How Search Engines Work

by: Hassan Sarsour

To make easy money online you have to get high targeted traffic to your website. This is acheived by your knowledge of how to be ranking high in the search engines. The basic step is to know how search engines work.

Most searh engines have three parts: a crawler, an index, and a search interface.Let's look at each part individually to get a better understanding of them. Each part has its own role to play in the process, with all parts working together to make searches possiple.

1. The Crawler:

Also known as a "spider" or "bot", this part of the search engine wanders the web, following links and picking up information for its database. Crawlers do most of their work at times of the day when searh engines are less busy, but they typically visit frequently updated pages more often. This is something to keep in mind when you are working on your pages.

Your site's title and text(your content) are the most important thing to a crawler. The fastest way to raise your site's search engine ranking for specific key words is to implementthem into your title and your content.

2. The index.

Once the crawler has collected all that text, it is then stored and indexed. This allows people searching for key words and phrases to get results relating to what they were searching for - their search results. Most sites will incorporate rating systems such as Google Page Rank or Alexa Rankings in positioning your site. These ratings are used attempt to ensure that sites that are important receive more traffic than unimportant sites.

To see this in action, go to a search engine and type in a word. You'll see some text on the page saying something like "results 1-10 of 1,234,000". This means that the search engine's index contains 1,234,000 pages it believes are related to the word you typed. If you wanted to, you could look through all these pages to find the information you're looking for.

In order to understand rating systems more thoroughly consider your own site. When you place links on your site you generally do so to increase your users understanding of the content of your site.

If every site in a particular field links to a particular site, this site is probably very important to that field and should, therefore, be listed highly in the lists of search engine results. This is the basic ideology of Google Page Ranks.

Consider again , a site that receives a great deal of traffic, it probably has some information or service that is very important to its users. Alexa ratings attempt to estimate the amount of traffic that a particular site gets and compare it to the amount of traffic that other sites get. The closer that a site is to the most trafficed site on the internet, the more likely it is to have important content if it is relevant to search query.

3. The Interface.

Search engines provide a public intrface for users who want to find information on the web. They can type the word or phrase they're searching for, and the interface will run an algorithm to find the pages relevant to their search and display them.

These algorithms are an important part of the SEO(Search Engine Optimization) business. You'll notice when the algorithms change, the rankings of your website will change with them. No two search engines have the same algorithms. They all work differently, with their unique features, and they will all respond to your website in their own way.

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Broadband FAQ: Answers To Basic Questions About Broadband

by: Brayden Eckles

* What is broadband?
In the internet world, broadband refers to the process of sending and receiving information at very high speeds through a connection that is always on. With broadband access there is always a corresponding usage fee.

Broadband access also means that you can surf to any website you want faster than with a dial-up process, as web pages load more quickly. Broadband internet can give you the advantage in accessing better quality multimedia files like music and movies. Downloading programs, files, and email attachments with broadband can be done in minutes instead of hours.

* What are the different types of broadband?
There are different types of broadband internet access available but they depend on the location of the subscriber. The most commonly used form of broadband access is the ADSL or asymmetric digital subscriber line. Other types of broadband access are cable modem, satellite, and wireless.

* What is DSL?
DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line, which refers to the kind of technology that uses ordinary phone lines to send and receive information over the internet at higher frequency than normal phone usage. A DSL connection can handle both the data and the voice signals at the same time. Therefore your phone service is not interrupted when you use the internet.

DSL connection speeds depend on the distance between the subscriber and the provider. DSL technologies have two major types: ADSL internet access requires a fast downstream connection but slow upstream connection, and Symmetric DSL requires high speed connections in both directions.

* What is cable?
A cable is used in broadband services and refers to the transfer of internet access to subscribers by cable television. Usually, a cable is made up of bundles of different optical fibers that can carry larger amounts of data than telephone line over long distances without affecting signal frequencies.

* What are ADSL, IDSL, HDSL, and SDSL?
ADSL stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, which has a data rate that ranges from 544 kbps up to 6.1 Mbps in downstream basis, while in upstream basis it goes from about 16 up to 640 Kbps. The distance limit of ADSL for 1.544 Mbps is about 18,000 feet, for 2.048 Mbps is 16,000 feet, for 6.312 is 12,000 feet, and for 8.448 is 9,000 feet. Normally, ADSL is used for internet access, downloading music and video, and local area networking.

IDSL or ISDN Digital Subscriber Line is somewhat an application of a wrong name of DSL modem since DSL is familiar to ISDN information rate and services that to about 144 Kbps. IDSL with its symmetric function is best when traveling up to 6 miles; however, IDSL is not supplied by ADSL providers. With similarity to ISDN, the data increases to 144 kbps by sing control channels.

HDSL or High bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line is the first version of DSL that will be used for wideband transmission within the business place and between communication providers and subscribers. The main feature of HDSL is its symmetrical function, in which the same quantity of bandwidth is accessible in both directions.

SDSL or Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line is the same as HDSL; however, it only has a single line that carries 1.544 Mbps in the U.S. and Canada or 2.048 Mbps in Europe, that flow in each direction on the duplex line.

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Improving Web Site Security

by: Charles Taylor

Hackers are devising new attacks and new ways to slip past security measures every day. One of their favorite kind targets is a Web site. Three quarters of all attacks on Web sites are designed to hamper the forms, log-in pages, shopping carts on online shops and other Web content. Since the design of Web applications make them accessible at anytime from anywhere, it is important that a Web site has protection that works well all the time. This not only protects important consumer details such as credit card numbers; it also protects the Web site itself.

Even the best firewalls, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and other protective measures will not enough to guard Web applications against every attack. It is infinitely more difficult for security professionals to figure out what new and innovative trick will be used to bypass security than it is for the hackers to find that trick

It can seem as if there is no solution to this problem. What is needed is a program that can check Web applications and further improve the security. That program is Acunetix WVS. It deals specifically with SQL Injection and other vulnerabilities like XSS. It helps to secure Web sites from harsh attacks, checks for scripting in cross-sites, and strengthens the authentication pages and passwords. It also audits shopping carts in an effort to prevent attacks. With the security audit reports peace of mind can finally be gained.

CRLF injection, directory traversal, code execution and file inclusion attacks are other ways to cripple a Web site's security. Authentication as well as input validation attacks are also likely.

The Google Hacking Database (GHDB) can identify important data like the logon pages, network information and so on and so forth that might be vulnerable, making it an important tool to improving Web site security. With the Acunetix, the queries wedged in the Google Hacking Database will be launched long before something goes wrong.

Acunetix gives suggestions on how to correct any problems through its report generator that will create quick reports and data to zero in any vulnerabilities that might exist.

It is necessary to reconstruct HTTPs and analyze them for cross-site scripting and SQL injection to ensure better security. Also important is HTTP fuzzer to validate the input and test the overall performance of the Web site.

It�s vital that passwords be configured and protected. Input configuration should utilize HTML form fillers as a matter of course. This allows testing how certain occasions and different inputs influence how the site behaves.

Important things to consider:

1. Is the Web site ready and prepared for a dictionary attack?

2. Support from other technologies such as PHP, CGI and ASP.

3. Search directories for weak permissions

4. Detect errors in pages as early as possible

5. Re-auditing all changes in the Web site to check for new vulnerabilities

dotDefender 2.1 is one of the programs that can protect and secure. It takes care of spammer bots, attacks, probes, SQL injections, hijackings, pronounced tampering and even proxy takeovers.

It can be a daunting task to improving Web site security, but is absolutely critical to do so. By following a few simple steps and using programs tailored to assist in the task everything will work efficiently and effectively.

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Web Site Security: 8 Tips

by: William Davis

The computer age has made the personal computer affordable for most people of virtually every industrialized country. Whether it takes the form of a desktop or laptop, all computers are used for a wide variety of functions. As the number of people on the Internet soars ever higher, security becomes an increasing concern. Here are some tips to help ensure a personal or business Web site is secure against attack.

1. Passwords are the first line of defense. Most programs have a maximum number of characters for the password, and it is best to use all every available character. Each additional letter or number in a password makes it that much more difficult for someone to figure out what it is.

2. It is very common for people to use important dates, names of loved ones, and other things close to the heart their heart as their password. Unfortunately this information is not very difficult to discover. Then it simply becomes a matter of trying each likely candidate until one works. Passwords should never be these kinds of things so that the contents of the computer will not be compromised.

3. The worst kind of passwords are those that are simply a sequential series of letters or numbers, or those where the log in name and password are the same. This lack of imagination practically begs for a security breach to happen.

4. Only the owner of a Web site should be privy to the security codes on it. No one else should know password and it is best never to write it down. If the password falls into the wrong hands, or is even suspected of being compromised, it should be changed immediately.

5. Some passwords are case sensitive. If the password was originally entered with the caps-lock off, but upon logging on it was typed with caps-lock on, the system will not honor the password. A clever user can take advantage of this feature by randomly distributing capital and lower-case letters in a password.

6. The natural assumption when trying to guess someone�s password is to believe it to be a real word. However this need not be the case. Some of the most unbreakable passwords are those which are not words at all.

7. Another security problem that some people create is the act of using the same log in and password when logging on to many different sites. Should only one of these sites be cracked the chances are the others will also be compromised. It is best to use a different password for each site. At the very least, reused passwords should be limited only to applications where security is not important. For example, Web forum memberships, if compromised, represent very little danger to the user so long as the password used for those sites is not reused for anything where sensitive data could be stored.

8. When using Web sites that require a login, simply closing the browser is not sufficient to prevent other users from accessing that information from the same computer. It�s possible to simply re-open the browser and gain access to the site without needing to log back in. Use the proper log-out procedure on the Web site before closing the browser in order to avoid this from happening.

Keeping secure on the Internet is not just the job of those who create software products for the consumer. It is also the responsibility of each and every computer user. The user can feel at ease knowing the contents in the Web sites are safe by simply taking the appropriate safety measures.

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What You Need To Know When Buying Used Hardware

by: Joshua Levitt

Refurbished network hardware is the latest thing for hip IT managers who consider themselves "in the know". The used equipment is often renovated by various resellers and integrators, reset and error free. They are then sold in the secondary market at up to 90% off of list price. Products are available even in the most sophisticated and obscure models, and often come with a warranty that supersedes even that of the original manufacturer.

How is the hardware refurbished?
Networking products usually pass a grueling inspection, upgrade and update checklist. This includes testing under a variety of conditions to ensure that electronics, connectivity ports, memory configuration, firmware/software and electrical components perform to standards.

What about the warranty of a refurbished hardware appliance?
Most resellers offer a minimum warranty of three months. It varies with the policy of the supplier. Extended warranty up to two years can be availed from some retailers.

What to look out for when buying refurbished?
There is a growing concern in the industry surrounding fake equipment. Anyone who has taken a stroll down Manhattan's Canal Street lately has no doubt become aware of the thriving market for fake Rolexes, Luis Vuitton hand bags and the like. This phenomenon has recently infiltrated the network hardware market. These fakes, often referred to in the industry as, "Chisco" (fake Cisco products originating in China), are popping up more and more. Cisco Systems is the largest provider of Internet telephony equipment in the world, and account for some 80% of all used equipment sales worldwide. This enormous popularity has made them the obvious target for such fake product reproduction.

It helps to have a few tools to protect yourself from fraud. Rule 1 when shopping for used equipment is to be wary of suppliers from China. Historically, most of these fakes have originated somewhere in China. So be careful when dealing with a Chinese supplier. Try to deal with a reputable supplier and develop a relationship. It helps to look for quality business certifications such as "ISO 9001" and others when choosing a reseller.

When using online auctions, feedback is king! Make sure you deal exclusively with resellers who have significant positive feedback from multiple people. Take a quick peek at the actual responses and confirm that they in-fact come from unique sources and not all the same person. People have been known online, to buy large inexpensive quantities from one another to essentially stuff the ballot box and artificially flood the others feedback score.

Who are some of the leading companies in the refurbished hardware market?
I will breakdown this answer into 2 individual categories. The outlet seller and the full service provider.

Full service provider:

These organizations offer a full suite of services for the IT customer. In this model, relationships are formed between the salesperson and customer. The sales cycle can last anywhere from 5 minutes to 1 year. The customer will usually disclose all relevant information regarding their project or current network configuration. Educated sales people here will assist the customer to make decision about what product or products might best solve their particular business needs. These providers will often offer integration services as well, helping the customer to install the new equipment into their existing set-up. A prime example of this type of sale would be Digital warehouse. DW is a certified NY based full service supplier of refurbished network hardware. Their mission is "reducing the cost of network infrastructure", and that's exactly what they do. With a rigorous reconditioning and testing process coupled with a warranty program that rivals anyone else's in the industry, they allow you to feel safe and secure that you are getting quality second hand hardware at a great price.

Outlet sales:

Online outlet sales have recently emerged as a new trend in the used hardware industry. Direct selling online has become the latest luxury for IT professionals who know what they want or need. Usedcisco's. website is the ideal address for such transactions. They borrowed Michael Dell's direct approach to selling online and moved away from the traditional consultative sales approach. Basically, assuming that many of these products have become commoditized and listed products and pricing directly on their site. For the first time, an end user could go online quickly and source product at a reasonable price, place the order and be finished in record time. Never once having to deal with a salesperson along the way.

What is the difference between refurbished hardware and used hardware?
Refurbished hardware are renovated, reset and fully tested. The term "used hardware" is often used synonymously with refurbished hardwarein this industry. However; on occasion, particularly in online auctions, the term "used", may also mean that it has not been tested or reconditioned in any way. Under such circumstances it is preferential to inquire about the specifics before purchasing under the title "used".

Are there any other price advantages associated with refurbished hardware?
Absolutely! You can expect to save anywhere form 30 - 90% off list price when buying used. Traditionally people would shy away from used equipment because of the inherent risk that it presented. However, with current competition in the secondary market resellers have raised their quality standards. They now provide guarantee's that outlast the original warranty given when the unit was new.

What does all this mean to you?
This means that most of the risk formerly associated with buying hardware used has been eliminated. With a little bit of knowledge and a touch of common sense you can now enjoy massive discounts on IT equipment, stress free! Making "reconditioned", the new way to go for hip IT professionals everywhere.

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Windows XP Tips for Computer Security

by: Chris Kaminski

Here are a couple of tips to speed up your Windows XP computer and help keep you protected and secure online. First you need to control which programs load on startup: Many of the programs you install on your computer automatically configure themselves to launch at startup, usually invisibly. The truly essential ones, such as anti-virus and firewall products, generally run as services and run fine in the background. Other less important software like media players don't need to be running continually.

These extra programs slow the boot process and then severely suck up resources like memory and CPU cycles. It is pretty easy to control which applications launch on startup. The System Configuration Utility lists all these applications in one place:

1) To get there: Click the �Start' button then choose the �Run' command.

2) In the text box type "msconfig". - Across the top of the dialog box select the �Startup' tab.

3) The Startup Tab lists all the programs that launch at start-up. To disable any of these simply un-check the box on the left. Only non-essential programs are listed here it should be safe to un-check pretty much anything. If it turns out you needed it just go back and re-check it.

4) Once you are done re-boot the machine.

5) When the Desktop returns you will be presented with a window that says you have chosen Selective Startup. Just Check "Do not show this window again" and click OK.

To keep your computer secure, turn on automatic updates. Seems like every virus writer has nothing better to do then attack Windows operating systems. Keeping the system patches and security fixes is critical. During the setup of XP Service Pack 2 with a new computer or an up-grade you are asked whether or not to turn on automatic updates, if you made the mistake of checking no you can find this option in the Windows Security Center (Start / Control Panel) and change it back. Even with all its faults, XP is a powerful operating system that has many good security features.

Here are some more tips to help you get the most out of your operating system. Remove Windows components not found in ADD / REMOVE. Many Windows components, things like Network Services or Solitaire are easy to remove through the Add or Remove programs configuration window (Start / ControlPanel / Add and Remove Programs / Windows Components). Simply un-check them, but � some things are deliberately hidden.

A good example would be MSN Messenger. To remove this from startup follow these steps:

1) In Windows Explorer (right click Start / Explore), navigate to C:WindowsInf and make a copy of Sysoc.inf.

2) Double click on Sysoc.inf and it will open in Notepad.

3) Press Ctrl H (opens Find and Replace) and replace the string ,hide, with ,, then save and replace the file. Now all the hidden components will appear.

4) Then follow the steps above for removing programs from the startup menu.

To restore a corrupted system file: If a necessary system file should become missing or corrupted by a virus you can replace it from your Windows CD.

1) Go to Start / Search and type in the file name replacing the last letter with an underscore (ex. Filename.ex_).

2) If the file is found, open a command prompt (Start / Run, type CMD in the textbox).

3) At the prompt type expand followed by the full pathname of the file and destination (expand D:Windowsfilename.ex_ C:Windowsfilename.exe) where D: is the letter of your disc drive. If either pathname contains spaces surround the entire pathname with double quotes. If the file isn't found search again using the un-modified file name, it is probably in a CAB file, Windows treats these as folders, simply drag the new folder to the destination while holding down the right mouse button then select Copy Here.

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Temporary Internet Files

by: Mil Incorporated

Summary: Temporary Internet Files explained. There is also information how to delete temporary internet files and corresponding index.dat files.

What are Temporary Internet Files?
Temporary Internet Files are, in fact, the cache of the Internet Explorer. This means that when you load a web page with Internet Explorer, it is saved on your computer so that if you later decide to open the same page again, it will open a lot faster. Temporary Internet Files improve speed of web browsing and also make possible so called offline browsing, which gives you the ability to open the web pages from cache even when you are not connected to the Internet.

Despite all these positive things about Temporary Internet Files, they have one big drawback: they compromise your privacy. Everyone with access to your computer can look into your Temporary Internet Files folder (location of this folder is discussed here) and see the sites that you have visited in the past. You can manually delete the contents of Temporary Internet Files folder (explained here) but this will not erase all traces of the pages because a special file called Index.dat is placed in this folder and it will still preserve the names and even the dates of your first visits to many pages.

Where is located Temporary Internet Files folder?
The location of the Temporary Internet Files folder depends on the version of Windows and whether or not you are using user profiles.

If you have Windows XP or Windows 2000 then Temporary Internet Files are in this location (note that on your PC they can be on other drive instead of drive C):

C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\

If you have Windows Me, Windows 98, Windows NT or Windows 95 then index.dat files are in these locations:

C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\

C:\Windows\Profiles\\Temporary Internet Files\

Note that on your computer the Windows directory may not be C:\Windows but some other directory. If you don't have Profiles directory in you Windows directory don't worry - this just means that you are not using user profiles.

How to delete Temporary Internet Files?
To delete Temporary Internet Files manually, do the following things:

1. Start Internet Explorer and click Tools menu, then select Internet Options... from this menu. This will open the Internet Options window.

2. Click General tab and then find in the section Temporary Internet Files the button Delete Files... and click it. A new dialog box opens.

3. In the Delete Files dialog box, click to select the Delete all offline content check box if you want to delete all Web page content that you have made available offline.

4. Click OK to delete the files. Note that if you are doing this for the first time, the deleting can take a large amount of time, so be patient.

WARNING! This will most probably delete all visible items in the Temporary Internet Files folder (except cookies) but a number of invisible traces may remain in the index.dat files. The only way to be sure that you are getting rid of all traces for good is the usage of specialized privacy protection program like Mil Shield - a powerful privacy protection program that was designed specifically to clean and shred the Temporary Internet Files. Additional benefit is the ability to preserve the tracks from some chosen by you sites (selective cleaning), which makes your browsing more comfortable and safe (it is rather suspicious to always have empty history, cookies and Temporary Internet Files - it is better to leave some tracks from "innocent" sites). Mil Shield also cleans all other tracks as index.dat files, cookies, history, cache, AutoComplete records, UserData records, history of recently used folders and documents and many more.

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Ways To Hide Files On Your Computer

by: Clinton Brown

At some point in time, perhaps on your family computer, or your own computer, you will develop, collect, and store some important personal files on your hard drive that are strictly for your needs and purposes. These digital files may be so important to you, that under no circumstances, should anyone ever be able to access and see them. Some of these personal and business files may include documents, spreadsheets, emails, pdfs, text files, invoices, pictures, videos, and mp3s. These files may be so sensitive in nature, that you realize a need to prevent your spouse, kids, friends, or anyone for that matter, from viewing and accessing them. Perhaps, you may even need to hide porn or other explicit files. Just imagine if your spouse, or little ones at home, did a file search for all picture files and movies that were on your computer. Hopefully the results wouldn't expose them to anything that you wouldn't want them to see. Just imagine what could happen, if your children at home decided to fool around with your work and files that was listed in the recent documents menu. Ok, you get the point. And thus, this question is raised: How do I hide files and folders so that they won't be discovered?

There are several ways in which you can hide files: You can put your files within a folder and apply the hidden attribute to the folder. You can bury your files deeply in subdirectories within subdirectories and hope that no one browses using Windows Explorer. You can change the file name and file extension of your file to something unique and strange, so that no one recognizes it, or you can purchase a file hiding software security application such as a folder lock or folder hider with password protection.

All of the above methods may be your solution to hide your important files. It simply depends on the significant importance of your files and level of security you need. You can apply the hidden attribute to a folder or file by choosing to do so within its properties. This is a simple way of hiding a folder in Windows XP. However, the files will still show up if a user sets the option "show hidden files and folders" within the folders options. Another way to hide a file is simply by concealing it by dumping it into a folder you think no one will ever access. However, you run the risk of it appearing within the results of a Windows Search and having it displayed in the documents list. Another way to hide a file is by renaming it along with its file extension so that no one recognizes it or is able to open it using its standard program. Although this method could possibly work for you, you would have to waste time renaming it and changing it back to the correct extension.

And thus, the following question is raised: What is a quick and sure proof way to hide files in windows so that they won't appear within Windows Explorer and won't be displayed in the results of a Windows search? Your solution: A simple and easy to use folder security software utility that will allow you to hide files and folders and make them reappear all with a simple hotkey. Supreme Folder Hider is such a solution that will save you time and will provide you with an extra added sense of security. Supreme Folder Hider prevents all file access from Windows Explorer, the command prompt, shortcuts, and most recently used document lists.

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Never Miss A File Again With Rollback Rx

by: Jacob Henderson

Rollback Rx is the most effective solution to fix computer problems for any computer user. If you were a business owner, one of your biggest nightmares would be to lose critical data because a software download misfired, or because an update failed. The data loss, big or small, could result in major losses depending on how important it was. There is always the risk of major data loss if there is no suitable computer security software installed.

Easy Solution
Businesses operate for profit. They would rather spend their money on growing their business than investing in fancy technology. They want a solution that is easy to use, quick to restore computers to an operational state and flexible. They do not want to wait for long periods of time for technical support to figure out what is wrong to fix computer problems. In the event of a disaster recovery due to system crash, they simply cannot afford to lose customers because they were unable to react in time. Rollback Rx fits the bill on every count. It saves money on technical support, because every user in an organization can be trained to use this system restore software.

Thanks to Rollback Rx, speedy recovery from a virus attack or system crash is possible. This is regardless of whether the operating system booted or not. When Rollback Rx is installed in the system, it is as simple as clicking the mouse and returning to a healthy PC without losing data.

Tremendous Time Saver
Multi user systems are even more critical to maintain and keep running. Imagine a network of ten computers down because of a virus attack! The system downtime would have been several hours � but with Rollback Rx, it is reduced to minutes because of the ease with which it operates, quietly and efficiently. Even a remote network administrator can restore computers located elsewhere to working status. Response time to fix computer user complaints is only three minutes or less with Rollback Rx, whereas without it, problems often take more than a working day to fix.

Rollback Rx Saves You Money
Businesses prefer Rollback Rx system restore software because it saves them tension from waiting for tech support, while saving them the costs related to fixing computer problems. They are able to concentrate their efforts at satisfying their customers rather than worry about data loss and how to recover it. Rollback Rx�s snapshot technology enables them to save pictures of the entire system at various points of time so that they can rollback or roll forward to a specific configuration. Their employees are more productive with decrease in downtime of systems. They are able to save money on additional expensive software.

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The Internet And Security - How To Avoid The Pitfalls

by: John Mailer

According to many Internet experts, Internet and security concerns are foremost on people's minds nowadays. With all of the security and Internet stories about identity theft, Internet worms, Trojan horse viruses, and spyware, everyone wants to make sure that they have the best Internet security available. The problem is that the Internet is still a fairly new technology. Even the most tech savvy of us usually don't know how it works, or how to adequately protect ourselves. In general, we are stuck taking the advice of anyone who will give it to us. We take their word about what are the best Internet and security solutions without really knowing how to investigate it ourselves. In general, we don't know where Internet security problems start, or how to fix them.

I have been researching Internet and security lately, and what I have found has surprised me. It turns out that Internet security and privacy have a lot more to do with the programs that you are running than what websites you go to. Users of Apple computers, for example, almost never get viruses. They are rarely exposed to worms, or identity theft problems provided that they adequately protect their passwords. The same goes for users of Linux. As a matter of fact, the only operating system which is routinely exposed to Internet and security threats is Windows. Anyone who uses Windows and is concerned about Internet and security Should really think about changing operating systems. It is easier to do than you might think.

The reason that Windows is such a Web security risk has a lot to do with the way that it is put together. Basically, is made to do everything for you. If you use Microsoft Mail, for example, it will automatically open files without asking you, never knowing whether or not a virus lurks inside. At every level, it is written with Internet and security concerns as an afterthought. This means that it is Completely filled with holes. When these holes are discovered, they will send out Internet and security bug fixes. Until someone is victimized, however, they usually have no idea that the programs are at risk.

Of course, Internet Web security is another problem altogether. A lot of Internet and security problems start in the computer, but other ones start with Internet transactions. E commerce security is not quite as good as a lot of the companies would have you believe. Often, passwords and financial information are stolen from Internet web sellers. No matter how good your own security is, if you buy from someone with a flawed system, you could be the victim.

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How to Prevent and Protect Yourself from Online Fraud

by: Tyler Cole

If you have ever been victim of fraud before, then you know all too well how ugly it can be. The key to preventing fraud is to use common sense and investigate with all the information you have.

Preventing Fraud
They key to preventing fraud is to collect as much information as possible. While more information is generally better, there is such thing as too much information too. You don't want to go around collecting your clients' SSNs, as that probably would scare them away. A shopping cart, or some sort of ordering system is usually a good idea in keeping your customer data secure and easily findable.

Below we're going to break up the different techniques you can do with certain types of information.

IP Address
The best thing you can do with an IP address is figuring out the location of it. You can do this with http://www.domaintools.com or http://www.dnsstuff.com. Sometimes an IP can be off by a few states or a few hundred miles at the most. But if the IP location is in a different country than your customer, then you may have a problem. From my experience, the IP is usually from an odd country. Generally IP is one of the most clear indicators, but it can be wrong.

Phone Number
With a phone number, you can do several things. The most obvious is figure out where the area code is. If this is a US phone number, you should be able just Google the area code and it will tell you the location of it. Be forewarned, that a lot of times people have an area code near them, but not necessarily in the same location. Then there are the oddballs who have a VoIP number or something similar on the other side of the country. You got to be very careful with phone numbers.

The next thing you can do is a reverse phone lookup. I find http://wwww.whitePages.com to be the most effective and easiest to use. A lot of numbers that you will lookup will be unlisted or cell phone numbers. A reverse phone lookup is also an effective method for finding out if your customer is a minor or just slightly older than a minor (as always, there are exceptions to this).

Domain
Every domain must have contact information. There are services out there that offer privacy protection for their contact information, but a lot of the domains are unprotected. You can lookup your client's domain using DomainTools to see if it's registered to them, and if it is, compare the information there with the information that they gave you.

Username / email
Almost all of the fraudsters that you will encounter will use a form of a free email address. The tricky part is, so will your legitimate customers. Googling their email address or a username will sometimes return some results that you can checkout, and learn more about your customer to see if he will be the ideal customer.

How to Deal with an Existing Fraud Case
Didn't see this tutorial in time to learn how to prevent fraud? Well, let's go over the basics on fighting those pesky chargebacks.

No matter what type of merchant account you own, if it is a legitimate fraud, then you will lose. It's pretty simple. However you do stand a chance against those who cry fraud, when in reality, they just wanted it free.

If you use Paypal, then you do stand a chance. If you sell a non-tangible service, such as software, or programming/designing etc. then tell Paypal this. Provide proof that you did fraud screening, and that you know this person received what you guaranteed to them. If they've paid through a credit card to Paypal, then your chances become increasingly smaller. Almost every dispute a consumer files with their credit card company, they will reward the consumer. Fighting a credit card chargeback is not an easy task at all.

The bottom line is use common sense. Try to call your customers directly if possible, to speak with them over the phone. This is by far the best method of preventing fraud. But just remember, there is not a single method that will reduce fraud by 100%. You should always be aware of that, each and every day.

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Find Top Quality FREE Audiobooks

by: Steve J Cowan

Audiobooks have, over the past few years, become an amazing success story, even though the recording of the spoken word, as opposed to music, has been around for over 100 years.

Indeed, it is fair to say that audiobooks have really brought the recorded spoken word into the public consciousness, even though a substantial portion of our cultural heritage from the last century is already recorded in enormous collections of spoken word materials.

Unfortunately, a large percentage of these historical audio tracts are hidden away in private collections, museums and so on, representing huge quantities of priceless historical artifacts that are currently unavailable to academics, scholars and the like.

Nevertheless, audiobooks have brought spoken word recordings to the attention of the audio loving public over the past few years, so, why have they become so popular, and why now?

Answering that, the wrong way around, 'why now' can be answered with two simple words - mp3�s and the internet.

Mp3 recording technology is only 30 years old, but it began to revolutionize worldwide listening practices almost as soon as it was invented, simply because it reduced massive digital sound files down to manageable levels.

Generally, mp3 files are twelve times smaller than other audio and video file types, because they get rid of all the sounds from the original recording that are beyond human hearing.

The internet is a perfect tool for working with these mp3�s, allowing anyone with a connection to instantly download mp3 files, and then play them back on their PC, on a mobile mp3 player or on a standard CD, after the mp3 is burned on to it.

Of course, all of the above applies equally well to music or to audiobooks, so why the current boom in audiobooks?

Well, audiobooks have many in-built advantages over their written page counterparts. Some of these advantages are:

� They take up no space on your shelves or in your home. Perhaps an important factor at a time when average living spaces are gradually becoming smaller.

� They have no weight or bulk. An audiobook is nothing more than a digital file, so that you can conveniently carry it around with you on a mobile mp3 or CD player.

� They are not easily damaged. There are no pages to be ripped or worn out.

� They allow you to 'multi-task', which is becoming an ever more important requirement of every day life. You can dig the garden, walk the dog, and go to the mall, all whilst listening to an audiobook.

Effectively, an audiobook offers all of the advantages and benefits of a written word book such as being able to improve oneself through further education, or to catch up with literary classics that you somehow missed, all without the downsides of a large, bulky book

Another great advantage of audiobooks, and perhaps the best reason for the current audiobook explosion, is that there are lots of sources to find completely free books all over the internet.

Compare that to your local book store. When was the last time they gave you something for free?

By simply running a search through any of the major search engines, you would be able to turn up many, many sites giving away free audiobooks. Obviously, this ability to get free samples before deciding whether to invest you�re hard earned cash in audiobooks is a major plus point.

There are, however, two points to draw to your attention about many of the free audiobook download sites.

First, many of the sites offer the audiobooks for free for one reason. The quality of the recording and (often) the reading is so poor that no-one would ever consider paying for it!

Second, many of the texts that are read to create these audiobooks are open source works, meaning that there either never was a copyright on the title, or that it has expired. In either case, we are talking about a very old works that are usually very average indeed (otherwise, they would have a value, and still be copyrighted!)!

Audiobooks are definitely something that you should try if you have not already done so, especially as you can get great quality titles for free.

But, just make sure to look for good quality audiobooks for your first taster of exactly what they have to offer, and you cannot go far wrong.

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