Securing, Buying, and buying computers 4-H

Computer Basics…. Buying, Protecting, Repairing and

anything else you want to ask.(This is the Protecting part!)

Albert MooreState of NC-Office of Information Technology Services

Joey MooreNC 4-H Northeast District Reporter

http://www.stopthinkconnect.org

STOP. THINK. CONNECT.™ is the global cybersecurity awareness campaign to help all digital citizens stay safer and more secure online.Created by an unprecedented coalition of private companies, non-profits and government organizations with leadership provided by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG).

Launched in October of 2010. NCSA, in partnership with the APWG, continue to lead the campaign.

Department of Homeland Security leads the federal engagement in the campaign.

President Barack Obama declared STOP. THINK. CONNECT. the national cybersecurity awareness campaign during his Presidential Proclamation of National Cyber Security Awareness Month in 2010.

http://www.staysafeonline.org/

http://www.antiphishing.org/

Keep a Clean Machine.

Protect Your Personal Information. Protect Your Child’s Personal Information.

Connect with Care.

Be Web Wise.

Be a Good Online Citizen.


Keep security software current: Having the latest security software, web browser, and operating systemare the best defenses against viruses, malware, and other online threats.

Automate software updates: Many software programs will automatically connect and update to defendagainst known risks. Turn on automatic updates if that’s an available option.

Protect all devices that connect to the Internet: Along with computers, smart phones, gaming systems,and other web enabled devices also need protection from viruses and malware.‐

Plug & scan: USBs and other external devices can be infected by viruses and malware. Use your securitysoftware to scan them.



Connect with Care.

Be Web Wise.


Protect Your Personal Information.

Secure your accounts: Ask for protection beyond passwords. Many account providers now offeradditional ways for you verify who you are before you conduct business on that site.

Make passwords long and strong: Combine capital and lowercase letters with numbers and symbols tocreate a more secure password.

Unique account, unique password: Separate passwords for every account helps to thwart cybercriminals.

Write it down and keep it safe: Everyone can forget a password. Keep a list that’s stored in a safe, secureplace away from your computer.

Own your online presence: Set the privacy and security settings on websites to yourcomfort level for information sharing. It’s ok to limit how and with whom you share information.

Help your kids own their online presence: When available, set their privacy and securitysettings on websites to your comfort level for information sharing. Remind them that it’s ok tolimit how and with whom they share information.

Consider a password managerMany different ones to pick fromWill depend on your working style**Note that presenter hates them all**Very good review of most widely known apps at http://lifehacker.com/lifehacker-faceoff-the-best-password-managers-compare-1682443320

Password headaches



Connect with Care.

Be Web Wise.


Connect with Care.

When in doubt, throw it out: Links in email, tweets, posts, and online advertising are often the waycybercriminals compromise your computer. If it looks suspicious, even if you know the source, it’s best todelete or if appropriate, mark as junk email.

Get savvy about Wi‐Fi hotspots: Limit the type of business you conduct and adjust the security settingson your device to limit who can access your machine.

Protect your $$: When banking and shopping, check to be sure the sites is security enabled. Look for webaddresses with “https://,” which means the site takes extra measures to help secure yourinformation. “Http://” is not secure.

Internet Explorer

Google Chrome



Connect with Care.

Be Web Wise.


Be Web Wise.

Stay current. Keep pace with new ways to stay safe online. Check trusted websites for the latestinformation, and share with friends, family, and colleagues and encourage them to be web wise.

Think before you act: Be wary of communications that implore you to act immediately, offer somethingthat sounds too good to be true, or ask for personal information.

Back it up: Protect your valuable work, music, photos, and other digital information by making anelectronic copy and storing it safely.

Backups – Even harder than they sound.

But data is incredibly hard to recover once lost. Sometimes it is not possible. When possible it is expensive. Threats are everywhere. Disk drives fail – often. Power outages. Virus/malware.

You need a backup plan.

LOCAL BACKUPUses a separate type of media, such as a CD/DVD, external hard drive, USB Flash drive, etc.ADVANTAGE - Fast and accessible. Copies can be placed offsite for extra security.DISADVANTAGE - Can be expensive. Even the backup is still susceptible to physical failure.

ONLINE "CLOUD" BACKUPStored online and can be accessed from anywhere by multiple computers. The data is secure online and accessible with a password you create.ADVANTAGE - The most secure method. Can be accessed anywhere. Backups can be setup to happen automatically.DISADVANTAGE - Requires a subscription cost and regular online access. HOW TO GET STARTEDCreate a checklist - Document the files and folders to be saved. Back up the most important files first.Create a schedule - Consumers may back up important information once a week. Small businesses may do so daily. Most backup software can be configured to backup automatically.Verify the backup - Load information from the storage device back to the computer to ensure that the data copy is intact.



Connect with Care.

Be Web Wise.



Safer for me more secure for all: What you do online has the potential to affect everyone – at home, atwork and around the world. Practicing good online habits benefits the global digital community.

Post only about others as you have them post about you.

Help the authorities fight cybercrime: Report stolen finances, identities and cybercrime tohttp://www.ic3.gov (Internet Crime Complaint Center) and http://www.onguardonline.gov/filecomplaint(The FTC).

New campaigns

Questions?


anything else you want to ask.(This is the Buying part!)



DisclaimerWhat this presentation is not going to do: Suggest you go to retailer (example) Best Buy and buy

(example) Samsung Example Computer 1.

What this presentation is going to try to do: Outline a strategy for picking out the right PC for your needs (along the way we will take a look at some confusing terms and acronyms and try to make

sense of them).

Know how you want to use the pcDo I want to carry it places or do I just want to sit in front of it at home?Mobile device versus mobile device or desktop

Know what you want to do with the PCBy activity:

GamingPhoto editing/video editing/CAD (drafting/drawing)Email/web browsing/word processing

Or by your most resource intensive applicationWhat does this mean?

Photoshop CC 2014 system requirements and language versionsWindowsIntel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon® 64 processor (2 GHz or faster)

Microsoft® Windows® 7 with Service Pack 1, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1

2 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended)

2 GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on removable flash storage devices)

1024x768 display (1280x800 recommended) with 16-bit color and 512 MB of VRAM (1 GB recommended)**

OpenGL 2.0–capable system

Internet connection and registration are necessary for required software activation, validation of subscriptions, and access to online services.*

* Video features are not supported on 32-bit Windows systems. ** 3D features are disabled and some Mercury Graphics Engine enhanced features may not work with less than 512 MB VRAM.

Operating system – Version of Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPad (iOS) required

Processor – nearly impossible to rank without back and forth to vendor’s websiteIn the old days it was 386/486/Pentium/Pentium 2/Pentium 3/Pentium 4Then it was Pentium 4 100Mhz, 200 MHz, 1 GHz, etc.Now it is by class of processor and inside of that there are subclasses

IntelXeon – not really for home computing. Starting to show up for some high end gaming systems

Core i7 – Intel’s flagship processor. Gaming, and other processor intensive activities such as CAD/video editing

Corei5 – good business class processor. Able to handle office applications, watching online movies, web browsing, email

Corei3 – entry level processor. Web browsing, internet, word processing Pentium / Celeron: Formerly top of the line chipsets. Now old and underpowered for basic computing. Avoid either of these chips.

AMD –generally less expensive for comparable processor. Even more cryptic than the Intel designations.Tom’s Hardware has a good resource for finding Intel/AMD equivalentshttp://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

RAM – this is volatile (temporary) memory. Measured in GB (gigabytes). Look for at least 8GB for anything but the lightest web browsing, email, and word processing (more is better)

Hard disk – this is long time storage. Measured in hundreds of GB or even TB (terabytes.) (bigger is better.)SSD hard drives – these don’t have moving parts. Much faster than traditional Hard disks. Measured in hundreds of

GB but much smaller than traditional hard disks. Less fragile. Video- Measured in resolution, colors, and video ram (VRAM) in MB (megabytes) or GB (more is better) Also specifies API ( Direct3D and OpenGL are competing application programming interfaces (APIs) which can be used in applications to render 2D and 3D computer graphics.)

Display – measured in diagonal size in inches (like a television.) Such as 14 in – 24 in (mobile devices are smaller.) Tip from Albert -At my age I have realized the single most important feature to me is size and quality of the display.

Audio – I think they all have great audio these days. Audio buffs can weed out the differences much more than I can.

Network – specifies what is needed

Additional needs – mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc.

Buy what you need, upgrading is hard.

Upgrading is hard. Near impossible on laptops. Lots of websites will tell you it is easy but….

Hard Drive: Easy to do on a desktop or a laptop but how do you get Windows on it?

RAM: Easy to snap in and out on desktop or laptop, granted you know the speed, size, brand, and model of RAM your computer needs.

Display: Easy to replace on a desktop granted you know the wires to plug and unplug. Impossible on a laptop due to the display built into the lid.

Graphics card: marginally easy to replace on desktop if you know what kind your computer takes… nearly impossible on laptop

Keyboard Mouse Speakers: All easy to swap in and out on desktop, all you can do on a laptop is hook up an external mouse.

But does upgrading really help you…?

So where do tablets fall into all of this?

Tablets excel in mobility. Take them anywhere.

Great for email and web browsing if display is adequate for your needs.

Apps, apps, and more apps.

Word processing? Office products available for most tablets but is it feasible?

Tablets are not a substitute for PCs except in the above uses….except for the Microsoft Surface Pro.Surface Pro isn’t really a tablet, it’s a handheld touch screen PCIs the display big enough though?

The question everyone wonders…

Mac:

Pros:Lack of Compatibility

Smooth and very detailed

Build quality

Great for Multimedia/Multimedia editing

iPhone, iPad, iPod, iOS compatibility

Free Software updates

Stability

Genius Bar

Cons:Lack of Compatibility

Roughly $1,000 more than competitors

Difficulty upgrading / repairing

For PC Customers switching to Mac: completely new interface to learn.

Genius Bar

Questions?


anything else you want to ask.(This is the Repairing part!)



Well actually the first thing we’ll talk about is probably both protecting and repairing.Anti-virus - There are many choices both free (either built in or open source) and commercial. None of them will catch it all. You may have heard of zero day vulnerabilities.

Malwarebytes is an interesting product. It has characteristics of both an anti-virus client and malware cleanup tools. I consider it best of class and highly recommend using it in addition to any other AV product that you use. https://www.malwarebytes.org What others have to say about MalwarebytesPC Magazine - "Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 2.0 remains our Editors' Choice for free, cleanup-only antivirus.“

CNET editors said Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is "Outstanding“

Independent testing laboratory AV-TEST gave Malwarebytes Anti-Malware the only perfect score for removing malware and repairing its damage. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware was tested against 60 malware infections over a ten-month period and cleaned and restored the infected computer flawlessly every time. No other tested product, including those from Avira, AVG, Norton, Kaspersky, and ESET, could make that claim.

SC Magazine named Malwarebytes as a 2015 Excellence Award Finalist in January 2015

Optimization and clean up

My PC is running slow and it is not malware…CCleaner – another best of class utility. Optimization and cleaning unused files (residue) from your pc. https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Excellent reviews by PC World, Lifehacker, The Washington Post, and others

Sometimes overlooked housekeeping itemsYour PC generates a lot of heat and uses fans to keep it cool. Make sure to keep all vents clear of dust and obstruction so that the fan can do it’s job.

https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner



Despite all your best efforts disaster strikes

Things that will make your recovery both possible and easierKnow where your data backup is and how to restore it

Know where either the recovery disks you made for your PC or your copy of Windows is located.

Know what and where to find the applications you have installed on your PC. (In business the above two items are called having a designated software library where you keep the software. This might consist of both a physical location and a digital (software) location for software that you obtained online. (Don’t forget the license keys needed for any software.)

Conclusions:

Hopefully from this presentation you have learned some ways to stay safe online.

Considerations for buying a PC.

Back up your data.

Use and keep current anti-virus

Keep updated on all of your software

Have a plan for recovering from disaster

Questions?

Securing, Buying, and buying computers 4-H

Technology

Transcript of Securing, Buying, and buying computers 4-H