This month’s focus
is to remind you that no matter what operating system you have installed
on your desktop, whether it’s Windows, Linux, or Unix…you need to
be vigilant about checking for vendor patches and security
hotfixes.
For example, in
the last month, Microsoft has released a critical security patch for
Windows 98 that you need to install if you utilize that particular
operating system. The easiest way to check for a new update to the
operating system is to click on the “start” button on your taskbar
and go to Windows update. This also applies to Windows 2000 and ME.
If you have Windows NT 4 on your workstation, you will need to go
directly to Microsoft’s web site and check for updates to that particular
operating system.
Note: If you
have web or FTP services running on your workstation it is of critical
importance that you stay up-to-date with all security patches and
updates provided by both your operating system vendors and web or
FTP software vendors as well. These services are probably the number
one targets for hackers right now.
Microsoft occasionally
updates other software such as Office 2000 so it is a good idea to
visit www.microsoft.com on
a regular basis to ensure that your software is up-to-date.
In order to find
patches that you may need to install on your Linux or UNIX workstation,
you need to visit the vendor’s site on a regular basis or subscribe
to a mailing list which will alert you to new patches for your operating
system.
Next month I will
be discussing security issues around file-sharing programs such as
Napster and Gnutella. While these programs are easy to use and facilitate
obtaining files from a wide variety of sources, there are hazards
that you need to be aware of that can result in negative consequences
for your pc.