Surprisingly, basic safety is often ignored by people using the web to rese
Surprisingly, basic safety is often ignored by people using the web to research information quickly and efficiently. If you use the Internet for research of any kind, you could be exposing yourself and your company to hidden dangers such as the unauthorized transfer of confidential information. And no one wants to be the person responsible for a companywide computer network shutdown.
Whatever your reason for using the web, there is a smart way to conduct research on it: with an alert eye and a vigilant approach. Use these four tips to help protect yourself and your company from prying eyes and malicious programs.
1. Update, update, update!
Microsoft continually provides enhancements and security updates to all its products, including Internet Explorer. No program is completely safe from harm but as threats are discovered, Microsoft makes fixes, upgrades, and service packs for its products available. To maintain the highest level of security on your computer, you or your IT department must make sure to apply all service packs.
Before you venture onto the web, make sure you are using the latest version of Internet Explorer. At the time of this writing, the latest version is Internet Explorer 8.0.7. To see what version you are using, follow these steps:
In Internet Explorer, on the Help menu, click About Internet Explorer. There are three items you should notice in the window that is displayed:
Version: Internet Explorer 8.0.7 is the latest version.
Cipher Strength: This is the level of encryption that the browser can support. If you are going to be sending any confidential information over the Internet, you must make sure the cipher strength is 128-bit. If it is less than this value, it will be possible for a hacker to crack the encryption code and view confidential information.
Update Versions: Keep your version updated to ensure the balance between security and functionality is correct.
Use latest version of Internet Explorer
Click OK to close the window.
If your browser needs updating, go to the Microsoft Update website, where you can download the latest version of Internet Explorer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Get into the zone
By setting up Internet zones to meet your personal needs, your computer can help protect you as you surf the web. A zone is a logical region or grouping of websites, based on where they are physically located and how well you trust the source. These default zones are available in Internet Explorer 8.0.7:
Local Intranet — Websites located on your local network. These sites do not have to communicate over the Internet to be accessed.
Trusted Sites — A list of websites that you trust not to harm your computer, such as sites you have identified as properly encrypted.
Restricted Sites — A list of websites that are known or suspected to be harmful to your computer.
Internet — All other sites that don't fall under the other three categories.
You can indicate how Internet Explorer should behave when it accesses a website within each of these zones. In Internet Explorer, on the Tools menu, click Internet Options. In the Internet Options dialog box, click the Security tab.
Internet zones can help protect you
When you select a web content zone, you can change the security levels. For all but the Internet zone, you can add specific sites to a zone based on your personal requirements. AndRead full review
