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Symantec Guide to Home Internet Security, The
- By Andrew Conry-Murray, Vincent Weafer
- Published Aug 24, 2005 by Addison-Wesley Professional. Part of the Symantec Press series.
- Copyright 2006
- Dimensions: 7x9-1/4
- Pages: 240
- Edition: 1st
- Book
- ISBN-10: 0-321-35641-1
- ISBN-13: 978-0-321-35641-3
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Product Author Bios
Andrew Conry-Murray is the technology editor at IT Architect, an award-winning publication for information technology professionals. He has been writing about computer and network security since 2000.
Vincent Weafer has an extensive range of experience, gained from more than 20 years in the information technology industry, ranging from software development, systems engineering, to security research positions. For the past eight years, he has been the operational leader of the Symantec Global Security Response team, where his mission is to advance the research into new computer security threats and provide security content solutions such as anti-virus, antispam, intrusion and vulnerability response, real-time alerting, content solutions, research, and analysis.
Weafer has also been one of Symantec’s main spokespeople on Internet security threats and trends, with national and international press and broadcast media, appearing on CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, and BBC, among many others. In addition, he has presented at many international conferences on security threats and trends, presenting papers and contributing to technical panels run by the European Institute for Computer AntiVirus Research (EICAR), Virus Bulletin, Association of AntiVirus Asia Researchers (AVAR), and Australian Computer Emergency Response Team (AUSCERT), among many others.
© Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
Protect Yourself! Easy, Step-by-Step Help from the World’s Most Trusted Security Provider
The Internet is crawling with risks; if you bank or shop online, or even just surf the Web and send e-mail, you are exposed to hackers, thieves, and con artists. Today’s bad guys don’t need to pick your locks or break your windows: they can attack you and your family over the Internet. Are you prepared? Enjoy a safer online experience with easy, step-by-step help from Symantec, the world’s most trusted security provider.
This easy-to-understand book helps protect you against Internet threats. Written specifically for nontechnical computer users, you’ll learn simple ways to keep you and your family safe and secure while online.
- Keep your PC free of spyware, adware, worms, viruses, and intruders.
- Protect your identity and privacy.
- Browse the Web safely and eliminate junk mail from your inbox.
- Keep eavesdroppers out of your wireless network.
- Make the most of the new security features built into Windows XP.
- Shield your children from pornography and online predators.
- Protect your new Internet-based phone service.
- Download free tools that help you keep your computer safe.
© Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
A no-nonsense approach to security for nontechies..., By
This review is from: The Symantec Guide to Home Internet Security (Paperback)
If you're a techno-geek, it's easy to find material on how to secure your computing environment. It's considerably more difficult to find readable and understandable material that you can give to Uncle Joe to prevent him from becoming the latest spam zombie. A good entry into this niche is the book The Symantec Guide to Home Internet Security by Andrew Conry-Murray and Vincent Weafer.Content: Understanding Internet Risk; Preventing Identity Theft; Firewalls; Getting Rid of Unwanted Guests, Part 1 - Viruses and Worms; Getting Rid of Unwanted Guests, Part 2 - Spyware, Adware, and Trojan Horses; Just Say No To Spam; Securing Windows; Keeping Your Family Safe Online; Wireless and VoIP Security; Privacy and the Internet; Conclusion; Index This book doesn't attempt to "entertain" the reader or dazzle them with funny graphics or drawings. It's just solid material on internet security presented in a clear and concise manner. The target is for nontechnical Windows... Read more
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
An excellent title for home Internet users, By
This review is from: The Symantec Guide to Home Internet Security (Paperback)
Windows is today by far the most popular platform for workstation anddesktop computers. However, it has also proven to be the most susceptible to a wide variety of attacks, many of which being of a distributed (mass-spreading) nature. Regardless of the important steps that Microsoft has taken to provide a sufficient out-of-the box level of security, a default Windows installation remains far from secure and not likely to survive for long against the various hazards that access to the Internet hides. Truth is that few users are even aware of these hazards -until it is too late-, much less being able to make an educated choice among all these protective software titles with fancy names out there. This is where Symantec Guide to Home Internet Security comes to the rescue, offering a consistent and easy to comprehend source of information to both the completely novice... Read more
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
up to date survey of malware, By
This review is from: The Symantec Guide to Home Internet Security (Paperback)
Symantec offers a general purpose guide to the dangers of malware, directed at a non technical reader, who might have a home computer to maintain. It shows how you might get email from anywhere in the world, containing spam or bogus offers, like "dates" with attractive women, or money offers from relatives of dead dictators are common come-ons.The book warns against other perils. For instance, the https connection is used to prevent a third party listening in on your communication with a website. Many financial websites use this, when you are presenting a password. But any website can use https. Even a bogus one. Sometimes the latter might use it, in part to fool people who think that https per se confers validation of that website. Phishing is correctly described as the most damaging of current Internet frauds. The book outlines characteristics of many phishing messages, and how they often [mis-]direct you to a fradulent site ("pharm"). However, the only... Read more |
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments.
About the Author.
Introduction.
1. Understanding Internet Risk.
2. Preventing Identity Theft.
3. Firewalls.
4. Getting Rid of Unwanted Guests, Part 1: Viruses and Worms.
5. Getting Rid of Unwanted Guests, Part 2: Spyware, Adware, and Trojan Horses.
6. Just Say No to Spam.
7. Securing Windows.
8. Keeping Your Family Safe Online.
9. Wireless and VoIP Security.
10. Privacy and the Internet.
Conclusion.
Index.
Preface
Today more and more of us conduct sensitive transactions via e-mail and the Internet, including online banking, stock trading, e-commerce purchasing, and personal accounts management. While the Internet makes such activities more convenient, it also exposes us to security risks. Traditional risks such as viruses, worms, and Trojan horses still plague the Internet. In addition, a new set of threats has emerged, including spyware, Internet fraud, and spam. These headline-grabbing threats, which are driven by profit-motivated criminals, are becoming increasingly sophisticated, have shorter life cycles, and use new attack vectors. Such threats pose daunting new challenges for everyone who uses the Internet.
Even seemingly safe information and entertainment sites can carry risks. For example, in a study conducted by Internet security company Symantec, researchers took a brand-new Windows PC, plugged it into the Internet without any security software, and browsed the Web. Testers spent one hour each interacting with differ-ent categories of Web sites, including e-commerce, gaming, and news sites. Surprisingly, children’s Web sites dumped the most unwanted software onto the test PC—359 pieces of adware in just an hour’s surfing!
The primary goal of this book is to help you understand that using the Internet carries a certain amount of risk—to your privacy, to the integrity of your personal data, and to your computer’s usability and performance. We clearly explain those risks and show you, in simple but comprehensive detail, how to reduce your exposure.
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Unlike other computer security books that focus on one or two problems such
as viruses or spam, this book is intended to be a comprehensive resource for
the broad range of risks that Internet users face. You’ll find a wealth
of information about how to keep your Windows computer free of spyware, worms,
viruses, spam, and intruders; use e-mail and Web browsers safely; help protect
your iden-tity and privacy; protect a wireless connection from eavesdroppers
and scammers; and shield your kids from pornography and online predators.
If you flip through the chapters or look at the table of contents, you’ll see that this book includes loads of details—including figures and step-by-step instructions—about how to choose and use a wide variety of security software, how to take advantage of the security features built into Windows XP Service Pack 2, and how to protect yourself and your family from the criminals and con artists trolling for victims. Many of the software tools and programs recommended in this book are free.
This book is designed to help you solve specific problems so that you don’t have to read it from start to finish. You can start with any chapter about any one of the risks you’re most concerned about and get all the information you need. Of course, many Internet risks are intertwined, so this book provides references to other relevant chapters.
The Internet is often compared to a superhighway, but it’s more like a city—one where we are spending more and more of our lives. It’s also a city of almost infinite size and serious dangers. This book is designed to be a trusted guide to this city so that you and your family can enjoy a safe and secure Internet experience.
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