Smart Computing and E-Book Tips for College Students

Heading back to college has a new twist for students now, as they shift to e-readers instead of textbooks. E-books make sense when you consider that the typical student spends $300 and $400 per semester on textbooks while their electronic counterparts can cost 50 percent less.

But sometimes saving money through e-books can come at a cost.

According to online security company PC Tools, cyber criminals can steal someone's identity or financial information by downloading text books from unreliable websites. Other problems may occur as students share e-book files, laden with malware, that can infect your laptop or home computer when the reader is connected.

Students need online protection and security to safeguard their personal information and important assignments. Here are some tips to ensure everyday computing tasks are worry-free.

1. Hit the Books, Don't get hit in the Wallet. Cyber criminals can snatch your banking information over Wi-Fi or unreliable online networks while you're buying a book online. Don't log onto your finance accounts or enter monetary information online over unsecured networks and questionable e-book retail sites. Always buy from a reputable online retailer. Use secure University or approved wireless and LAN networks for any transactions involving credit card or other bank information.

2. Protect Yourself From Viruses & Infections. Sharing e-book files and other documents from thumb drives and other portable devices could spread viruses. You need protection on your computer when downloading e-book content. If you get infected, it can lead to loss of data, crashed systems and unreliable software programs. Getting your laptop fixed costs money, takes time and decreases your studying productivity and potentially could result in a loss of books and papers.

3. BYOP - Bring Your Online Protection. You spent hours on that important research assignment and now it's time to send it off. If you're using a public computer to submit class work, check to make sure it has antivirus software protection that is active. Even secure websites (https:) can result in simple keylogger theft of your password. Don't let all that hard work go to waste! And always back-up your homework, notes, assignments, and any purchased e-books that you may have on your hardware devices. Keep your backed up files away from your computer just in case something was to happen to your computer and you had to access the uncorrupted files.

4. Don't Crash the Party. More college students are relying heavily on their handheld devices. It is important to remember that, just like your computer, these devices need to be safeguarded against the risk of infection. Syncing up smartphones and PDA's through the internet could transfer malware that ends up crashing your devices. Always check your devices regularly to make sure they are up to date on all the software used to effectively run the programs.

5. Be a Safe Social Butterfly. Most social networking sites, like Twitter or Facebook, should require only your basic contact details (name, address and contact number) to register for their services. Always be cautious if a site requests too much information - you may end up with someone or something spying on your machine.

6. Avoid the Freshman 15. Don't pack on viruses and malware when you download music and movies. Downloading your favorite tunes and flicks from free file share sites can leave you vulnerable. PC Tools has products with behavioral protection to stop known and unknown (new) threats.

Following these tips will make you smarter online and improve your protection, safeguarding your personal information and important assignments.

Curtis Sparrer works for PC Tools as a media contact and reports on antivirus and antivirus protection issues around the globe. With several years of experience in the computer profession, he is one of the foremost voices on this subject in the United States.

Is Your College Student Carelessly Inviting Identity Thieves and Predators?

In its annual report earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission announced that the most vulnerable targets of identity theft are 18-29-year olds. Likewise, the 2007 Identity Fraud Survey Report, released by Javelin Strategy & Research, uncovers similar findings: "Adult victims between the ages of 18 and 24 are least likely to take easy, but important, safeguards such as shredding documents and using antivirus software and firewalls, resulting in more than 5 percent of those surveyed falling victim."

And Stephen Knighten, a research associate for Javelin Strategy & Research, adds that residence hall life may increase a student's risk for identity theft: "Oftentimes, you're in a situation where you probably have a roommate and people coming in and out of your apartment � physical documents tend to sort of sit around, and there are more avenues of access with your roommates' friends and your friends."

The Internet Crimes Against Children program last year investigated 2,329 cases of enticement and of predators traveling to meet minors, and 252,000 cases of child pornography. Yet those numbers provide just a glimpse of the activity, since many local police forces are too small to investigate child porn.

"It's absolutely overwhelming," says Brad Russ, director of Internet Crimes Against Children's training and technical assistance program, which trains 1,000 officers each year. "The scope and the scale of the problem far exceeds our capacity." Intensifying the epidemic is that more than half the world has no laws dealing with child pornography.

And what are some of the other careless acts of college students that leave them vulnerable to identity theft? Here are a few of the ways they might be inviting predators, hackers, and other cybercriminals:

* They setup and use an unsecured wireless network. (Hackers love this because it makes their drive-by hacking that much easier. And not only is the student' information stolen, but the hacker may add software to turn the student's computer into a "zombie" computer thereby taking remote control of it. Hint: It only takes a few more moments to create a userid and password for an extra level of protection.)

* They use guests' computers in the business centers of hotels to enter their personal and/or financial information. (The newest trend for hackers is to hack into these computers so that can secretly record every keystroke and commit other crimes using the student's information. Hint: If you use courtesy computers at a hotel, make absolutely sure that you are on a safe and secured line. And, taking it a step further, do not enter any personal and financial information unless it is absolutely necessary and this is your only option. See the related story from ABC News' Good Morning America in the video below.)

* They inhabit social networking sites and let their younger siblings share the site with them. (While social networking sites, like MySpace, and many others, are extremely popular communities where young people innocently engage in countless hours of banal chatter and photo-sharing, unfortunately, these social networking sites have also become the hangouts for child predators, child pornographers, and other cybercriminals. Hint: Putting filtering and monitoring software on kids' computers provides some protection. Parents, use legitimate software to block Web sites and create a log of visited sites. As parents and guardians, you can monitor a child's activity from other computers and be notified of violations via E-mail or cell phone.)

* They quickly and without verifying identities add new "friends" to their instant messenger buddy lists. (While it is rewarding to see your buddy list grow with new friends from around the world, be sure that you absolutely know that the new friend is actually who he says he or she is. Many times predators and cybercriminals (male and female) will hide behind pictures of extremely attractive ladies in sexy poses. Hint: Before adding any new friends to your buddy list, take time to read their profile (which may or may not be completed fully), or do further investigation by visiting their website. An incomplete profile should serve as a red flag and raise you level of suspicion.)

It may take a village to raise a child, but in a world of online social networking, decentralized networks and servers, and increasingly tech-savvy child predators, it's going to take a united effort among government, industry, and families to keep them safe. To protect your child, you need an Internet security team of experts making sure that you, your family, and your business computer are always safe and secure.

The best protection you can have in today's rapidly changing world of cyber-attacks is to have expert support for all your Internet security needs that will provide technical support without any hassles and without charging you extra fees. It will become even more critical than it is today as time goes on. You need to find your own personal team of experts to rely on. If you ever have a security problem, you will want to have a trusted expert you can call for professional help, without any hassles and extra costs!

Remember: When you say "No!" to hackers and spyware, everyone wins! When you don't, we all lose.

� MMVII, Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, The Internet Safety Advocate and Educator

Related Story: Good Morning America video
Etienne A. Gibbs, Internet Security Advocate and Educator, consults with individuals, small business owners, and home-business entrepreneurs about online protection (including free lifetime technical support and $25K identity theft insurance and recovery) against spyware, viruses, hackers, and other pc-disabling cybercrimes. For more information, visit http://www.SayNotoHackersandSpyware.com/.

Is Your College Student Carelessly Inviting Identity Thieves and Predators?

In its annual report earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission announced that the most vulnerable targets of identity theft are 18-29-year olds. Likewise, the 2007 Identity Fraud Survey Report, released by Javelin Strategy & Research, uncovers similar findings: "Adult victims between the ages of 18 and 24 are least likely to take easy, but important, safeguards such as shredding documents and using antivirus software and firewalls, resulting in more than 5 percent of those surveyed falling victim."

And Stephen Knighten, a research associate for Javelin Strategy & Research, adds that residence hall life may increase a student's risk for identity theft: "Oftentimes, you're in a situation where you probably have a roommate and people coming in and out of your apartment � physical documents tend to sort of sit around, and there are more avenues of access with your roommates' friends and your friends."

The Internet Crimes Against Children program last year investigated 2,329 cases of enticement and of predators traveling to meet minors, and 252,000 cases of child pornography. Yet those numbers provide just a glimpse of the activity, since many local police forces are too small to investigate child porn.

"It's absolutely overwhelming," says Brad Russ, director of Internet Crimes Against Children's training and technical assistance program, which trains 1,000 officers each year. "The scope and the scale of the problem far exceeds our capacity." Intensifying the epidemic is that more than half the world has no laws dealing with child pornography.

And what are some of the other careless acts of college students that leave them vulnerable to identity theft? Here are a few of the ways they might be inviting predators, hackers, and other cybercriminals:

* They setup and use an unsecured wireless network. (Hackers love this because it makes their drive-by hacking that much easier. And not only is the student' information stolen, but the hacker may add software to turn the student's computer into a "zombie" computer thereby taking remote control of it. Hint: It only takes a few more moments to create a userid and password for an extra level of protection.)

* They use guests' computers in the business centers of hotels to enter their personal and/or financial information. (The newest trend for hackers is to hack into these computers so that can secretly record every keystroke and commit other crimes using the student's information. Hint: If you use courtesy computers at a hotel, make absolutely sure that you are on a safe and secured line. And, taking it a step further, do not enter any personal and financial information unless it is absolutely necessary and this is your only option. See the related story from ABC News' Good Morning America in the video below.)

* They inhabit social networking sites and let their younger siblings share the site with them. (While social networking sites, like MySpace, and many others, are extremely popular communities where young people innocently engage in countless hours of banal chatter and photo-sharing, unfortunately, these social networking sites have also become the hangouts for child predators, child pornographers, and other cybercriminals. Hint: Putting filtering and monitoring software on kids' computers provides some protection. Parents, use legitimate software to block Web sites and create a log of visited sites. As parents and guardians, you can monitor a child's activity from other computers and be notified of violations via E-mail or cell phone.)

* They quickly and without verifying identities add new "friends" to their instant messenger buddy lists. (While it is rewarding to see your buddy list grow with new friends from around the world, be sure that you absolutely know that the new friend is actually who he says he or she is. Many times predators and cybercriminals (male and female) will hide behind pictures of extremely attractive ladies in sexy poses. Hint: Before adding any new friends to your buddy list, take time to read their profile (which may or may not be completed fully), or do further investigation by visiting their website. An incomplete profile should serve as a red flag and raise you level of suspicion.)

It may take a village to raise a child, but in a world of online social networking, decentralized networks and servers, and increasingly tech-savvy child predators, it's going to take a united effort among government, industry, and families to keep them safe. To protect your child, you need an Internet security team of experts making sure that you, your family, and your business computer are always safe and secure.

The best protection you can have in today's rapidly changing world of cyber-attacks is to have expert support for all your Internet security needs that will provide technical support without any hassles and without charging you extra fees. It will become even more critical than it is today as time goes on. You need to find your own personal team of experts to rely on. If you ever have a security problem, you will want to have a trusted expert you can call for professional help, without any hassles and extra costs!

Remember: When you say "No!" to hackers and spyware, everyone wins! When you don't, we all lose.

� MMVII, Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, The Internet Safety Advocate and Educator

Related Story: Good Morning America video
Etienne A. Gibbs, Internet Security Advocate and Educator, consults with individuals, small business owners, and home-business entrepreneurs about online protection (including free lifetime technical support and $25K identity theft insurance and recovery) against spyware, viruses, hackers, and other pc-disabling cybercrimes. For more information, visit http://www.SayNotoHackersandSpyware.com/.