Hello ~

Yummy Cookies (or not)

From howstuffworks.com

Most Internet cookies are incredibly simple, but they are one of those things that have taken on a life of their own. Cookies started receiving tremendous media attention back in 2000 because of Internet privacy concerns, and the debate still rages.

Cookies provide capabilities that make the Web much easier to navigate. The designers of almost every major site use them because they provide a better user experience and make it much easier to gather accurate information about the site's visitors.

A cookie is a piece of text that a Web server can store on a user's hard disk. Cookies allow a Web site to store information on a user's machine and later retrieve it. The pieces of information are stored as name-value pairs

A name-value pair is simply a named piece of data. It is not a program, and it cannot "do" anything. A Web site can retrieve only the information that it has placed on your machine. It cannot retrieve information from other cookie files, nor any other information from your machine

Web sites use cookies in many different ways. Here are some of the most common examples:

• How many visitors arrive
• How many are new vs. repeat visitors
• How often a visitor has visited

When to toss your cookies

In general, cookies are harmless. We recommend keeping them and turning off the "Always confirm before setting a cookie" feature in your browser. Cookies are so popular these days (some sites will set several cookies on each page!) that it's really annoying to confirm each and every cookie you receive. Many sites won't work properly without cookies.

That being said, some companies prohibit internet for personal use in the work place. Cookies can take up hard drive space, and certain websites that use cookies will also contain viruses or “spy ware” that can actually degrade computer performance and spread to the network. If your employees have access to the internet, then you need to make sure that you have an internet usage policy in place. Accram can help you in developing an internet usage policy that best suits your company's individual needs. We can also perform a security audit to let you know if your network is at risk.

If you are concerned about the security of your network, or need assistance in developing internet/email usage policies, please contact us today.

(602) 264-0288
(800) 786-0288

info@accram.com

Tech Tips

10 Quick Taskbar Tips (continued from
last month)

3. Relocate Or Resize The Taskbar

It's so easy to relocate the Taskbar that chances are at one time or another you've probably moved it by accident.

To move it on purpose, simply click an empty spot on the Taskbar and drag it to a new location at the top or either side of the Desktop.

Resizing the Taskbar is just as easy. Hover the mouse pointer over the edge of the Taskbar until it turns into a double-arrow pointer. Now drag the Taskbar edge outward to make it larger.

If the double-arrow mouse pointer is not displayed, then your Taskbar is locked. This means it cannot be moved from its present size and location. You can resolve this, however, by right-clicking the Taskbar and unchecking the Lock The Taskbar option. Recheck the option to relock the Taskbar. Not only will that prevent you from inadvertently moving the Taskbar, it will also prevent you from accidentally resizing it.

4. Get Quicker Access To The Internet

By adding an Internet URL address bar to the Taskbar; you can launch a Web site without having to first launch a Web browser. Right-click the Taskbar, point to Toolbars, and click to check the Address option. By default, the address bar will be collapsed on your Taskbar. Double-click it to expand it and type in an Internet URL.

If the address bar doesn't expand, your Taskbar is locked. (Right-click it and deselect the Lock The Taskbar option.)

5. Add Toolbars To The Taskbar

Toolbars make it easier to access nested menus (menus inside of menus) and folders with multiple contents. To add such toolbars to the Taskbar, right-click it in an open area, point to Toolbars, and select a toolbar.

The Desktop toolbar places items from your Desktop, such as the Recycle Bin, My Computer, and My Documents, on the Taskbar. The Links bar provides Internet links to product information on the Web. Add new links to the Links toolbar by dragging a Web page's icon from the Address bar in your Web browser to the opened (double-clicked) links toolbar.

To make customized Toolbars, just right-click an empty area of the Taskbar, point to Toolbars, and select New Toolbar. Now locate the folder you want to add and click OK.

Once you create a new toolbar, it will be collapsed by default at the right side of the Taskbar. Click the right angle brackets (>>) to expand the toolbar and select an item from its contents. Or right-click a toolbar and deselect Show Title to show the contents of the toolbar without a toolbar heading.

To move a toolbar to a new location on the Taskbar, point to the vertical bar or series of dots to the left of the toolbar and drag it across the Taskbar.

To remove a toolbar, right-click an empty area of the Taskbar, point to Toolbars, and click to uncheck the toolbar you want to remove.

ACCRAM DELIVERS SUPERIOR SERVICE IN ANY INDUSTRY. WE ARE A SINGLE SOURCE PROVIDER FOR THE FOLLOWING:

World Wide Wicked

A Look At The Endless Stream Of Online Dangers
by Christian Perry

A riverboat cruise can deliver a wondrous assortment of delights, from great music and food to spectacular views. But if you fall off the boat and splash into the water below, you could face dangers ranging from rough waters and other boats to leeches, snakes, or even alligators. A trip on the Internet is similar, where all the benefits of the Web, email, and other online components tangle with the constant threat of viruses, fraud, and other dangers.

Although you may never see many of these threats, they're always out there somewhere, waiting for their next victim. In fact, some of them could be right beneath your nose and already causing damage to your data or stealing your personal information. Let's take a swim through the murky side of the Internet and see exactly what's out there and how it can harm you and/or
your computer.

Viruses, Worms & Trojan Horses

If you use a computer, you're familiar in one way or another with computer viruses. Along with worms and Trojan horses, viruses can invade your computer and cause damage to your data, steal your personal information, or use your computer as part of a widespread attack against other computers. All of these troublesome programs are regarded as malicious code and can enter your computer through one (or several) of many entry points. Although some types of malicious code may not cause actual damage to your data, any successful infection is still a threat because it indicates that more sinister code could have the same success.

Viruses constitute the largest category of malicious code, though they're not quite as widespread today as they were years ago. The three major types of viruses—file infector, macro, and boot sector—are usually easily recognized and quarantined by most up-to-date antivirus programs, but it's still a good idea to familiarize yourself with their traits in case you notice suspicious computer activity.

File infector viruses often attach themselves to programs or other executable files that primarily have .COM, .EXE, .BIN, or .SYS file extensions. Once attached to the program, a file infector virus waits for the user to launch the program and then hides in the system memory, waiting to infect other launched programs. Other file infector viruses don't directly infect programs but instead create infected companion programs that appear to be the authentic program.

Another common virus type is the macro virus, which preys on the macro functions of popular office productivity programs, such as Word and Excel. These viruses infect hundreds of documents, spreadsheets, and similar files on unprotected computers, but like file infector viruses, antivirus programs can easily stop them. Boot sector viruses are less common than file infector or macro viruses and target a computer's boot process to infect a computer upon startup.

Although you might encounter the occasional virus while using an old floppy diskette or downloading a program from a suspicious location, you're in far more danger of a worm infection nowadays. New worms enter the “wild,” or the general computing public, almost daily, and it seems like every few months one of them causes worldwide infection that spreads with astounding speed. Worms depend on the instantaneous nature of the Internet and other networks to spread their infection, which means they can often penetrate tens of thousands of computers before antivirus software developers have a chance to release an update. Infection usually only requires users to open an email attachment typically disguised as a picture or something similarly benign. Upon infection, the worm performs malicious acts such as emailing itself to contacts stored in the victim's computer or inserting a Trojan horse program in the computer's hard drive.

Trojan horse programs are seasoned veterans of the malicious code world, and for good reason: They work, and they work well. Like the wooden horse Greek soldiers used to enter the gates of Troy , Trojan horses covertly enter computers and perform actions unbeknownst to the victim. These programs are sometimes part of worms and bundled as an email attachment, but they also can infect computers through downloads or even via network holes that crackers might use. Once installed, Trojan horse programs can use the computer's Internet connection to send data (such as passwords, financial information, and more) to a remote computer. Antivirus software can detect most Trojan horses, and if one happens to slip by the antivirus radar, an effective firewall, will stop any of its outbound
Internet activity.

To be continued next month...