5 Tips for Securing Your Personal Computer

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness month.

Below are tips to help you stay safe online:

1. Keep your firewall turned on: Firewalls provide protection against outside attackers by shielding your computer or network from malicious or unnecessary Internet traffic.

2. Always use good passwords for your PC:

• Don't use passwords that are based on personal information that can be easily accessed or guessed

• Don't use words that can be found in any dictionary of any language

• Develop a mnemonic for remembering complex passwords

• Use a combination of lowercase and capital letters, numbers, and special characters

• Use passphrases when you can

• Use different passwords on different systems

• Use at least 8 characters

• Change your password periodically

3. Keep all your software and your operating system up-to-date: Many vulnerabilities on a computer can be avoided with a few simple updates. Updating your software also helps with bug fixes in the software and addition of new features from the software developer.

4. Install Anti-Virus Software: Anti-virus software can identify and block many viruses before they can infect your computer. Once you install anti-virus software, it is important to keep it updated. While antivirus software, regardless of which package you choose, increases your level of protection, nothing can guarantee the security of your computer. Antivirus software is limited in its ability to protect your computer because it can only detect viruses that have signatures installed on your computer

5. Secure your wireless network at home: Wireless networks have gotten easy enough to set up that many users simply plug them in and start using the network without giving much thought to security. Nevertheless, taking a few extra minutes to configure the security features of your wireless router or access point is time well spent.

Other Useful Sites and Information Sources

• OnguardOnline.gov

• United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT)

• WiredSafety.org

• Commonsense.com

• Ncmec.org

• TRUSTe.org

• ConnectSafely.org

• NetSmartz.org

• WebWiseKids.org

• Makeadifferenceforkids.org

27% of South Carolina Businesses do not use Broadband

By Wil Payton, Communications Specialist, Connected Nation

Broadband is a powerful, enabling technology that is fast becoming the engine of economic growth in America. Increasingly, businesses seeking to open or expand operations look to see not only whether a community has robust broadband access, but also whether potential workers have digital literacy skills and tools.

The 2010 Connect South Carolina Business Technology Survey finds that while nearly three out of four South Carolina businesses use broadband, some sectors still lag behind in broadband adoption.

Statewide, 73% of all South Carolina businesses subscribe to broadband. This means that approximately 29,000 South Carolina business establishments do not use broadband or benefit from the opportunities it offers.

The High Tech and Professional and Financial sectors lead in broadband adoption, with approximately 17,000 businesses in the Professional & Financial Services sector and 6,000 businesses in the High Tech sector using broadband. On the other extreme, only 64% of businesses in the Healthcare sector use broadband, which means approximately 3,000 Healthcare-related businesses do not subscribe.

Broadband adoption rates in South Carolina mirror those in other Connected Nation states by size and industry sector, with no significant differences between South Carolina businesses and the average for each industry sector and size bracket.

The economic future of communities in South Carolina depends not only upon whether robust broadband infrastructure is present but also upon whether businesses and individuals fully utilize that technology to grow and develop local economies.

Help us continue to bring broadband to more homes and businesses in South Carolina by getting involved. Follow Connected Nation and Connect South Carolina on Twitter.

Tightening your data belt can save you money

By PETER WAYNER | The New York Times

Published: October 5, 2011

The economics of an all-you-can-eat buffet are pretty easy to figure out. The restaurant makes money as long as most of the diners don’t have big appetites and enormous capacity for engorgement.

It hasn’t taken Internet service providers very long to conclude that their all-you-can-eat pricing isn’t as profitable as charging those who use more bandwidth streaming videos and music more money than those who pop on for a quick Facebook chat. Many are adopting flat-rate pricing or pricing tiers. The more you use, the more you pay. Many are even imposing limits on their customers.

Comcast, for instance, limits its customers to 250 gigabytes a month, a threshold that it estimates affects no more than a few percent of its customers. The limits are much lower for wireless data providers like the cellphone companies. Verizon, for instance, offers plans with limits of 2, 5 or 10 gigabytes a month.

Complain all you want about the new plans, but there are only two ways around the problem: Use less or pay more.

Much of the advice on how to use less bandwidth will sound a lot like what you’d hear from any dietician who catches you at the smorgasbord: eat less or at least eat the healthy foods. It’s not an emotionally satisfying answer, but when it comes to broadband, it is either that or pay more.

Like any diet plan, there are a few tips for making that easier.

Read more.

Bridging the digital divide; Winston-Salem church to open computer lab

By Bertrand M. Gutierrez | Winston Salem Journal

Published: August 19, 2011

Janis Walker is ready to become more digitally savvy.

At Whole Man Ministries, a church on Old Lexington Road in southeastern Winston-Salem, Walker recently put herself on the list for an eight-week basic computer course.

"My grandsons have a touch-screen phone and they've showed it to me. I have some computer skills, but I haven't been around them for 10 years, and I want to refresh myself," said Walker, 63.

That's the idea, said Kenneth Holly, a minister at the church.

The church's Bridging the Gap Community Center is accepting up to 25 people such as Walker for the basic computer course. The start date has not been set, but the course will begin next month, Holly said. Participants who complete the course will be eligible to buy a computer for as little as $25.

Read more.

South Carolina Businesses Using Broadband Report Higher Annual Revenues than State Averages

Broadband is fast becoming the foundation for economic development in America as more and more businesses become reliant on this technology to communicate, transact, and innovate.

But in South Carolina, 23 percent of businesses do not use the Internet, according to the Connect South Carolina Business Technology Assessment of 805 South Carolina businesses in 2010. 

Seven out of ten of those businesses say they don’t need the Internet or broadband service, or don’t know why their business doesn’t subscribe. Yet, the Assessment Survey found that South Carolina businesses that use broadband service report having median annual revenues that are $200,000 higher than the state average.

The economic future of communities in South Carolina depends not only on whether robust broadband infrastructure is present but also on whether businesses and individuals fully utilize that technology to grow and develop local economies.

Help us continue to bring broadband to more homes and businesses in South Carolina by getting involved. Follow Connected Nation and Connect South Carolina on Twitter.

 

Obama Administration Releases Report, Highlights Rural Broadband Expansion

By Jeneba Ghatt | POLITIC365

Published August 21, 2011

The White House Rural Council released the report Jobs and Economic Security in Rural America which highlighted the fact that many rural communities “have lower incomes, higher poverty rates, worse health outcomes, and lower educational attainment than urban and suburban areas.” Highlighted was the expansion of broadband access to over “7 million rural Americans, including 3 million rural households and over 350,000 rural businesses” in the August 2011 report.

To combat the negative factors presented, the Council presented its findings and made specific suggestions on ways to address these issues.

Also, in a letter included in the report, US Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack noted that the report listed “vital strategies that can and will be used to seize those opportunities and tackle some of the toughest challenges facing our rural communities.”

Finally, it included a summary of some administration accomplishments already made that would enhance opportunities for rural Americans:

To read more click here.

Millions going to Expanding the Internet

By admin in Custom, Internet

The state of South Carolina is also benefiting from millions of dollars in funds dedicated to expanding broadband to all residents. Overall, South Carolina has received almost 16 million dollars. Officials say this is a great way for citizens to actually see where the money from the Recovery Act is going and how it is affecting their lives.

The money will be used to expand internet access at 16 state technical colleges in addition to being used elsewhere. The money will also help fund the purchase of more than 2,000 new computers in order to expand 51 public computer centers and create 19 new computer labs. This will allow the number of users to double from 17,000 per week to more than 38,000 users. In short, this will help residents with more opportunities for education and improving job skills. In turn, that can help draw down unemployment numbers as South Carolinians gain new skills and have better ways of finding out about job openings.

To read more click here.