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Beware of Active X
ActiveX controls are small programs,
sometimes also called "add-ons," that are used
on the Internet. They can enhance your browsing
experience by allowing animation or they can
help with tasks such as installing
security updates at
Microsoft Update. Some websites require you to
install ActiveX controls to see the site or perform
certain tasks on it. The website that provides the
ActiveX control should tell you what the control is
for. It should also provide relevant details on the
web page before or after you see the warning.
Unfortunately, ActiveX controls are like any
other software program — they can be
misused. They can stop your computer from
functioning correctly, collect your browsing
habits and personal information without your
knowledge, or can give you content, like
pop-up ads that you don't want. Also, "good"
ActiveX controls might contain unintended code that
allows "bad" websites to use them for malicious
purpose. Here's a good rule to follow: If an
ActiveX control is not essential to your
computer activity, avoid installing it.
IE, for example, displays a dialog box that
identifies the publisher and asks if you want to run
the file. Click
Don't run if you do not trust the
website and publisher. You can disable
Active X in IE by going to the Tools
button, and then click Manage Add-ons.
Under Show, click
Downloaded controls and click the
ActiveX control you want to delete.
Firefox
does not support ActiveX technology. Firefox
uses plugins to view and use multimedia content
embedded in web pages, and extensions to add new
functions.
How
Spammers get Your Email Addresses
There
are several common ways that
spammers can get your email address:
-
Crawling the web for the @
sign. Spammers and
cybercriminals use sophisticated
tools to scan the web and
harvest email addresses. If you
publicly post your email address
online, a spammer will find it.
-
Making good guesses...
and lots of them.
Cybercriminals use tools to
generate common user names and
pair them with common domains.
These tools are similar to the
ones that are used to crack
passwords. And they work.
-
Tricking your friends.
Even if you know better than to
publicly post your email address on the web, it could still be stored in the
email inbox of anyone who's ever emailed you or whom you've ever emailed.
-
Buying lists. Spammers
can purchase lists legally and illegally. When you sign up for a website or
a service, make sure you read the privacy policy.
Mac
Addresses
Your
MAC (Media Access Control ) address (also known as your Ethernet Hardware
Address (EHA), adapter address, or physical address) is a unique identifier
assigned, in most cases physically printed, on most network adapters or Network
Interface Cards or Local Area Network cards. Internet Protocol addresses
identify a computer on the Internet or on a LAN. Computers or devices on the
same local area network may share the same IP address but they are identified by
their MAC address. Think of it as different house numbers on the same street.
Here's how to find it. Click the Start
Menu and choose Run. Type cmd and click the
OK button. Type ipconfig /all and press the
Enter. The number indicated on the Physical Address line is your MAC
address.
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simple and cheap
way to boost the performance of their Vista or 7
powered PC. It is called ReadyBoost. allows you to use a flash drive or SD card on your
computer to store commonly used files so that
you can access them much faster than off of your
hard drive. Turning the ReadyBoost feature on
couldn't be any easier as well. To do so, just
plug a flash drive, SD card or whatever flash
device you'd like to use into your computer.
You'll then see the dialogue box (right) pop up.
Click the Speed up my system
link and you'll be taken to the ReadyBoost panel
for the flash drive. Just select Use this device and
then set the amount of space you want to use. Vista or 7 will then
create what is essentially a paging file on that drive and you will then
be able to use it for quicker access. The advantage of ReadyBoost is
that it is much faster to cache to a USB drive than to your hard drive.
That then speeds up your system and enhances its overall performance.