Regarding the integrity of this software, it is open source, free of any adware or bloatware and is sure to please! Used in conjunction with other adware/malware removal tools this is a great piece of software to have and use.

You can download this software by going to Google and typing in ClamWin Portable or by contacting our online computer support department.

There are some interesting passwords on this list that show how people try to be clever, but even human cleverness is predictable. For example, look at these passwords that I found interesting:

ncc1701 The ship number for the Starship Enterprise
thx1138 The name of George Lucas’s first movie, a 1971 remake of an earlier project
qazwsx Follows a simple pattern when typed on a typical keyboard
666666 Six sixes
7777777 Seven sevens
ou812 The title of a 1988 Van Halen album
8675309 The number mentioned in the 1982 Tommy Tutone song. The song supposedly caused an epidemic of people dialing 867- 5309 and asking for “Jenny”

“…Approximately one out of every nine people uses at least one password on the list shown in Table 9.1! And one out of every 50 people uses one of the top 20 worst passwords..”

Lists the top 500 worst passwords of all time, not considering character case. Don’t blame me for the offensive words; you were the ones who picked these, not me.

If you’re interested in more information about your security online please connect with one of our secure remote  support specialist to help you with all your computer support needs.

What is a firewall program? A firewall program is software that acts like a traffic cop that intercepts Internet traffic to and from your computer. Like all good traffic cops, your firewall software should stop any software program that breaks the traffic laws (hackers).

It is very important that your firewall program functions effectively as your firewall program is your main defense against hackers that are trying to break into your computer through your Internet connection. If hackers gain entry into your computer they can cause all kinds of mischief and thievery.

Firewall Advice:

For Modem Users. If you use a modem, you are at a much lower risk from Internet attackers. Frankly, most hackers don’t want to waste their time hacking into computers with slow Internet connections that are rarely connected to the Internet.

However, just because you aren’t the most desirable target, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t run a firewall program. I suggest you at least use the Windows XP Professional firewall or the free firewall programslike ZoneAlarm if you don’t want to buy a commercial firewall program.

If a virus or worm gets into your computer, it will have unlimited access to send anything it wants to any other computer — including personal information about you. Most commercial firewall programs block access to and from your computer – so even if a hacker gets into your computer, he still has to defeat the firewall on the way out.

For High-speed DSL, Cable, FIOS, and Satellite Internet Users. You are a primary target for Internet hackers. If a hacker gains access to your computer, they have free reign to commit computer crimes, crash your computer, steal your personal information, or attack other computers.

You need maximum firewall protection. A leading commercial firewall program that is actively updated by the manufacturer is a must.

Examples of commercial firewall programs include: Norton Personal Firewall, MCafee Firewall, and PC-cillin.

If you would like help installing or maintaining your firewall and antivirus programs please contact us at secureremotesupport.com

You need to make sure that all email is checked for viruses before you open it. Depending on what type of email program you use, your virus checking software or the email provider will check unopened email for viruses.
Note: Most free Web email providers e.g. Hotmail, check incoming email for viruses. However, those of you that read their mail with Outlook, Outlook Express, or other mail programs are typically responsible for providing their own resident email virus checker.

What kind of antivirus program should you use?

There are two major types of antivirus programs; resident programs which reside on the user’s computer, and free web-based programs that are online.

Most people connected to the Internet, should use a resident virus checker. Resident virus checkers provide full-time protection to your computer, however updates from the manufacturer are needed to keep abreast of new viruses. Resident virus checkers should always be on and checking your computer for viruses and other threats.
Examples of resident virus checkers include: Norton Antivirus, Mcafee, and PC-cillin.

Web-based free virus checkers are accessed online from an antivirus manufacturer’s Web site. Online virus checkers are free and always up-to-date, but will not detect viruses unless you are online and at the manufacturer’s Web site. Only people that think they have a very low virus risk should solely rely on Web-based virus checkers.

Online virus checkers can also be used in conjunction with resident virus checkers when updates to resident programs have not been obtained. Examples of free online virus checkers include: HouseCall and Symantec Security Check.

If you would be interested in having your computer looked over by one of our technicians, please contact us here. We are currently offering a free check over your computer to make sure you aren’t receiving viruses through your email! Contact a technician here.

Our online computer repair department is more than willing to assist you in configuring your updates and making sure you’re up to date on all the things your computer needs to know!

Occasionally, when you install legitimate software onto your computer you will need to right-click on the file and choose the “run-as” option to log in under the Administrator account. You may find it necessary to restart your machine and log in under the Administrator account to install certain software programs.

This is important when using windows vista as well. Please keep in mind that you do not want to disable to UAC setting (User Account Control) that displays asking for you to confirm when changes are made to the system. The UAC is an integral part of the security of your machine.

If you would prefer to have a technician make this change for you, or have further questions about this process, please contact our Support Department. Online Computer Repair is supplied 24 hours a day 7 days a week at http://secureremotesupport.com

One of the first steps to securing your wireless network would be to set an encryption key. This key would stop unauthorized people from accessing your network. This is often done by people who “war drive” and log on to unsecured networks. Unfortunately, when your network remains unsecured to war drivers, you have the chance to have your data compromised along with a few other things. In regard to network keys, there are many different settings or options that may be used. When setting up the encryption, you might be prompted to use WEP, WPA, or WPA2. Each of these methods has different ways of protecting your data. I will spare you the technical details for now. In short, WPA and WPA2 would be your best; however, if WPA is not available, you can use WEP.

In conjunction with wireless encryption, users may also turn off SSID broadcast. What is the SSID you may ask? The SSID is the name of your network. The wireless access point broadcasts the SSID so that users can find the network with ease and connect by simply double clicking on that particular “SSID name” in the available wireless connections window. As an added layer of protection, I recommend turning SSID broadcast off. This will make it a little harder for someone to find your network. The only downside to this would be that any other user beside yourself would need to know the SSID before connecting to your wireless network. This would be done in the wireless network preferences when creating a connection.

Finally, we will touch on MAC filtering. Some wireless access points have this option and some don’t. For access points the ones that do, I strongly recommend using this feature. The way this works is simple, it is basically like an access control list. Each piece of hardware (in this case your network card or wireless card) is assigned what is called a MAC address. This is a unique address that identifies the hardware manufacturer and the type of device it is. In the options for your wireless access point you can set which MAC addresses have the option to connect. This will simply weed out any unauthorized MAC address such as a war driver from accessing your network.

You might be asking “How does one attain a MAC address?” Simple! Click Start, go to run, type “cmd”, and then hit enter. This should open a command line with a blinking curser. At this point, type ipconfig/all and hit enter. Find your wireless card and look at the MAC address. Enter the address into your access control list, apply the changes and PRESTO!

If you’re still unsure how to complete this process to secure your computer, and personal files, please contact our support team. They will look at your wireless network for free and advise you on all of the things you can do to secure yourself! For the best in computer repair visit our main site.