Rob: So is there a new computer in your house?
If so, there are some things you may want to take care of.
Here to tell us more is David Greer the executive director of the Institute
for Information Security at the University of Tulsa.
Well, I got a new computer for Christmas.
What do I need to do?
David Greer: Well, there's three things you need to look out for.
Really, and kind of goodie you get.
We're going to talk today about a windows operating system.
The one thing I would really recommend, the first thing is, have that
built in firewall turned on.
And what a firewall is, it's a piece of software that monitors traffic
that's coming in and out of your computer.
So it will warn you if there is anything going on, on your computer,
that's kind of out of the ordinary.
It will prompt you and say, do you want to let this person connect to
your computer, or this software, to talk to the outside world.
It's a good safe feature to enable on your computer.
Rob: What about the automatic updates that I'm always getting,
that always pop up?
Greer: Well, it's a great idea, and this is very convenient for the user to
enable automatic updates.
And what that does is, your operating system will always go out on the
Internet and check for the latest security patch, the latest operating system
patch, that's out there, and download it to your computer, and then prompt
you and say, hey, you have a new security patch that's available, please
install it now to make sure you're the most protected you can be.
Rob: Now, I'm looking at antivirus software.
Is that something that I just absolutely need to purchase?
Greer: Absolutely.
You have to have an antivirus software on your computer nowadays.
What that does is, it's a piece of software that looks for those malicious
softwares that comes in through your e-mail, e-mail attachments.
Through browsing the Internet, certain web sites, actually you can
download viruses without you even realizing it,
by just looking at a web site.
So, it's very important to have antivirus software that's on your computer.
But, not just install it, always keep it up to date.
The good example I always like to give is, you installed a piece of
software, a month ago; now if you don't update it, that software is looking
for all the bad viruses that were out there as of a month ago.
Now, today, if I ran that same piece of software, it would check for every
virus that's out there as of a month ago.
So, anything that came out new, this month, it wouldn't even find; it
wouldn't detect it, but it would say that you're safe.
So, because you're not updating this antivirus software, and it's saying
you're safe, it doesn't mean you're really safe.
Always update it; always keep the most up to date files on there.
Rob: And in the cyber world, everything does change.
Hey, I do want to ask you too, I like to use WiFi, especially when I'm
traveling, and you say there's a new and better way to do it, possibly.
Greer: Absolutely. Well, this is the way that I do it.
I travel a lot; and, for me, as a security professional, I don't like
to trust public WiFi that's out there.
So, I have a smart phone, I got a new smart phone for Christmas, and part of
my smart phone package is I get the data package, unlimited data package.
And, it's a feature you have to go talk to your provider to enable on your
plan, it's not free, you have to pay a little extra.
But what I can do is, I can get on the Internet on my phone, right?
But I can do something even better; I can use my phone, this phone right
here, actually, as a little modem; and so, I can connect to the
Internet from my laptop using my cell phone.
So, now instead of using the public Internet that's out there, that anybody
can see what I'm doing, I'm using my private cell phone to connect to the
Internet where nobody can see what I'm doing.
And it's really simple.
All you have to do is, you have a USB connector that comes with your phone when
you buy it, and you just plug it into the side.
There's an Internet sharing software on your phone itself, it will
actually connect, you hit connect, it will go out, connect to the cell tower,
and connect to the Internet.
And so, once you've connected to the Internet, it takes just a few
seconds, you get on the Internet, I can go to the computer here, go to the
web site here, and we're trying to go to your web site.
I tried before, I had no Internet, and when I try again, now I have Internet
using my phone; it will take a second, and it will pop in.
Rob: Oh, fascinating.
Greer: And here it is.
Rob: So, with something like this, can I even do online banking while I'm
sitting at an airport?
Greer: Absolutely, yeah.
Now when you're at a public place, instead of using the public WiFi to
do online transactions where you don't know who's watching; now, you're
using your cell phone, your own private little connection, you can do any
type of online transaction; you can go do your bank accounts; you
can go buy something off of Ebay.
Rob: Well, David, certainly some great tips that I think everyone can
use if they've just received a new computer or if they have a computer
that needs some of these updates.
David Greer is the executive director of the Institute for Information
Security at the University of Tulsa.