new password is to use parts of your favorite songs! An easy way is to pick one of your favorite songs and take the first letter of each word in a phrase in the song. For example, one of my favorite songs is "The Dance" by Garth Brooks and one of the best lines in that song (in my opinion) is, "Our lives are better left to chance." So, my new password would be "olabltc."

To make it even more secure, you could add a few numbers or symbols to the end of it as well. I like the number 25, so I would use the password of "olabltc25." It's as easy as that! And the best thing is, you'll never forget your password, because it's simply some of the letters from your favorite songs. All you have to do is sing the song in your head and you'll have your password. It's just another way to make passwords that will keep you as safe as possible. Give it a shot today and see what you can come up with!

Just a few weeks ago, Erin wrote about a fake antivirus program called XP Antivirus 2008. That program forces itself onto your computer and starts causing all kinds of trouble.

Now, it looks like there's another program out there doing the exact same thing. I have received several phone calls and e-mails about a program called Antivirus 2009. That program does the same thing XP Antivirus 2008 did. If you go to an infected Web site, you'll be bombarded with pop ups asking you to install the program. It will seem like there's no way to get rid of the pop ups besides installing the program.

First of all, do not install Antivirus 2009. If you go to a site that's trying to make you install it, you should close your Web browser immediately. If you need to, press Ctrl + Alt + Del on your keyboard and click on the End Task button. If that doesn't work, shut your computer down. Do whatever it takes to get rid of the pop ups, but do not install the program.

Antivirus 2009 is not only infecting computers, but it's also infecting Web sites. It will gain access to a site and then spread to users who visit that site. It will also change the site so that it gets better search results and appears under searches for antivirus software and virus removal. Keep an eye out for sites that offer it and stay away from them! It will take time before those sites are repaired and back to normal.

If you're already infected with Antivirus 2009, there is some good news! It looks like there's a pretty simple way to remove the bug. All you need is a program called Malware Bytes Anti-Malware. The basic version is free and you can download it right here.

Install the program and then run the Quick Scan. (Note: The Quick Scan isn't necessarily quick. It took nearly 30 minutes on my computer). After the scan is complete, a message will pop up and tell you it's done. Click OK.

Next, you will see a list of all the malware it found. They should all have checkmarks next to them. Just click on the Remove Selected button and it will remove all of them for you.

After that, a page will pop up telling you exactly what it did. You can save it if you want, but you don't have to.

That should be it. Just close the Malware Bytes program and the Antivirus 2009 bug should be gone. Until next time, stay safe out there, my friends!

Everyone knows there are a ton of Web sites out there that can be harmful to your computer, unsafe for your children and just simply unwanted by everyone. I'm sure all of you have come across a site you wish you would have never seen. People are always asking me how they can filter their Internet access so that those sites are blocked from their computer. While there are many ways to do that, from installing programs to using filters provided by your ISP, there's one way I came across a couple of days ago that makes more sense and it's so simple to set up. It doesn't require you to install any software and it can be put in place by simply following the steps on the Web site. You'll be up and running in just a few short minutes. Let's check it out!

The filtering option I'm talking about is called OpenDNS. It's a company that provides free filtered DNS services to residential and educational users. So that you'll have a better understanding of how it all works, I'll need to explain what DNS is.

DNS stands for Domain Name Resolution. When you visit a Web site, you type the name of the site into your Web browser. That name is called the domain name. For WorldStart, our domain name is worldstart.com. Now, the part most people don't know is that without DNS, you would never even get to worldstart.com. Computers and the Internet don't understand names. Instead, they understand IP addresses. When you tell your Web browser to go to www.worldstart.com, it has to figure out what the IP address of worldstart.com is. And that's when DNS comes into play. When you tell your Web browser to go to www.worldstart.com, it asks a DNS server to tell it what the IP address of worldstart.com is. The DNS then tells the computer the IP address of WorldStart is 207.126.59.171 (for example). After your computer gets that information, it then connects to 207.126.59.171 and the WorldStart homepage appears.

I know that may seem a bit confusing, but here's the point I'm trying to make: if the DNS your computer connects to knows a list of bad Web sites, it can restrict your computer from going to them. That's exactly what OpenDNS does. If you configure your computer to use OpenDNS for its DNS services, the OpenDNS servers will know which Web sites your computer is trying to reach. It can then block the bad ones.

All in all, if you want to filter your Web use and block unwanted and potentially bad Web sites, try OpenDNS. It's very easy to use, even if the explanation is complicated. I promise! You can check it all out right here. Until next time, stay safe out there, my friends!

A reader asks: My antivirus software says it has "real time" protection. Since it's always monitoring for virus activity, do I ever need to run a full virus scan on my whole system?

Well, the quick answer is yes. You still need to run a full virus scan about once a week.

Now, I'll give you the long answer with full explanations!

Most antivirus software provides two different functions. One of them is real time virus protection. That type of protection means the system listens for virus type activity at all times. If it detects something, it will identify the issue and remove the virus.

The second type of protection is the full system scan. Those types of scans will actually inspect every file on your system for an infection. If it finds an infected file, it will handle the virus appropriately.

Many people think that since the system has real time protection, there's no need for the full system scan. Since the system will detect virus activity, there's no point in scanning every file, right? Wrong!

Real time virus checking and full scanning work very differently and use different types of virus definitions. The real time scanner will find many types of attacks happening at the time, but they will not find everything. Real time protection looks for certain actions. If the action is not defined by the real time scanner, the antivirus software will not find the attack.

On the other hand, the real time virus scanner does not look for actions. It scans the files looking for certain codes that identify infected files. Many times, running the full system scan will detect viruses that have not triggered the real time scanning. That's why it's important to run a full system scan quite often.

For all of the computers here in the WorldStart office, we run a full system scan once a week. That ensures that any threats will be found within a reasonable amount of time.

On top of that, there are some antivirus programs that do full system scans whenever the system is not in use. That type of scanning is by far the best. What that means is, the antivirus software does the real time scanning and it also checks files for viruses when the system is idle. When you start using your computer, the full scan stops and it then continues when you're done. That type of scanning ensures that a full system scan is being done constantly and on a regular basis. Until next time, stay safe out there, my friends!

I have written several different articles about securing your wireless connections. Having an insecure wireless network is like getting a megaphone and announcing your social security number to your whole neighborhood. When your wireless network is not encrypted, anyone within range can gain access to your data fairly easily.

A few days ago, some bad news came through the line. It seems like one method of wireless encryption has been broken. A hacker has been able to break the encryption and gain access to data, even when the security is turned on. The encryption type that has been broken is called WPA-TKIP. It's one of the most common types of wireless network encryption, which means many wireless networks could be at risk.

Luckily, I'm sharing this information with you well before anyone can get to your data. It seems as if the hacker who has broken the wireless security is the only one so far. In a week or so, he will tell the rest of the world how he did it. After that, others will be able to use his technique and hack wireless connections around the world.

So, how can you protect yourself? Allow me to explain!

Many wireless routers come with different types of security. The three main types are called WEP, WPA and WPA2. WEP and WPA are now vulnerable to attack. WEP has been known as a weak system for some time and WPA was just hacked a few days ago. On the other hand, WPA2 has not been affected. That means if you change your wireless security to WPA2, you'll be safe.

If you want to check and see what security you have on your wireless connection, you'll need the manual for your wireless router. Look in the manual for directions on how to set up the wireless security. Once you find that information, look to see which method you're currently using. If you're using WEP or WPA, you should change to WPA2. If you're not using any at all, please activate WPA2!

While most routers support WPA2, some do not. If your router doesn't support WPA2, you should continue to use WPA. Yes, it has been hacked, but it's far better than using nothing at all. Until next time, stay safe out there, my friends!