MAGAZINE - USAA

7 SECURITY
USAA
Works to
Protect Your
Information
Our Web site uses
sophisticated encryption
and virus-detection
software to protect
your information. To
protect against unauthorized
access, your
personal information
resides behind a secure
firewall monitored by
our security experts.
For more, log on to
USAA.COM and use
keyword “USAA Online
Security Guarantee.”
If you call in to do
business with USAA,
you may be asked to
establish a phone password
to authenticate
your identity — for that
call and all future calls.
BY CHRISTOPHER NULL
Essentials for
YOU DON’T HAVE TO be a computer
expert to help protect your computer from hackers,
viruses and black-masked thieves. Here are
the must-have tools and actions to take today.
1USE ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE.
Installing basic antivirus protection
should be your first move.
Today’s antivirus package options do
more than just help protect you from basic
virus attacks. Most also ward off attacks from
malware — short for malicious software —
such as spyware, rootkits, keyloggers and other
Web-based interlopers.
McAfee VirusScan Plus, Symantec Norton
Antivirus, Trend Micro Antivirus and Kaspersky
Anti-Virus are capable applications. Avira Anti-
Vir (free-av.com) is a good, free antivirus option.
2RELY ON ANTI-SPAM PROTECTION.
Spam isn’t just a nuisance, but a major
avenue for security breaches, whether you
open an infected attachment or click on a malicious
link. Stop spam outright to avoid these risks.
Most major e-mail applications, Internet service
providers and Web-based mail services now
offer anti-spam services for free. Turn these on by
using the Web-based tools given by your e-mail
provider; they are usually easy to find.
One risk is that perfectly innocent e-mail will
be flagged and deleted as spam. If you’re concerned
about false positives, try a third-party
application, which gives you more control over
spam flagging, but which will likely let in a few
more junk messages. Outlook users can consider
the third-party application SpamBayes, a free
plug-in found at SpamBayes.sourceforge.net.
3KEEP YOUR FIREWALL ACTIVE.
A firewall is simply a barrier between you
and the rest of the world. It filters out unwanted
traffic — mostly attacks that troll random
computers looking for security holes. Without a
firewall, you’ll likely be attacked within minutes of
connecting an unsecured computer to the Internet.
The good news is you’re probably already
running a firewall: Almost every wireless router
has one, and Windows XP and Windows Vista
include one, too, turned on by default. There’s
no need to configure your firewall further or to
invest in expensive additional firewall software.
Just make sure you never turn off your firewall.
4TAKE ANTI-PHISHING MEASURES.
Beware of phishing, which occurs when
phony Web sites designed by scam artists
get you to give up your personal information.
Modern Web browsers can help protect you
against phishing attacks. Firefox 3, the latest
version, has a very robust anti-phishing system
that causes an enormous red page to pop up if
you stumble onto a known malicious site. Internet
Explorer 7 also checks Web sites automatically
as you browse. Upgrade to the latest version
of either browser and you should be fine.
USAA provides phishing alerts on its Web
site home page if a scammer ever targets USAA
members. See “USAA Works to Protect Your
Information” on this page for more on USAA’s
online security measures.
5TURN TO ANTI-SPYWARE TOOLS. If a
malware application does creep past all
your defenses and your antivirus software
can’t clean it, consider more specialized spyware
defense tools. You can pay for any number of
spyware cleaners, but you really don’t need to:
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USAA MAGAZINE WINTER 2008 USAA.COM