Changing Behavior

1. Educate yourself.
At least every 6 to 12 months, surfers should browse the educational information provided by their operating system and security vendors and subscribe to any security-related newsletters they might offer. According to David Perry, familiarity with the latest threats, dangers, and recommended safety tips will allow surfers to make safe choices. “Until you know what’s out there, you’re just flying blind. Without an education, you’re wide open”.
2. Avoid suspect sites.
While criminals can infect even mainstream Web sites, sites such as gambling sites, adult Internet sites, and illegal file-sharing sites are far more likely to carry malicious code. Web sites that offer “something for nothing” frequently recoup their losses by infecting visitors’ PCs.
3. Lose Your Comfort Zone.

Recommended Technology

4. Use an updated virus scanning suite.
The most important component of any threat mitigation system is a virus scanning suite. In addition to detecting and removing known viruses and malware, modern virus scanning suites provide additional protections against new attacks by disabling their known protocols. For example, Trend Micro™ Internet Security encrypts keyboard traffic, protecting personal data from keyboard logging programs that might go unnoticed. Users should update their scanner and virus definitions as frequently as possible to ensure the best possible coverage.
5. Upgrade your OS and browser.
In addition to offering more features, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer version 7 and the latest Mozilla Firefox are both substantially more secure than previous-generation browsers. Users of older browsers should upgrade immediately to take advantage of increased security. Similarly, Windows Vista and Mac OS X are more secure than their predecessors, and users of older operating systems should consider upgrading, as well.
6. Disable scripting and “widgets.”
Many Web-based attacks use various scripting languages to run infectious programs in a browser or use downloadable “widgets” to execute infections locally. By disabling scripting and avoiding downloadable widgets wherever possible, surfers disable these common attack vectors.
7. Rate your Web pages.
Some available services rate the risk of Web pages in search results, allowing surfers to avoid unwanted content and hidden threats before viewing the pages. Rating applications (e.g., Trend Micro TrendProtect™) consume few system resources and run unobtrusively, so they are suitable for any Web-enabled personal computer.
8. Ask your provider.
Commerce companies, banks, and credit card associations are all interested in computer security, and many offer additional features. For example, Visa’s Verified By Visa program requires cardholders to enter a second password to identify themselves during a transaction, while businesses in Poland require cell-phone confirmation of credit card purchases. While nothing will be 100 percent effective, any additional security measure provided by a trusted source will increase protection, and surfers should adopt as many as possible.

This article provided for your reading pleasure by Trend Micro.

So another week, another travel nightmare.  This week I am in the DC area for a few days, than flying over to Ohio and then back home.  Staying in the DC/Northern Va area I made hotel reservations through our corporate Expedia account (which is now called Egencia BTW). Though it is fine for airline reservations, I regret it every time I make a hotel reservation on Expedia.  This time I reserved a room at the Virginian Suites. I had never heard of it, but it was only $158, which is really cheap for around here.  It had 3 stars and sounded good, so I booked it.

I arrived tonight and as I pulled up I have to say that I thought I made a good choice. It is a converted apartment building and every room is actually a studio type of apartment. It has free parking and is located near where I have meetings in Arlington. I gave my name at the desk and they had my reservation, looking good!  I was given keys to room 707 and headed on up.  I got to room 707 and tried to open the door.  No luck, the keys didn???t work. After a moment or two of trying to make the keys work, the door opens and the guy who is staying in the room wants to know what I am doing trying to get in. Well I was reminded of an old Robert Schimmel comedy routine and ran away from there as fast as I could. 

I went back down to the desk and told them what happened.  The woman at the desk apologized, she meant to write room 700, not 707.  While I am waiting for her to correct this and issue new keys, I am looking at the schedule of events at the hotel today.  That is when I notice that one of the main events of the day was a someone???s funeral!  Thats right, it seems the hotel is used for funerals in the area.  That just freaked me out.  Now I am getting Six Feet Under deja vu here.  I don???t know, call me squeamish, but I just don???t feel good about staying at a hotel that doubles as a funeral home. To top it off, the Internet access here sucks. It is so slow that I am watching the paint dry.  Maybe I should go down and catch a funeral or two while I wait for a page to load.  In any event, I think this will be the last time I stay here.  I just can???t wait for what the rest of this week brings!