SaferComputing.org is trying to help the computer owners in their use of the Internet, and also to help make the Internet a safer and friendlier place to be.

Every day new users buy computers and join the revolution of the Internet. For many of these users this is the first computer they had and the first time they are connected to the Internet. Of course it is exciting to be able to visit all the Web Sites, all the Chat Forums, send and receive e-mail. I still remember a time, 12 years ago, when I first connected to the Internet, all the new, exciting things to investigate and search out.

But, in those days the Internet was a relatively safe place. In the days before that, we used to visit BBS’es, Bulletin Board Systems, that we connected to using a modem over a dial-up connection. The worst thing back in those days was to find an infected file among the files we downloaded from the BBS. Most responsible BBS operators had virus scanners that scanned all files that were on their BBS, to make sure there were no viruses among the files. Most of the users of the BBS was careful and scanned the files they downloaded, again to make sure there were no viruses in them.

Times have changed a lot since then. Today, ten or fifteen years later, the software we use has become much more sophisticated and with sophisticated software comes more risks for security holes. The BBS systems have disappeared, to be replaced with the Internet. Our Internet connections are so much faster than the 14.4 or in best cases 28.8 kilo baud modems in the BBS days, to the 56 kilo baud modem connections in the slowest case, up to the broadband Cable or DSL connections that are getting more and more popular. Of course, those high-speed connections are great, but at the same time it allows us to download so much more than ever before, as well as allowing other people to connect to our computers, often without our knowledge and most of the time, that is not a good thing.

Today a computer connected to the Internet, if not protected appropriately, will be infected with viruses and hacked within 20 minutes after being connected the first time. Not using a high-speed connection? Doesn’t matter, it will just delay the time it takes to be infected or hacked a few minutes.

Viruses, worms and ad-/spy-ware infect many users without them knowing it. Even worse, some users know they are infected without doing anything to remove the infection since it doesn’t seem to affect them. These users are among the most dangerous users on the Internet today since their computers are used to spread viruses/worms to other computers, their computers may be used to send spam around the world or may be part in phishing scams. Furthermore, information that the user is entering, banking and credit card information, passwords and other sensitive data stored or entered into the infected computer may be stolen and passed on to criminals that may use that information to use the computer owners credit card or checking or to steal the identity of the owner.

SaferComputing.org is working to make computer users aware of the dangers and how to protect themselves against the dangers.

Watch the Alert Section in the menu to the right. When new or updated information have been posted, the link will become bold and bright red. In that case, check out the information about New viruses or security problems that have been discovered by clicking on the red link in the menu.

Just got your first computer? Don’t know much about it? Click the link “New Computer Users” in the Main Menu to the right.

Had a computer for some time and know a bit more about it? Still want to keep up with information about computers and what is going on? Click the link “Knowledgeable Users” in the menu to the right.

Want to know about viruses and worms? Click the link “About Viruses” in the menu to the right or do you want to know what ad-ware and spy-ware is? Click on the “About Spy Ware” in the menu to the right.

Is your mailbox full with spam? Have you received an email from someone claiming to be your bank, wanting you to fill in your credit card or checking account information by clicking on a link in the email? Chances are that you at some point have received such an email. Click on the link “Spam and Phishing” in the menu to the right.

If you do not find what you are looking for, please visit our forums, where you may post a question and get answers from one of us here at SaferComputing.org or by one of our readers. To get to the forums click on the link ‘Our Forums‘ in the Links section to the right or just click here.