Project 6

Appendix C - Security and Privacy on the Web

• Read Appendix C
• Answer the self-check questions and do the activities given below
• Use the self-check to Check your Answers
• Ask questions about anything that you don't understand.

To be graded:

• Complete the lab and submit your answers to the instructor

Self-Check for Appendix C

1. What is a firewall?
2. What is a virus?
3. List the steps you can use to clear the cache or remove temporary files when using Internet Explorer.
4. List steps to set the number of days an item is kept on the history list.
5. List steps to clear the history list.
6. What type of information is stored in a cookie?

Practice Activity #1 -- Short answer from online resources

Visit Sandy Berger's CompuKiss Tutorials
http://www.compukiss.com/sandyclassroom/tutorials/article791.htm

and

http://dispatch.mcafee.com/virus_tips.asp

to find out more about viruses.

1. What are Sandy Berger's favorite virus protection programs?
2. Briefly list the three steps she gives to effectively use a virus protection program.
3. Approximately how many new viruses are detected each month (according to Sandy Berger)?
4. Approximately how many new viruses are detected each month (according to the McAfee website)?
5. List two tips given in the McAfee article for protecting your machine from viruses.

Visit Shields Up website
http://grc.com/su-firewalls.htm

After reading the material from the online resource given above, answer the following question

What ways could you be using your computer that makes it vulnerable to hacker attacks?

Lab -- Identifying Hoaxes

Recently I received an urgent message from a friend. She had sent the same message to everyone in her address book, warning them of a serious threat to their computer called the "It Takes Guts to Say 'Jesus' virus." The warning said something like:

  If you receive an email titled "It Takes Guts to Say 'Jesus' DO NOT
  OPEN IT. It will erase everything on your hard drive.  This
  information was announced yesterday morning from IBM; AOL states that
  this is a very dangerous virus, much worse than "Melissa", 
  and that there is NO remedy for it at this time. Some very sick individual 
  has succeeded in using the re-format function from Norton Utilities 
  causing it to completely erase all documents on the hard drive.It has 
  been designed to work with Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet 
  Explorer.It destroys MacIntosh and IBM compatible computers.  This is a 
  new, very malicious virus and not many people know about it. Pass this 
  warning along to EVERYONE in your address book and please share it with 
  all your online friends ASAP so that this threat may be stopped. Please 
  practice cautionary measures and tell anyone that may have access to your
  computer. Forward this warning to everyone that might access the
  internet.

Hoaxes like this spread unnecessary concern and tie up valuable Internet time and space. To check out messages like these, always visit a "Hoaxbuster" website before passing the message on to others.

Visit the page at the McAfee website to help detect when the threat of a virus is really just a hoax.
http://vil.mcafee.com/hoax.asp

Another website you can use to determine if a message is a real threat or an annoying hoax is:
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/

Privacy and Security on the Internet

Visit the following website: http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/dailyarchives.jhtml?articleId=178600996
Read the article to help you answer Lab Questions below.

Several of you have mentioned that you have young children. Yahoo offers a helpful website to give you tips on how to keep your kids safe from some of the dangers of the Internet. Visit this website for more information. WARNING! For some reason this website often displays as a "NOT FOUND" page the first time you visit it. If that happens, use the Back button and try the link again. The same thing happens when you click on links within the website. If you get a message saying, "Document not Found," use the Back button and try the link again. I found that the second time usually worked, but sometimes I had to try many times!!
http://www.yahooligans.com/docs/safety

Lab Questions

1. Give the name of a hoax that is currently listed on the McAfee or Hoaxbusters websites (see links above).
2. What date was the hoax reported/discovered or listed.
3. Copy and paste the text of the hoax message.
4. Do you have virus protection software on your machine? If yes, what is the name of the software?
5. According to the article at CRN.com, what are the five ways to keep your Google searches private?
6. After visiting the Yahooligans website about safe surfing, name one thing parents can do to protect their children's safety in using the Internet.
   
   
7. Approximately how long did it take to complete the readings and lab activity of this project?
8. Rate the difficulty of this project and briefly explain your answer.
9. List any topics that gave you new information about the Internet in this project.
   If no information was new for you, do a search for recent news about how the U.S. Justice Department has been seeking search data from Google, Yahoo, MSN and AOL. Discuss this issue using two or three sentences to summarize what is happening.

• Send your answers to the instructor
• The subject of the email should be: CIS 151 - Proj 6 - Your Name