Contents
Introduction xiii
Part 1: Know Your Enemy 1
1 'Don't Buy A Computer, But...'
Beware The Enemy On Your Desktop 3
Are You The Master Of Your Own Computer? 6
Meet Our Cast Of Characters 7
Thinking Secure Thoughts 11
Operating System Alert 12
Watch Out For Relatives, Friends And Colleagues 14
The Balanced Approach To Computer Security 15
2 '...If You Buy A Computer, Don't Turn It On' 19
A Mish-mash Of Mismatched Machinery 19
Causes Of Hardware Failures 21
Acts Of God (And The Electric Company) 23
Doing It Yourself 25
Is Your Computer Out-of-date? 28
Buying A Machine With Security In Mind 31
3 SOS (Save Our Operating System) 35
Pity Your Operating System 35
The Windows OS And Application Software 38
-How Application Software Integrates With The OS (The_ Windows API) 39
Knowing The Weaknesses In Windows 40
Responding To Windows Error Messages 41
Updating Your OS From The Internet 43
Configuring Your OS For Stability And Security 45
4 Building A Secure System 55
Do-it-yourself Computer Building 55
Designing Your Own Hardware Platform 57
Planning Your Disk Drive Configuration 59
Choosing The Right Software 61
Organizing Your Computer Work Space 63
A Quick Look At Other Operating Systems 66
5 Vicious Viruses, Wiggling Worms And Bouncing Bombs 69
What's Bugging You? 69
The Low-down On Computer Viruses, Worms And Logic _ Bombs 72
How Computer Viruses Attack Your Computer 76
Spotting The Invaders In Your Own System 79
Tracking Down Anti-virus Software 87
Dealing With the Aftermath 90
Part 2: Taking Control Of Your Own Machine 93
6 Thinking Digital 95
Understanding Digital Data 95
Digital Data Representation 98
Storing Digital Data 99
Programs Versus Data 100
Data Storage Locations 102
Data Security Strategies 105
7 The Curse Of Software 109
Why Software Is So Fragile 109
How Software Operates Within The Windows Environment 110
Common Software Problems 111
How To Deal With Software Crashes 113
-Emergency Brakes - The Three-finger Salute 115
Taking Control Of Software Operations 117
Stopping The Auto-starters 121
-Housekeeping Routines - Keeping Your System Spick And _ Span 125
8 In With The New And Out With The Old 129
Loading Up Trouble For Yourself 129
How New Software Installs Onto Your Computer 130
The Hazards Of Installing New Software 132
How To Install New Software Safely 135
How To Remove Rogue Software Completely 137
9 Back-ups - Computer Lifesavers 141
The Terrible Risks To Stored Data 141
You Are Backing Up Your Data - Aren't You? 142
-The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Different Back-up _ Media 143
Deciding On A Back-up Strategy 144
Using Windows' Back-up Utility 150
Save Disk Space With A Compressed Back-up 152
Third-party Back-up Software 152
Part 3: Going Cryptographic 157
10 What Have You Got To Hide? 159
Your Right To Privacy 159
Scrambling Your Secrets 163
The Mechanics Of Data Encryption 163
Choosing Your Passwords And Pass-phrases 168
Hiding The Existence Of Data (Steganography) 170
Encryption Algorithms - The Tricks That Frighten _ Governments 171
11 Locking Up Your Secrets 175
Choosing The Right Level Of Security 175
Level 1: Basic Security 177
Level 2: Serious Security 182
Level 3: Advanced Security 189
12 Wiping The Slate Clean 195
The Tracks You Leave Behind 195
The Delete That Doesn't Delete 199
Deleting Your Data Completely 201
Deciding On Data Deletion Techniques 204
Part 4: Networks, From LAN's To The Internet 209
13 Netwo
