Surfing the Net Safely
Cookies, showing folders, firewalls, surfing
safely, filtering web sites and e-mail; I'll try to explain what you need to be doing
with your Web Browser!
Testing to see what your showing
First things first, go here to test
what your security setting in your browser is like. Don't panic though when you see the site. This site is a very good
reference spot for security
and to show you what people are doing around the web. If you
are shown folders on your computer and information you didn't even think existed then my
friend,
it's time to change the way you surf the web. Security in
your Browser and E-mail is something everyone should know about, especially if you have kids
in the house.
And, having virus protection just isn't enough.
Ok - lets get started
These examples are for Internet
Explorer. First you need to find where you change your security settings. Go to
Tools -
Internet Options - Security
Tab. There are 4 zones that you can assign to each specific Web Site you visit. By
default I.E. sets
the security to Internet zone, with all available options
enabled. What this means is that all web sites you visit will have the same security
settings. That is what
you'll want to change. The two that you'll want to
concentrate on are (Internet Zone and Restricted Sites).
Internet Zone
This is a very customizable area. The slider
to the left will automatically set different levels of functionality in I.E.. Note that you
should NEVER
set this setting below med.. unless your absolutely sure
about the site your visiting. For the most part, the med. setting is sufficient. This
setting gives you the full
power of the web and still controls some
security issues. The biggest issue for most sites are cookies, the site not working without
them, and active-x controls,
mini programs that make the web robust and of the two the
most potentially dangerous.
Cookies
Face it, some sites will just not work without them -
Microsoft for one! Some sites hold your user preferences in them. Then there are those
sites that like to grab your browsing habits to send you
advertisements. Then there are those sites that like to grab even more information
from your computer - Real Player for one!
Read this article from Gibson Research
on exactly what Real Networks, Netscape (AOL), and others
are using your information for. You'll start to understand why you start to get junk mail
shortly after you
visit a site. I like the full functionality of my surfing so
for the sites that I trust I keep cookies active, but with a little twist with a small
little program called
Cookie Wall from AnalogX.
You can set it to delete the cookies as soon as they arrive
or keep the ones from sites you trust. It really is a nice utility to have and it's
Free.
Active X controls
You have to be very careful accepting Active X controls
seeing these are mini programs, kind of like Java but unlike Java Active X can get into the
meat of your computer. That is why you
Should Never have your settings set to
accept everything. The med. security setting will accept only signed Active X controls.
Unsigned controls are not downloaded. In the advanced
section you can also set I.E. to accept Active X, even
signed ones, only after prompting you first. In the advanced area you can also customize
virtually everything, cookies, Java, active x and so on.
What I would suggest though is, in stead of going into the
advanced area, set the slider to a higher level. On my kids computer I have the slider to
the highest level in the Internet Zone and filter
sites. I'll show you how to filter later on!
Restricted Sites
This is where you want to put all the sites
that you even think may cause problems. The restricted area turns off
Active X controls, cookies, and all
the less secure features of I.E.. For the most part you'll
be just getting html (text) and graphics. All script is disabled! To add sites to the
Restricted Sites Zone highlight the Restricted Icon,
click on the Sites button, then add the complete site
address (http://www.add_address.com/) in the add site text field. Click the add button, ok,
then ok again. Here's what I want you to do,
add ( http://www.astalavista.com/privacy/ ) to your
Restricted Zone. This is the site I had you go to earlier. Now
go back to that site,
do you see the difference in what information you are shown?
Do you see what turning off Active X can do for what your browser shows off? Amazing huh! To
add sites on the fly, while you surf, right click on the link
you want to go to, select copy shortcut, go back to Tools,
Internet Options, security tab, highlight Restricted Sites, click on Sites button, and past
the address in the field, click add, ok then ok again. After that click on the
link that you wanted to go to and Walla, that site is in the
Restricted Zone.
Site Filtering
There are many filtering programs out there,
BUT, did you all know that Site Filtering is Built Into Internet Explorer. Dose
a pretty good job at also!
I had my kids one day go to every site that they wanted to
go to regularly and bookmark that site. After they finished I looked over the sites to make
sure I was ok
with them. I've had to add more sites from time to time but
the beauty of having to add the sites later is that they have to ask ME to go to the site
for them then add it to their list.
Here is where you need to go; Tools, Internet Options,
Content Tab, click on the Content Advisor Enable button. This is where you filter all the
sites you want.
Ratings - the first tab
You'll need to go HERE to familiarize yourself with the different rating systems first.
In this tab are setting for Language, Nudity, Sex, and
Violence. To set the level of sencorship simply move the slider to the position you feel
comfortable with. Each level has a
explanation of the feature. Not all web site are rated yet,
but this is a start and sooner or later the ratings will get better to accommodate all web
sites I hope...
Approved Sites
I love this tab and it drives my Teenagers Nuts... In this
tab, sites added are the only sites that are shown on that computer. Having all those
bookmarks handy helps immensely here because
that way all you'll have to do is copy / past the addresses
all in one afternoon. In reality though, I spent about a week setting this up due to the
number of sites they had. All you do is
simply copy and past the entire address, just like you did
in the Restricted area, into the allow this web site text field, then click either the
always or the never button.
General Tab
This tab will allow you to assign a password to Internet
Explorer. Only sites that are listed in the Approved area as accepted are able to be shown
without having to enter a password. All other sites will
have to have your password to be entered in order for the site to be shown. You don't know
how many times I've here the Mom/Dad I need to get on
a site yell out to us... We usually get on there for them, look it over and if it's
ok
then the site is added. Sometimes we don't add the site but
allow them to look just one time, which is another option you get after you enter your
password.
Advanced Tab
This is where you can assign the rating service you want to
use. You can also search for rating services from there also...
More little Tricks I have
I have some even better little tricks that I
can tell you about, but not on this web site. The reason is, I don't want to give all my
secrets out to the kiddies reading this... I will put it
this way though, I know Everything that is done on every computer I own...
So if you would like more info on the other tricks then
e-mail me and I'll tell you more. Note: only addresses I know get a reply!
In a nutshell folks, security on the
net is everyone's responsibility and should not be taken lightly, especially when there are
kids in
the house or have access to your computers. Virus are spread
from careless surfing and security practices and lastly firewalls and virus protection are
an
absolute necssity on your computers...
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