Blog Info for Buy/Sell

The only way you can be sure your car is safe in the middle of the night is if you have it parked in a closed garage. The fact of the matter is you never know what could happen to your car on any given night. There are all sorts of things to worry about like break- ins, hit and runs, or even someone stealing your car. If you have an upset ex girlfriend or boyfriend you may have to worry about things like your car being keyed or vandalized and in extreme cases, unwired under the hood. Its a good idea to store valuables away like in your glove compartment or in your trunk so that your car doesnt stand out from the rest. It may be good to park in a lighted area, sometimes that doesnt even matter but its just good precaution. Some cars come with security alarms, they are a good deterrent. Also the steering wheel locks may help keep the bad guys away. Also be aware of the things that are happening in your neighborhood. A couple of years ago I was hearing about gang vandalism in my neighborhood and I noticed that it was only happening to those cars parked on the street. You had to park your car on the street if the parking lot (which was closer to the apartments) was full. A preventative measure that I took was I ran my errands on my lunch break and as soon as I got off of work so that I was sure to get a parking space in the parking lot. I did not leave the house once it got dark for two reasons, I didnt want those guys to mug me and I wanted to keep my parking space. To address the ex girl friend and boyfriend situation, all I can say is it may not be a good idea to let everyone know where you live, especially if you do not plan on seeing them exclusively. I got another story, same year, same apartment complex. About 1 am I hear a loud bang outside my window; some car (probably a woman) rammed this parked car head on and sped away. Maybe I didnt choose the best neighborhood to live in but I learned a lot about keeping myself and my vehicle safe.

These days, computers are almost as common in households as telephones. Computers themselves do not cause any threat to individual security. When connected with networks and the chaos that is the World Wide Web, computers have become the tools that identity thieves and hackers use to extrapolate this chaos. In order to establish computer security, software companies have created devices to ward off the hazards and hassles of viruses, spyware, pop-ups and spam.

The first of these creations is anti-virus software. There are two main companies that offer this software: McAfee and Norton. These programs work to scan the files on your computer and check them for attributes that are in viruses or are often linked with viruses. These traits or attributes are often called virus definitions and need to be downloaded on a relatively regular basis. In addition to the files on your computer, files on CDs, floppy discs and e-mails can and should be filed. There is no question on this one: anti-virus software is vital to computer security.

Next on the list is spyware scanning software. Spyware occurs when certain websites run programs in the back ground of your computer while gleaning information from it. The information can be as benign as tracking what type of websites you look at, to actually acquiring passwords. Regardless of the type of spyware, it can slow your computer to a crawl and needs to be removed from your computer. Two popular software options are Spy Sweeper and Ad-ware.

Last, but certainly not least are pop-up blockers and span filters. Not only are pop-ups and spam annoying, but these often contain the spyware scanning software explained above. In addition, they can slow your computer down incredibly. And when you are angry at your computer, your computer is not secure!

In addition to these software items, there are a few more tricks you can use to keep your computer and your information secure. Password secure everything you can, and when you create the passwords, don’t make them easy. Do not use your name, your birthday or your social security number. And, if you are on an unsecured wireless network, do not check your bank statements. These networks allow several people on them at one time. Remember, hackers are smart. You have to be smarter!

Spam is the bane of small businesses’ existence. It can not only bring viruses onto your network, but it can take over your computers and send spam to other computers. Spam Blocker enables administrators to block spam at the gateway before it ever reaches the users.

Many computer user install spam blockers or filters on their computer to help them get rid of unwanted email. These programs work by either blocking certain email addresses or filtering what is believed to be spam into another file in the email program. As spam is always changing, spam blockers and filters do not always work in getting rid of every piece of spam and sometimes real messages are blocked accidentally.

A spam blocker can use several different ways of trying to protect a computer. The first type is blacklists, where the email addresses and domain names of spammers are blocked. This system is not considered to be very effective since spammers can easily get around the system and there may be a number of legitimate emails blocked.

Another type of spam blocker is collaborate blacklists. With this type, users identify spammers and a centralized system creates a list of email addresses that users have labeled as spammers. Sometimes legitimate newsletters and other emails get blacklisted when enough individuals label them as spam instead of unsubscribing themselves.

A final type of spam blocker is a whitelist. In this system, a user sets up the email and domain addresses that he will accept email from. When an unknown email sends a message, it is blocked. The system can be labor intensive as the user must manually set up the accepted emails.

Some whitelists use an extension which sends a response back to email addresses asking them to confirm their identity. This helps identify real emails, while weeding out spammers who won’t reply. Newsletters can also get caught in this system so users need to make sure that they manually confirm all newsletters or promotional emails that they want.

Although spam blockers present some challenges in that they sometimes let spam through and sometimes block legitimate emails, they are currently some of the best ways to identify and prevent spam. Advances will continue to occur as individuals, companies, and governments work to create better ways of protecting inboxes from spam.

A spam blocker is an important tool for every computer user, even though the system remains imperfect. Spam blockers will help save you time and help protect your computer from harmful viruses.

And it impacts you in other ways. According to a recent study, the cost of spam messages to U.S. companies—in terms of productivity and the equipment, software and manpower to combat it—was upwards of $10 billion in 2004.

So the key is to stop spam before it stops you.

Our powerful Spam Blocker protects you with top-notch spam scanning and blocking at the edge of your network—before it can do damage or slow you down. Using the latest technologies, Spam Blocker transparently scans for spam, marks messages and intercepts emails. It requires no alteration of your network’s mail configuration and is constantly updated to guard against any refinements in trickery or techniques that senders create to get around other solutions.