The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Guides To Spam And Viruses - for the bookshelf Major Keary |
Two useful guides to spam control and virus protection have been released in the Dummies series. They don't go into deep technical detail, but set out to provide ordinary users with practical information that will help them to understand the problems and choose the best methods for protection.
Computer Viruses for Dummies
This title extends to the use of firewalls and the problem of spyware, and covers virus protection for PDAs. It is Windows-centric - after all, that is where most of the problems occur - and provides details about some products.
The author discusses the definition of `virus' with an explanation of the different kinds of malicious code, sometimes called malware. The book is in five parts:
Evaluating your virus situation (understanding the risk, how to decide if infection exists, and understanding antivirus software); Deploying antivirus defences (choosing a product, installation, upgrades, configuration, scanning techniques, getting rid of viruses); Maintaining your vigilance (updating software and signatures,
Microsoft security patches, firewalls and spyware blockers, protection for PDAs, safe computing practices); Looking at viruses under the microscope (a plain language explanation of how viruses operate and propagate); and The part of tens, which is a standard feature of Dummies books - in this instance a number of virus myths are despatched, and ten antivirus products are briefly discussed.
A practical book that does not require any special technical knowledge. Good value, and probably all that most users will need to manage virus protection.
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Peter Gregory: Computer Viruses for Dummies ISBN 0-7645-7418-3 Published by Wiley, 274 pp., RRP $23.95 incl. GST |
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Fighting Spam
The problem of spam has many solutions, none of which is capable of complete
success. Fighting Spam for Dummies explains in plain language how to deal with spam, and why some of it gets through the best of filters. Readers don't need
any special technical knowledge, and will certainly pick some up in this
well-written book. It is not a superficial coverage of spam, and not a list of
simple 'steps 1,2,3,.'; it is a remarkably comprehensive discussion of issues
that users need to appreciate in order to deal with their respective spam
problems. For example, readers are shown how to examine spam messages and detect
key information - which is required to make filters more effective.
I was pleased to see Pegasus Mail (a New Zealand product that is free) get a
write-up. Pegasus has highly sophisticated filtering capabilities - certainly
more advanced than Eudora - that make use of regular expressions. Its POP filter is especially
useful for mail boxes with multiple users, or users who read/send mail while
mobile and who may want certain messages to be retained on the server.
Other mail clients have filtering and the book describes how to use those
facilities in Outlook Express, Eudora, HotMail, MSN, Yahoo! Mail, Netscape, and
Mozilla.
A chapter provides a "round-up of desktop antispam programs" and another
discusses "server-side spam filtering for network administrators". The authors
cover UNIX/Linux as well as Windows.
The final part of the book lists ten leading spam scams, including the
African version of the Spanish prisoner confidence trick. It also lists some
Internet annoyances and how to deal with them.
Essential reading for Internet users. Excellent value.
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John Levine et al.: Fighting Spam for Dummies ISBN 0-7645-5965-6 Published by Wiley, 222 pp., RRP $23.95 incl. GST |
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Reprinted from the November 2004 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
