An example of this was the Estonian cyber-attack of 2007 in which millions of personal computers were used to bog down the government, news and banking websites of Estonia.
This article provides basic steps to minimize your risk of being victimized in today’s cyber cold war by providing information on your firewall/router, operating system choice and health, and software application choices.
Firewall/router
Internet connectivity to your home is provided from an Internet Service Provider, usually someone like Time Warner, KAS cable or AT&T. To connect to the Internet, you must have an Internet “phone number” or Internet Protocol (IP) address. An Internet-facing IP address is directly connected to the Internet, allowing anyone to attempt a direct cyber-attack.
This would be similar to having your phone number published in the telephone address listing - white pages. One willing to publish their phone number in the phone book will surely receive more unwanted phone calls from telemarketers than someone with an unlisted phone number.
Acquiring an unlisted phone number would be a reasonable countermeasure to minimize unwanted phone calls. A firewall or router ensures your personal computing devices operate with private IP addresses, and the firewall/router will be the only device that has the internet-facing IP address. Cyber-attacks from the internet need to get through your firewall or router before they reach your personal device.
Operating System choice and health
An operating system is the logical foundation of your computing device. Laptops and desktops can be loaded with an operating system you choose while mobile phones, tablets and other handheld devices typically don’t provide choices. The most common operating systems are from Microsoft.
The first rule of thumb on an operating system is that it must still be supported by the company with updated versions and patches. If it is no longer supported, look for a way to upgrade the operating system or switch to an alternative (e.g. LXDE.org).
The alternatives may not allow you to keep your personal applications but can be a great way to turn an older, slow machine into a fast web browser. As to operating system health, make sure it is current with all security updates, including antiviral protection.
Software application choices
Only purchase and use software from a reputable company. You want to do business with a company that is liable for legal action and damage to their reputation. Applications from large/medium businesses are safer than applications made by individuals or companies from countries unfriendly to the United States.
If you like to watch movies or listen to music, stick to well-known companies such Netflix, Hulu, Pandora or Amazon. The internet is filled with movie and music websites hosted in countries that don’t respect copyright laws. These nefarious websites only need the user to do one thing, install their proprietary movie viewing application, for malicious components to also be installed on your device.
Free applications should be looked at with a healthy dose of skepticism. Everyone needs lunch money; so why is it free? Make sure you find the answer to that question as it helps determine the risk. If the software is free because a college university created it and students at that university support the application as a capstone to their computer science degree program – great, the risk should be low. If the university is in a country unfriendly to the U.S., the risk goes up.
With a few easy steps you can be safer while computing from home, minimizing the chances for others to control your personal home computing devices or to steal your personal information.
Annually, the 88th Air Base Wing Cybersecurity Office (WCO) partners with the Air Force Institute of Technology, the National Air and Space Intelligence Center and others to host National Cyber Security Awareness Month events for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
If you are interested in a wide array of cybersecurity topics, sign up for one of the many classes offered during October at the NCSAM class registration site at https://cs2.eis.af.mil/sites/er/0204/SitePages/Home.aspx. If you have questions, contact the WCO at, 88ABW.cybersecurity@us.af.mil or visit the WCO site, https://cs2.eis.af.mil/sites/22629/default.aspx.
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