Securingthe

Human

Presented byThomas Nee, Computer Coordinator

Town of Hanover, Massachusetts

hanover-ma.gov/information-technology

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month!

The Interneto Knowledge Is Power.o The Internet is the most powerful tool

in human history.o Use it! Wisely!o Don’t be assimilated into a BotNet.

Security Threatso 3 New Malware Versions Released

Every Second!

o Zero-Day Threatso Known, Unpatched Vulnerabilitieso Unapplied Security Patches

Protection AgainstSecurity Threats

o Anti-Virus Updated Daily (Security Gateway and Computers).

o Operating System Updated Monthly.o Other Security Patches Less Ofteno Long, Complex, Frequently-Changed

Passwords.

UpdatesMicrosoft Update (Windows Update

if Microsoft Office not installed)

Adobe Reader

Adobe Flash

Java (manual updates by administrator)

Reject Optional Add-Ons

Uncheck!

Good Habit: Slow Downo Hover over links.o Press and hold link on a smartphone.o Do NOT click unless you know where

the link goes.o Visit mainstream sites only.

Domains At A Glanceo Destination determined Right-To-Left

between “http://” and next “/”o Examples:http://support.microsoft.com/index.htmlhttp://microsoft.com.z.ir/index.html (Goes to Iran!)http://www.amazon.co.uk/ (could be hosted in US or elsewhere)

o See List of Country Codes:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains#Country_code_top-level_domains

Attack Vectorso Surfing; Drive-By Downloads.o Spam, Spam, Spam.o Infected computers and programs on

network.o Flash Drives

Emailo Phishing – generic, widely distributed

spam.o Spear-Phishing – personal information

included. Do not succumb to emotion!o Use browser bookmarks/favorites

whenever possible instead of links in email messages.

o Slow Down. Use caution opening attachments.

Recommended Optionso McAfee’s SiteAdvisor Browser Toolbarhttp://www.siteadvisor.com/o Norton’s SafeWeb Website (save as

Favorite/Bookmark)http://safeweb.norton.com o Norton’s Browser Toolbar (packaged

with Norton Identity Safe)