The Internet for BeginnersSection Four of Four

From the

Richard Sugden Library

Spencer, MA

Jillian M. Parsons

Section Four: Today’s Presentation

• Being Careful when

Using the Net

• Summary

Being Careful When Using the Net

Who has seen that AOL commercial?

What AOL doesn’t tell youDefinitions

• Advertising Gimmicks

• Pop Ups

• Pop Up Solutions

• Spyware

• Spyware Solutions

What AOL doesn’t tell you• Spam

• Spam Solutions

• Viruses

• Virus Solutions

What AOL doesn’t tell you• Identity Theft

• Identity Theft Solutions

• The Internet and your Privacy

Advertising Gimmicks• Almost every site has at least one

or two advertisements. They may flash, they may move around, or they may move only when your mouse is over the ad.

• If you are confronted with content that seems unrelated, or is not what you are looking for, feel free to ignore it, or if you can, “x out of it”

Pop Ups• Pop-up ads are a form of online

advertising on the Internet intended to increase the amount of visitors to that site, or to capture email addresses.

• They get their name because they pop-up uninvited while you may be doing other things on the Internet.

• Some web browsers claim to block pop-up ads, but I would recommend toolbars that offer several useful services in one package.

Pop ups Toolbar Solutions• Yahoo! Toolbar

• MSN Toolbar

• Google Toolbar

Examples of Internet Toolbars• Yahoo!

• Google

Spyware • Spyware covers a broad category of

software, created with mean-spirited intent, that takes partial control of a computer's operation without the informed consent of the machine's user.

• Spyware sometimes manifests itself as an advertisement or includes itself in a download.

Anti-Spyware Programs• Spyware infestations can be prevented

or disabled before they infect your computer.

Examples of Anti-Spyware software:www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ • Lavasoft's Ad-Aware SE www.download.com/ Spybot-Search-

Destroy/3000-8022-10289035.html • Patrick Kolla's Spybot - Search &

Destroy

Spam• Spam, in this sense, involves sending nearly

identical messages to thousands (or millions) of recipients by email.

• By definition, spam occurs without the permission of the recipients.

• Following links in email spam, or opening attachments to these email could result in a computer virus or the introduction of Spyware.

Avoiding SpamComputer users can avoid e-mail spam. • End-users can use automated e-mail

filtering on their own computers. • Most email programs allow users to

identify junk mail. This block prohibits the identified Spam from that specific sender from getting into your mailbox.

Viruses• Regarding computer security, a virus is

a self-replicating program that spreads by inserting copies of itself into other code or other documents

• The insertion of a virus into the program is termed as an infection, and the infected file (or executable code that is not part of a file) is called a host.

Anti-Virus SoftwareAvailable through:www.mcafee.com/us/ • McAfee Antivirus Software and

Intrusion Prevention Solutions Or,www.symantec.com/ • Norton Antivirus and computer

protection products

Identity Theft• Identity theft is usually the result

of serious breaches of privacy.

Identity Theft• Except for the simplest credit-

related cases, it is usually not possible without breakdowns in:

– customer privacy, – consumer privacy, or– client confidentiality

Customer Privacy• In which case the consequences

may be limited to one company; typically the one that leaked the data in the first place, e.g. account numbers.

Consumer Privacy• Is more serious, where credit card

numbers or other generally-useful identity data are stolen and used much more widely.

Client Confidentiality • Such breeches make it easy to

effectively impersonate someone, by using confidential information that an ordinary impersonator would not have access to.

The Internet and Your PrivacyThe ability to control what

information one reveals about oneself over the Internet, and to control who can access that information

“Let’s talk about ducks.”Is AOL really evil?

WORKSHOP TASK

Risk analysis: Pros and Cons

Conclusion

Review• Using the Internet Explorer

Web Browser

• Establishing Home

• Websites / Web Pages

• The Web Address (URL)

Review• Searching

• Everyday Uses for the Internet

• Saving and Printing

• Being Careful when Using the Net

Summary• We’ve covered a lot of information

here. You will want to keep these handouts and refer to them as needed.

• Please leave a message for me at the Circulation Desk with any questions you might have.

Summary• Leave your name, phone number

or email, name of workshop at

508-885-7513 or my email, jillian.m.parsons@hotmail.com

What do I do now?• Make a plan

• Write down goals

• Brainstorm on how to achieve goals

• Practice!