7. Social Networking

Social networking, though possible in person, is popular over the internet because people from all over the world can share information based on similar interests.  People use what are known as social networking websites (online communities) so that they can communicate with others who share similar interests, and maybe even meet in real life.  This is useful because you can share information with people all over the world, and maybe learn about someone from another culture; organizations also use these websites for the same reasons.  Most of these sites are free and anybody can become a member (i.e. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter). 

There can be some risk in using these networking sites, such as information theft, identity fraud, and sexual and social abuse, so they must be used with precautions.  You should not put too much information on your web page for people to access, like a telephone number, IM address, email address, or home address.  You should be careful as to what pictures of yourself (if any) you choose to post online, because they can be accessed by the public and made use of by anyone who chooses to do so.  Jobs may also check to see if you use a site like Facebook, so you may not want to put any incriminating or nonprofessional pictures or information on these websites.

http://www.whatissocialnetworking.com/

6. Wireless Internet Security

Wireless internet security is important for not only businesses but for home internet networks as well.  Without a secure internet, anyone with WiFi in the are can connect to your internet and spy on your internet activities and even gain access to your hard drive.  It is also important to have a secure wireless internet so that nobody living around you can leech off of your internet account.  It is estimated that about 60 to 70% of wireless internet connections in America are not secured.

It is essential that you use encryption in order to secure your wireless internet connection, which is quite accessible because most wireless access has a mechanism for this built in.  A wireless service that provides WPA encryption is the best value if you wish to encrypt your internet account.  It can be a little tough to set up the encryption alone if you do not know the technology too well, so you may have to either find a friend who knows how to activate it or pay a technician to do it for you.  Another way to help with wireless security is to not broadcast your WiFi access, so that your internet will not be advertised to any other wireless cards in the area.  You can also limit the access to your wireless internet to only certain computers that you have chosen to be allowed to access it.  With all of this and a strong password, you can be sure that nobody can view your online activity or access the information on your hard drive via your wireless internet. 

http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Wireless-Network-Security-Home.html

5. Strong Passwords (How to Create and Use Them)

A strong password is essential to any PC user who wants to protect their important information, such as their email and bank account information.  The best way to create a strong password is to choose a password that is 14 characters or more, including a variety of characters.  It is best to use letters, numbers, punctuation characters, and symbols, choosing from all over the keyboard, rather than just a small area.  It is important not to choose anything that is too short or too obvious, such as your own name or the name of a loved one, especially if you do not incorporate numbers or symbols.  You should change your password regularly in order to achieve maximum security.

It may be difficult to remember a password that is 14 characters that contains symbols and numbers, so here are some steps to create one that you can remember:


        Choose a sentence or two that are meaningful to you,
        Use only the first letter of each word to create the password,
        Capitalize letters based on a certain pattern,
        add symbols and punctuation.

http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/passwords-create.aspx

4. Internet Parental Control Software

Parental control software is a form of content-control software that is used by parents in order to filter out web information that is inappropriate for children.  This type of software is generally used to filter out pornographic websites and other various websites that a parent would not want their children to be viewing.  This filtering software can be purchased by parents for about $30-$60, but there is also free parental control software that can be downloaded, but may not be as effective as the purchased software.  There are also settings within the internet browser itself that a parent can set in order to filter out certain inappropriate websites in the search engine, but these are not very effective.
 
One of the most highly rated parental control software packages is the Net Nanny, which is rated at 92.56% and costs $28.99.  PureSight PC is another package that is highly effective, but not as widely used because it costs $60.  On the cheaper end of the spectrum, K9 Web Protection is a free software download that has received relatively good ratings.

http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/
http://www1.k9webprotection.com/

3. Internet Filters

Internet filters, technically known as content-control software, are used in order to filter out what internet information can be made visible to a user.  These are used to prevent information from being delivered to the computer so as to prevent any unwanted virus downloads.  Content-control software is commonly used in schools, to prevent students from accessing certain information, businesses, and libraries.  Certain countries also use content-control software in order to censor certain information from its people.

 Client-side filter software is installed on the computer and used to moderately filter out certain information, but can be overridden by someone who has a password.  Content-limited ISPs are internet service providers that automatically filter certain information, so that anyone who subscribes to that service provider can not access that information.  Server-filter sides are used for entire institutions, such as schools or libraries, and the settings are customized to fit all computers in the network by the institution. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content-control_software

2. Digital Image Steganography

Digital image steganography is the practice of conveying hidden messages via encrypted digital images.  These encrypted messages are very difficult to uncover because they are highly compressed and no real methods of breaking these codes have been developed yet.  The images are closely related to the hidden stego message so that they are harder to detect because it is hard to differentiate between the two.  For these reasons, digital image steganography is commonly used to spread a virus or to steal information.

 These images are created by using algorithms that are designed to hide messages within digital media.  The most common disguise for image steganography is the JPEG image, due to its wide popularity.  The most widely used algorithm for hiding a steganographic image uses the least significant bit layers of an image because changes in these bits of information will not affect the appearance of an image.  This can appear as a slight distortion of pixels or a random sound from either a computer's printer or digital camera.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CDkQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fciteseerx.ist.psu.edu%2Fviewdoc%2Fdownload%3Bjsessionid%3D282D7CAFA2899FE14525555D3E207F63%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.62.8194%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf&rct=j&q=what%20is%20digital%20image%20steganography&ei=ZRCvTdmLEcLl0QHe0YW6Cw&usg=AFQjCNGVytstKPKb6CyG7374TdYd16xxDA&sig2=D4IcL0oEKrs6vX7kui_o0A&cad=rja

1. Computer Forensics

Computer forensics is a relatively new discipline that involves the scientific study of computer evidence in legal cases.  People who do this must collect and analyze computer data from PCs, networks, wireless networks, and storage devices.  The collected evidence must be used within the legal framework of the court of law, and therefore must follow strict legal guidelines.  There is no real standard for this across different legal systems yet because the discipline is still new, and therefore it is not considered a "formal" discipline.


Computer forensics can be used to protect the information that is stored on a database by organizing and strengthening the infrastructure of a network.  This means of security can even be used to track down someone who has hacked information and prosecute that person within a legal framework.  Computer forensics can also be used to manage money manage the finances of businesses safely and securely.  It can be used to manage the data safely and make sure that the information can be safely protected against hackers.  If a hacker is caught in either of these instances, the defense information must be presented properly so as to eliminate the risk of losing information that has been stolen.

www.us-cert.gov/reading_room/forensics.pdf