Earlier this year I asked my Year 8 students to record a 2 minute warning to their parents, aiming to highlight risks which they might face online. This piece of work followed several smaller tasks (such as Me vs Me), and lots of discussions, regarding digital citizenship, what being online means and how we can stay safe. Of all the excellent pieces submitted, I was most taken by work of Chloe, who I believed manage to convey a lot of meaning in an easy to understand message:

Chloe runs a nice blog where she posts some of her other work, if you are interested in taking a look.

Numerous government and news organisations are raising a the alarm on the latest Java 7 security threat. Potentially affecting all platforms, the exploit is already being used “massively in the wild” to allow the installation of malicious software on the computers of unsuspecting users. In short, users running Java with a web browser plugin enabled, run the risk of being infected by certain compromised websites. At current there is no fix available for this issue, and no news from Oracle as to when one might be available. Apparently, Apple have released an update to stop Mac OS X systems from using Java until a fix is released.

To keep yourself safe, do the following:

• Test to see if you have Java installed (instructions).
• Remove Java from your computer (Windows, Mac).
• If you really must run Java outside of your browser (for example, in using a desktop app), disable it in your browser (instructions).
• Run some anti-malware software to check for malicious software installed on your computer (e.g. Avast for Mac, Sophos for Mac both free)

This presentation, which I prepared for an assembly at my school, might be useful for educating secondary students about staying safe online. It focuses on the various dangers and how they can be avoided. Thumbnail image by brunogirin on Flickr.

Mozilla Firefox is a free, open source web browser which aims to provide a simple, light and fast way to browse the web. It is one of the main driving forces in the web today, and the competition it provides is one of the reasons that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has seen so much development in the last 3 years (it is scrambling to become relevant again).

In an effort to avoid the bloating that effects many mature software products, Firefox ships with a relatively minimal feature set, including some of the best features that most people require from a browser (such as tabs, smart addressing etc). However, to ensure that Firefox can meet the needs of all users, there is a huge selection of additional functionality, available as optional addons. The purpose of these plugins ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous, and there are literally thousands to choose from. As an indicator of their popularity, the Firefox website shows that there are currently more than 127 million addons being used around the world! The list below shows some of my favourites, most of which are related to website design and development:

• Firebug provides a sophisticated environment for analyising and debugging websites. Of particular use is the feature which allows users to see the effects of CSS code visually, making the process of turning an idea into reality that much easier.
• Wappalyzer shows which technologies (such as Drupal, Google Analytics, jQuery, etc) are used in the website you are currently viewing. This is very useful if you are curious as to how a particular website is put together, and to gauge the popularity of various technologies.
• ColorZilla provides a color picker, allowing you to grab the RGB code of any colour you happen to see on the web.
• Firesizer allows users to make their Firefox window a particular size. I mostly use this when creating training videos, to ensure that the Firefox window matches the size of my video container.
• FoxyProxy extends Firefox’s built in proxy settings, allowing a user to store multiple proxy settings and quickly switch between them. I made extensive use of this whilst working on my laptop in government schools in New South Wales, as it allowed me to quickly switch between work and home settings.
• Delicious Bookmarks: I am a massive Delicious fan: in fact, most of the articles on this site begin life as Delicious bookmarks. This addon allows you to quickly create and manage Delicious bookmarks from within your browser. In the development process I often bookmark sites that I find interesting and inspiring, and Delicious provides a great way to store, index and retrieve these.
• Download Statusbar: one of my few gripes with Firefox is its download window, which always pops up and gets in the way of the site I am using. This addon replaces the window with a discreet bar, making browsing flow that little bit better. This addon also ensures that you can keep an eye on your downloads and continue browsing at the same time: great when downloading lots of fonts, images and software during the development process.
• Flagfox is very simple: it displays, in flag form, the country in which the current web page is hosted. I find this interesting for its own sake, but it is also useful for security and localalisation issues.

http://hivelogic.com/enkoder

Spam bots crawl the web looking for email addresses which they can harvest for their evil overlords. This means that posting your email address online can lead directly to an increase in the amount of spam you receive. The Enkoder helps protect email address by encrypting them with JavaScript, effectively hiding them from spam bots, but allowing them to be read by humans.

The last decade has seen the Internet morph from a little-known academic and military communications network into a world-wide phenomenon. For many people around the world the Internet has become an indispensable tool, deeply integrated into everyday habits of life and work. The advent of home broadband Internet access has furthered this trend greatly.

However, having a worldwide communications network running into your home or office also has it’s disadvantages, the biggest of which is security. Very few Internet users realise how exposed the Internet”s open communications protocols leave them to people with malicious intent.

The aim of this article is to introduce you to 4 of the biggest threats on the Internet today, and to give you an idea of how to protect yourself.

Risks & Solutions

1. Exposed Ports
Network-enable computers maintain many open ports, which listen for and allow network connections with other computers. Open ports can be detected by malicious Internet users (and software) and used to attempt entry into a computer system.

Solution: Use a Firewall (such as Windows Internet Firewall or Norton Personal Firewall) to hide unused ports, reducing the risk that your computer will be discovered and attacked by online “port scanners”.

2. Viruses
Viruses come in many shapes and sizes, but can be generally defined as “software capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing harm to files or other programs on the same computer”.

Traditionally, viruses were unable to spread without human assistance (such as on a floppy disk), but the Internet has lead to a new generation of viruses, known as worms, which are self-propagating, and so can spread extremely swiftly.

Solution: Invest in Anti-Virus software (such as Norton Anti-Virus or Trend Micro PC-cillin) which can protect you from viruses as they emerge into the Internet. Ensure you keep your Virus Definitions files up-to-date.

3. Spyware/Greyware/Malware
Much of the “free” software available on the Internet has a hidden cost: it secretly tracks your computing actions and reports them back to a central computer. This ranges from the invasive (tracking websites you visit for marketing purposes) to the illegal (stealing credit card numbers from your keyboard as you type them in and then using those numbers to make purchases).

Other annoying features include pop-up ads, disabling of anti-virus software and reduced computer performance due to misappropriation of system resources.

Solution: Install an Anti-Spyware product (such as Spybot Search & Destroy or Lavasoft Adaware) and update it and run it regularly. Be careful of which Anti-Spyware products you install, as there are many examples of Spyware being disguised as Anti-Spyware. Spybot S&D and Adaware are tried and tested solutions.

4. Improper Internet Usage
In many cases Internet users expedite their own online demise through ignorance. If you are aware of the threats that are out there, then you can behave in ways that protect rather than expose you.

Solution: Exercise caution when using the Internet. Do not install software unless you know it is trustworthy. Be cautious when opening email attachments. Remember that email is about as secure as a postcard. Watch our for “cyber predators” when using chat and instant messaging software. Be wary of online scams.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is safe to say that the Internet is like most good tools: it is great when used sensibly and with caution. Used in any other way it can prove to be dangerous and ultimately painful.

It is also worth noting that whilst securing your system is essential, it is impossible to achieve 100% protection. In order to cover yourself against the chance that things do go wrong, it is also important to make regular backups of your system and your data.

Useful Links

Norton Personal Firewall
Norton Anti-Virus
Trend Micro PC-cillin
Spybot Search & Destroy
Lavasoft Adaware