Mar
19
How to Do Everything to Fight Spam, Viruses, Pop-Ups, and Spyware
Filed Under (Cybersecurity) by on 19-03-2010
Tagged Under : Everything, Fight, PopUps, Spam, spyware, Viruses
Product Description
Swat spam, vanquish viruses, knock down pop-ups, and expose spyware with help from this one-of-a-kind resource. Loaded with insightful advice, practical tips, and trial software, this book-and-CD defense will help you rid your computer of the perils and nuisances of Web surfing once and for all. Author and tech expert Ken Feinstein gives easy-to-understand explanations of the technologies at work, and just exactly what steps you can take to take back your e-mail, your surfing enjoyment, your privacy, and your computer…. More >>
How to Do Everything to Fight Spam, Viruses, Pop-Ups, and Spyware
I’ve tried to use the internet as it was intended, a free and open system where I could surf, send e-mails to friends and business associates, and generally tried to be a good internet citizen. Why is it then that about 60% of the e-mail I receive is trying to sell me investments, medicine, a phony degree, or enlargement of certain body parts, some of which I don’t even have.
The answer, of course, is that it’s free to send out e-mails in any quantity to any list of addresses. What I don’t understand is why the congress has allowed it to continue, but they do.
The answer is that you have to be prepared to defend yourself from these unwanted intrusions. I thought I was doing pretty well, until a particularly nasty adware program managed to get into and install itself in my system. One of the packages included on the CD in this book solved the problem, that alone made the book worth its price.
Rating: 5 / 5
There is no question that the pests addressed in this book are a significant threat to the everyday functionality of computers. This is particularly true of home users who don’t have the benefit of a network security administrator to implement and maintain a perimeter firewall and ensure that antivirus detection is kept up to date.
Home users generally think of the computer as an appliance. They don’t want to know more than they have to in order to use it for its intended purpose. They aren’t trying to become computer security experts any more than they want to understand the physics behind how the microwave oven works.
Unfortunately, you can use a microwave oven without understanding the physics, but at least a rudimentary understanding of the threats out there and how to protect your computer or network from them are required to effectively use the computer.
Feinstein does a good job of explaining what the threats are and why you are at risk, and then providing the reader with fairly simple instructions to help shield the computer from that threat and protect your data and your network bandwidth so you can use the computer as you intended.
This is a good resource for a home user trying to learn about protecting their PC
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Rating: 4 / 5
As someone who’s been dealing with a lot of spam and spyware problems lately, I found this to be an invaluable book. Feinstein really knows his stuff and offers lots of great info and practical advice, suggestions, etc. It comes w/ a CD-ROM too, which is a nice plus. Highly recommended for anyone having trouble with spam, spyware, viruses, and pop-ups. Read it and you’ll feel safer about your online life.
Rating: 5 / 5
I had a problem with spyware displaying ads on my PC. I read through the section on spyware, and using the software included on the book’s CD, I was able to remove it completely.
The books doesn’t just tell you how to remove problems like spyware and viruses, it explains how to avoid them in the first place. I especially appreciated the section on spam, which offered some clever techniques for keeping your email address safe from spammers.
The authoer includes a bit of humor throughout the book, and doesn’t pull any punches. I found the background info about how spammers operate and how spyware and viruses propagate to be especially interesting.
Overall, it’s an excellent how-to guide aimed at a general audience.
Rating: 5 / 5
Getting sick of the neverending battle against spam, pop-ups, spyware, and viruses on your PC? Don’t throw up your hands. This book tells the home PC user how to do everything possible – and I mean everything – to go on the offensive against online threats and take control of your computer again.
For a computer-user guide, this book is refreshingly direct and easy to read and use. It’s humorously written and is plain-spoken without talking down to you. There’s technical information about topics like browser security and where viruses come from, but it doesn’t barrage the reader with jargon or unnecessary details.
The directions on using utilities and configuring settings have plenty of screenshots and are easy to follow. The author talks you through diagnosing and fixing ad-ware and virus infections, so you don’t have to worry that you’ll accidentally delete something crucial. A CD containing essential anti-virus software and anti-spyware programs, like Ad-Aware and Spybot, rounds out the package.
Even if you feel like you already know how to keep your own computer safe, this book makes a great gift for family or friends who are overwhelmed by spyware or keep unwittingly sending you virus-laden emails. It’s a computer book that even your parents can understand and use, and it’s one they really need. Too bad it wasn’t available when I bought my mother a new PC earlier this year; I’m sending her a copy right now.
Rating: 5 / 5