National Cyber Alert System

Cyber Security Tip ST05-008

You may think that you are anonymous as you browse web sites, but pieces of information about you are always left behind. You can reduce the amount of information revealed about you by visiting legitimate sites, checking privacy policies, and minimizing the amount of personal information you provide.

What information is collected?

When you visit a web site, a certain amount of information is automatically sent to the site. This information may include the following:

* IP address – Each computer on the internet is assigned a specific, unique IP (internet protocol) address. Your computer may have a static IP address or a dynamic IP address. If you have a static IP address, it never changes. However, some ISPs own a block of addresses and assign an open one each time you connect to the internet—this is a dynamic IP address. You can determine your computer’s IP address at any given time by visiting www.showmyip.com
* domain name – The internet is divided into domains, and every user’s account is associated with one of those domains. You can identify the domain by looking at the end of URL; for example, .edu indicates an educational institution, .gov indicates a US government agency, .org refers to organization, and .com is for commercial use. Many countries also have specific domain names. The list of active domain names is available from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).
* software details – It may be possible for an organization to determine which browser, including the version, that you used to access its site. The organization may also be able to determine what operating system your computer is running.
* page visits – Information about which pages you visited, how long you stayed on a given page, and whether you came to the site from a search engine is often available to the organization operating the web site.

http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST05-008.html

IS THIS REAL? no.

Dear Beloved Friend,

Greetings in the name of Lord JESUS CHRIST, I am former Alhaja Fatima Okeh,now Mrs. Felica Okeh a widow to late Alhaji Sheik Okeh, I am 51 years old and now a new Christian convert, suffering from long time cancer of the breast. From all indications my condition is really deteriorating and it s quite obvious that I may not live long according to my doctors, this is because the cancer stage has gotten to a very bad stage.

My late husband late Alhaji Sheik Okeh, was killed during the USA raid against terrorism in Afghanistan. My late husband was very wealthy, who made his money from the Afghanistan’s Government, and hence I inherited all his business and wealth after his death because during the period of our marriage we couldn’t produce any child. And now the doctor has advised me that I may not live for more that six months, so I now decide to divide this wealth in order to contribute to the development of the churches in Africa, America, Asia and Europe and for humanity in general.

I selected you after visiting the website and I prayed over it, so I am willing to donate the sum of $10 million US Dollar to you on behalf of your organization to lend a hand in reaching out to the less privileged and the development of the gospel of our lord Jesus Christ, since I am very sick to handle this my dream on my own.

I want you to know that this fund is in presently in Security Company in Switzerland, where my late husband deposited it. So and upon your reply I will instruct my attorney Barrister Michael Gill Holonis, who presently is in West Africa distributing relief materials to victims of bomb blast in Sierra-Leone, to file in an application of Withdrawal of the consignment to your favor. Presently I am writing this letter from a Hospital in London where I have been taken my treatment, which is why I handed over every thing concerning this Donation to my Attorney, since he has been my family Lawyer for 18 years now. Meanwhile to process the documents that will be used to withdrawn this consignment from the Security Company I will need some vita information about you or on behalf of your organization, so that I will forward it to my Attorney immediately, so please confirm this items as below:

1,your full name
2,your mailing address
3,your telephone and fax numbers.

On receipt of this confirmed items I will forward it to my Attorney so that some necessary changes will be made on the documents to enable you have claim to the Consignment/Donation.

Lastly, I honestly pray that this Donation when transferred to you, will be used for the said purpose and properly too, because I have come to find out that wealth acquisition without Christ is vanity. Please note that until this Donation is delivered to you, I will strongly insist that this transaction most be keep a top secret.

May the grace of our lord Jesus Christ, the love of GOD, and the fellowship of GOD be with you and your family as I wait your gentle and kind response to this mail.

Expecting to hear from you as soon as possible.
GOD blesses you and your family.
Mrs. Felica Okeh

Wireless Routers vs Wired Router

Overview: Routers, switches and hubs (1) (a.ka Internetworking devices) give you access to the Internet (2) via some sort of ISP device (broadband modem, DSL ect) (3). The speed onto the actual Internet depends on the service you have purchased with your local ISP (4). They are the gatekeepers (AT&T, Comcast, Verison, Local ISP ect). This usually creates a bit of a bottleneck because your local area network (LAN) is much faster than your connection to the actual Internet. You actual connection to the Internet is controlled by your ISP. Wired LANs will allow you to get from 100-1000Mb/second, Wireless will get from from 10-250Mb (depending on how far from the wireless router you are and what type you get).

ISPs allow you to go anywhere from 56Kbs – 12Mbs:

Dial-up: 56Kbs – (4 minutes to download 1.7MB file)

DSL: up to 6Mbs – (2 seconds to download 1.7MB file)

Cable: up to 12Mbs – (1 second to download 1.7MB file)

*the math: 1.7 Mega Bytes is 13,600,000 bits (per second) of data divided by n, where n is your speed (i.e. 56K = 56,000 bits per second)
**There is a technology called WiMax Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (802.16e) coming out that will allow wireless to go directly in your home from the ISP at 70Mb/second and that will beat every currently on the market.

If you have a home LAN (more than one computer in your home linked together connected to the Internet), your network is passing data at about 100Mb/second – which is really fast for even really large files. But this is where the Wireless vs. Wired Internet comes in. Don’t confuse your internal network speed with your connection to the Internet (see overview).

Should you go with a wireless or a wired router?
Any wireless router you get will have both options available, so you are better off getting a wireless. The cost isn’t usually that different unless you want a high end wireless which will usually be between $20-$50 more.

Which Switch is Faster, wireless or wired?
It really depends on what kind you get. However, the fastest wired router will beat the pants off of the fastest wireless. Wired routers go up to 100-1000Mb. Of course, I high end wireless can have everything a high end router has (including those super 1000Mb speeds).

SUPER HIGH END HOME ROUTER