After a recent email newsletter article on securing your wireless network, Clif (of the Clif Notes Newsletter that I enjoy) wrote to yank my leg a little and to ask:

Hi Terry,

I appreciate your tips on securing the router. Most of the wifis in my neighborhood are wide open. That’s nice when my cable goes out and my neighbor’s dsl is still running … I just hop on the neighbor’s wifi for a quick ride. Do you think I should tell them?

I use a different method to secure my wifi. I use a “trusted stations” list in my router that only allows PCs with a MAC address that I’ve entered there. My network looks wide open, but they can’t log onto it.

How does that sound?

Clif

Clif already knows my thoughts about open networks and why they should be closed — that’s why he included a grinning smiley face. While an open wireless network can be handy for use by others, there are security risks for both the network operator and the person connecting through the open network.

Continue reading Security versus the Open Wireless Network

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Read my review of VIPRE or click here for more information

I recently made some boot changes to a notebook computer that resulted in a remarkable increase in the boot speed.

It was a small, light Sony — one of the 12-inch monitor models.

Tech Humor
With notebooks, you can get small, light, fast and cheap.
Pick any two…

In this particular case, the notebook took 4.5 minutes to boot, and it’s owner wanted it to be much faster.

I referred to my favorite tool to get his boot process under control — Winpatrol Plus.

Continue reading Speeding Up the Windows Boot Process

Sunbelt Software released a new version of their Sunbelt Personal Firewall, which is my choice for my compute and my family’s computers, on July 7th. The new version supports Windows Vista, which Sunbelt has been promising.

Why do I use the Sunbelt Personal Firewall and not just the Windows XP firewall? The Windows XP Firewall would only stops attempts by other computers to access my computer. The Sunbelt Personal Firewall is a two-way firewall to control inbound and outbound communications. That way, I can control programs that want to "call home" or otherwise access other computers.

Why would I use the Sunbelt Personal Firewall and not the Windows Vista firewall? Microsoft finally woke up and made the Windows Vista firewall a two-wa firewall. However, I expect that it, like the firewalls from some of SPF’s competitors, allows Microsoft’s products to freely communicate with the Internet. I like the Advanced installation setting of SPF because it does not pre-authorize any programs.

For those who want free software, Sunbelt Personal Firewall has a free license for home non-business computers. Of course, like many of its competitors, the paid version has more features than the free version. Either way, the program you download is the same — it’s a fully-functional trial for 30-days.

After 30 days, you can purchase a license for the paid version. If you don’t purchase a license, or after your license expires if you don’t renew it, if you qualify, you can use the free license for the reduced-function free version. The web site clearly shows which functions are included with the paid license that are not available with the free version.

I have the "paid version" on my Windows computers and my family’s computers.

The 1-year license pricing options are: $19.95 for one license, $24.96 for two computers, $29.94 for 3 computers, or $39.95 for the 1-year Unlimited Home Site License (which lets you put it on all your home non-business computers. They have similar discounts for 2- and 3-year options, too.

Download the full-function 30-day trial of Sunbelt Personal Firewall

Or, read my review of Sunbelt Personal Firewall

Plus, now you can try a 15-day fully-functional free trial of Sunbelt’s new VIPRE Antivirus+Antispyware

I’ve found a great tool that examines my computer to make sure that it has the latest updates of the most common software packages — not all the updates, but the security updates for the versions I’m runninng.

It’s called Secunia Software Inspector, from the Danish security firm Secunia (www.secunia.com).

Secunia offers three versions of its software inspectors:

* Secunia Software Inspector — scan on-line (free)
* Secunia PSI — download version for personal use (free)
* Secunia Network Software Inspector — the full-featured product.

Quoting Secunia’s FAQ:

# What’s the difference between the Secunia PSI and the Secunia Software Inspector (the online version)?

The Secunia Software Inspector identifies about 40 of the most common applications, while the Secunia PSI can identify over 4,200.

Contine reading A Look Inside Secunia Software Inspector

I recently updated from NOD32 version 2.7 to the latest NOD32 version 3.0. I found that Eset has dramatically simplified the structure of the NOD32 controls. They had been criticized in the past as creating a great product for advanced PC users.

The new version has a simplified “Standard Mode” that is much easier to use.

The Advanced Mode is still there — a simple click on the “Display: Standard mode” in the bottom left-hand corner will let you toggle into Advanced mode to enable control of many more options.

Upgrading from a previous version was easy. I uninstalled the older version, rebooted, and installed the new version. Many anti-virus programs work this way, since some of their components are installed during early parts of the Windows boot process — and not changeable without a reboot.

Then, installing was straight forward.

Once NOD32 is running, the first screen displayed is the Protection Status screen. If all is well, you see a display with a green monitor labelled Maximum Protection. If any features have been turned off or disabled, you’ll see

Continue reading NOD32 Antivirus Version 3.0 Review

I’m often asked about how I handle passwords for all the different sites that require passwords.

The questioner’s eyes get pretty big when I mention that I use random mixtures of letters and numbers for my passwords, and even bigger when I say that I use a different password on every site.

The immediate question is “How can you keep track of them all?”

The answer is one of the reasons that I use a PDA, a Personal Digital Assistant. In my case, it is the PalmOS v4 based Sony Clié SJ-33, which I’ve used for a couple years.

Continue reading Passwords, Password Lists and Keeping Passwords Secure to learn more about password management…