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The Castellini Approach to Internet Security – Updated 2020

The Castellini Approach to Internet Security

This past week I saw way too many people who aren’t taking advantage of the free information we give out on the show and the web site. Their computers were suffocating from a preventable disease…viruses and spyware. Yes, preventable, almost 100%. And fighting the war on our home computer security front does not have to be costly or time consuming.

We talk about this subject quite a bit on the program and the web site because of its rapid growth worldwide. In today’s tip, I am providing you with links to information that we have on this site that has been up for months to years that contain the essential information about protecting your computer.

What kind of computer do 3 teenagers use?

An extremely slow and sick computer!

Today, again, I ran across a family who has multiple teenagers (3 in this case) who use a computer that has become polluted with spy and adware. I see this situation again and again, week after week. This computer was less than 2 months old!

Give the typical teenager a Windows based computer (doesn’t matter if it is XP or Vista) and within weeks (sometimes hours) the computer is almost useless. Parents always ask me the next logical question, “Why did it happen?”

Slow computer? Viruses? Malware? I can help!

After almost 13 years of battling security problems on Windows machines, I’m finally seeing the light of day and recommending Mac’s and Linux for many computer users. It will be a long journey convincing people that there is life beyond Microsoft.

For those who bang away with Microsoft Windows computers,and have problems with Slow Computer Disease (SCD), pop-ups, viruses and other problems, I present the following sage advice:

I’ve learned that when it comes to spyware/adware (THE major cause of SCD), if it takes more than an hour to troubleshoot and solve, you will be WAY AHEAD of the game to:

1. Backup your data
2. Reformat the system, and resinstall Windows

The Top 10 Free Porn and Poker Web Sites

Let’s all face it. We don’t have to agree with it or even like it, but the porn and gaming (poker) industry push the boundaries of the Internet and sometimes that translates to a better Internet experience for all of us.

Why would I pay 99 cents for a song?

That is a direct quote from a Freshman in college that I helped with her computer today. She purchased it just three days ago and already has Lime Wire installed. For those not familiar with Lime Wire, it is a service that many people use (especially college aged kids) to download free music, movies and more. In addition to be legally questionable (or downright illegal by some accounts), downloading free music is the single best way to completely screw-up a normally functioning computer.

Over the years, when we got calls from listeners with “slow computers”, our first question was “do you have any teenagers in the house?”. The reason we asked was that most unrestrained teenagers with Internet access will eventually install programs like Lime Wire and start downloading the free stuff.

Porn doesn’t just happen

OK, I'm letting the cat out of the bag: web based porn is NOT magic. I always smile inside when I here people tell me that porn ads or images suddenly appeared on their computer. In more than 12 years of browsing and researching on the web (and I have put in a few hours), I can tell you that porn has never suddenly appeared out of thin air. I can also honestly say that I have never 'run into' porn by searching the web. Is it because I have some great anti-porn software on my computer? No. Is it because I have been lucky? No. 

The reason why it has never suddenly appeared on my computer, my wife's computer or my kid's computer in almost 15 years of online browsing is that porn originates from only three possible places:

Firewalls Redux

Firewalls became a hot topic in the latter part of this week at HMR (a web site visitor abbreviated our name that way and it works pretty well). I decided to bring up this tip and updated it for 2006.

As recently as 2003, I recommended against dial-up users using firewalls. My reasoning for this advice included the substantially decreased time most dial-up users spend online in one stretch, ISP's provide firewall services into and out of their modem banks, and most 'hacking' at the time centered around denial of service attacks and other activities that was meant for computers with 'fat pipe' connections (DSL, cable, etc).

Today, however, I believe that a firewall is becoming an essential piece of our security arsenal. Firewalls (either hardware based or software based) prevent unauthorized access to and from your computer. The most recent threat of unauthorized use is spyware and adware. Spyware and adware can bring a system to its knees if not properly and completely stopped. A firewall can help reduce the toll of spyware and adware.

At the very least, every computer user using Windows XP should perform the following few steps to enable the XP firewall. If you have updated to XP Service Pack 2, the firewall will be enabled by default. Here's how to enable the Windows fiewall:

  1. Click My Computer from the Start menu (or your desktop)

  2. Click My Network Places from the task pane on the left

  3. Click View Network Connections again from the task pane on the left

  4. When the windows opens, RIGHT click on your Internet connection

  5. Click Properties

  6. Click the Advanced tab

  7. Check the box that says "Protect my computer and network by limiting…"

  8. Click OK

If you want a more industrial strength firewall that you can tweak and configure, try one of these free or commercial firewalls:

ZoneAlarm (free version)

ZoneAlarm Pro

Tiny Firewall

For broadband users who use a router to share access with other computers, the router acts as a firewall as well. Adam made some accurate points this week about the usability of firewalls. Too many computer users, hope to 'set it and leave it', but most firewalls require careful initial setup and a good knowledge of how to interact with the messages that it will generate. Read through your manual or go to the manufacturer's web site to learn how to best utilize your router and software firewall's capabilities.

Shareware and Freeware – March 2006

We haven’t covered this topic since 1999!

Shareware is software that you can "try before you buy". The developer usually provides the program for free of charge with either some features disabled or a time limit on how long the product can be used. To unlock all the features or use the program past its expiration date, you must pay for a registration number. This type of marketing works quite well for developers who make good products.

Freeware is software that you can use for no cost at all. Developers providing this software usually create the program to either fill a niche or jus practice creating new programs.

Programs by small developers can be found for almost any purpose you need. Everything from organizing pictures to creating labels and from recording music to changing wallpaper. The only places I recommend hunting for and downloading freeware and shareware are:

Download.com
Tucows.com
Nonags.com
Palm Gear (for Palm Pilot users)

Our Top Internet Information Sites 2005

We started publishing this list about three years ago. I fully admit that I am an information junkie and enjoy finding the answers to questions as soon as they come up. I tend to use a core group of sites to find my information. In this list you will see some perennial favorites and some new ones that I started using over the past year.

In no particular order, my favorite information gathering web sites are:

  • Google – Hands down the best place to start when you are searching the Internet