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1029usr078198
Forum Admin
USA
333 Posts |
 Posted - September 18 2008 : 05:46:59
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There is no audio archive for today's show. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Question: Is online banking safe?
Answer: In general, online banking or shopping can be as safe as offline banking or shopping. You should watch out for certain signs to be sure that what you see is indeed what you get. Your computer communicates with websites using a protocol, a language if you will, called HyperText Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. In order to make commerce safe, a website will use a secure version of HTTP, called HTTPS, to encrypt all communications of a sensitive nature. Your browser uses two keys indicate that your communications are secure. You should check for both. The first indicator is a padlock icon. This will appear somewhere in your browser when you are on a secure website. The other indicator is the address bar. The text in the address bar up to the colon tells you what protocol is in use here. Make sure that the protocol is http”S”, not simply http. If both indicators are showing, your communications are secure. There's another, optional test you can use to verify security but it's a bit technical and I'll put it in the show notes in the forums at www.daconsult.com/forums. Even if you do all the checks, your information can still be compromised if certain malicious software is present on your computer. Some malware sits idly on your computer until you visit a site it's interested in. Then it begins recording every keystroke you enter. When you type in your information to log on, this is recorded and eventually sent to the bad guys if they haven't been shut down already. This is where programs like Windows Defender, Trend Micro's RUBotted, and ThreatFire can help. These are free programs that help keep malicious software off your computer.
Cool Site: bluefishtv.com – It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. If that is the case, how many words are a video worth? If your church has an audiovisual system in place, you should check out this site. This site has videos you can use as illustrations whether you are a pastor, Sunday School teacher, small group, or youth leader. They offer both still and motion backgrounds for use in worship services. You can preview everything at their website. One of the videos I saw was an Old Testament Trivia countdown. Their countdowns last five minutes, and can be used to help let everyone know you're about to start. They offer something called a “fishing license”. They email you a code and each of your teachers can download 25 video illustrations over the course of the next year, no matter how many teachers you have. The fishing license can be purchased separately or in a bundle designed for youth or one designed for adults and sermons. Many of their videos have lessons available specially tailored to the video so you don't have to think, “How can I use this?”
Cool Gadget: “iShoe” This gadget isn't yet available, but as I was looking at the Engadget website, I found this:
“[T]his so-called iShoe developed by some MIT researchers [promises] to detect balance problems long before a person actually falls. That's apparently possible thanks to some sensor-laden insoles that measure the pressure distribution across as [sic] person's feet, which can be offloaded onto a computer and analyzed with the aid of a special algorithm the researchers have created. Eventually, they say the system could let doctors catch balance problems in their early stages and take the appropriate action, or even notify family members if a person falls, although that latter bit doesn't exactly seem very optimistic of them. No word on a commercial release just yet, but the team is apparently moving steadily towards one, with it currently conducting trials and recently having snapped up a $50,000 grant to help cover start-up costs.”
As someone who has recently been beset with balance problems, I find this very interesting.
It's All “Geek” To Me: firewall - A firewall is hardware device or software that insulates your computer from other computers. It makes sure that communications between computers are desired and known. A firewall monitors all communications into and out of your computer and makes sure they meet criteria you have defined. For instance, if you became infected with malware like we talked about at the beginning of the show that watches your keystrokes, when it tries to report that information back to the bad guys, a two-way firewall will ask you if it's OK for this program to access the Internet. If you don't recognize the program, answer “No” and then see what happens. Windows Vista has a two-way firewall, XP's firewall is one-way. A one-way firewall acts like a doorman, only allowing communications into your computer that were requested.
Links
Windows Defender:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=435bfce7-da2b-4a6a-afa4-f7f14e605a0d&DisplayLang=en
Trend Micro's Free Tools:
http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/
ThreatFire Download:
http://www.threatfire.com/download/
BlueFish TV:
http://www.bluefishtv.com
"iShoe" article on Engadget:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/16/ishoe-promises-to-detect-balance-problems-before-its-too-late/
TGDaily article on the "iShoe":
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/38420/113/
Firewall Defined on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firewall
HowStuffWorks: How Firewalls Work:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/firewall.htm
Webopedia Definition:
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/f/firewall.html
Home PC Firewall Guide:
http://www.firewallguide.com/
Internet Extra
The "S" in the HTTPS protocol indicates that a key found in something called a "certificate" is being used to create the encryption. You should verify that the certificate is signed by a trusted authority and is issued to the website you are visiting.
After you've checked for the "S" in the protocol, look for a lock icon somewhere in your browser window. You'll either have to right-click that lock, double-click it, or simply click the lock and then choose View Certificate depending on your browser. Look around on those windows and somewhere, you'll find a listing of the properties of the certificate. Make sure the certificate is for the site you are visiting to know that it's valid. |
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8/1/2008-Online Banking,BluefishTV, iShoe,Firewall
