[Jewelry making - Article 01172] - Re: [Orchid] [Biz Talk] Computer for business

[Larrie Easterly]

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    You pose an interesting question one that many business have asked
    and solved in many different ways. Having worked for a large computer
    company and owned my own software and web design business I have
    seen it done many ways in both large corporations, small businesses
    and personal use. 

    IMHO the internet is much safer place to be if you are not running
    the Windows operation system. I recommend using an Apple Macintosh
    because of the ease of setup, resistance to virus attack and overall
    quality. The types of programs that you are talking about running are
    all available on Mac as well as Windows systems. 

    One computer or two? This really depends on how you want to keep in
    touch with your clients. If you are only going to send them
    information via postal mail then having their information on a stand
    alone computer. You can then type them letters and mail them. If on
    the other hand they you want to send the client you will need to have
    their address in your email program on the computer that in on the
    net. This means that some personal information is on the computer
    that is connected to the internet. You also have the problem of
    having to update the information on two machines when it changes. I
    currently have three computers hooked up to the network in my house.
    One is used only for web site testing, is my wife's and the last is
    the one I use for both business and personal use. 

    The reason that information gets stolen by hackers from computers on
    the internet is that the user does something stupid like not
    deleting a users login information when they leave the company or
    allow weak passwords to be used in the system, or not setting up
    their wireless networks and firewalls correctly. Firewalls keep other
    computers from accessing your computer. The home systems that I set
    up are scaled down versions of what corporations use. First there is
    the cable modem that is connected directly to the internet. After
    that comes the fire wall with a ten to 12 letter/number/character
    password. Firewalls are useless if you do not change the password.
    The firewall is also configured so that it prevents unauthorized
    incoming access from another computer. After that is the router that
    the computers plug into. The router password is also changed and
    configured correctly. The computers are all set up with the password
    enabled. This means that a person using another computer need to
    login to my computer to view any files. My last line of defense is
    that I do not have the computer running if I am not using it. My home
    system is wired not wireless. Why? Lets just say that I can surf the
    web using two of my neighbors internet connections. 

    The defenses I talked about so far will not prevent virus from
    coming into your machine. Virus' get loaded onto a machine from two
    main sources, a contaminated disk, or as an infected email, or
    attachment that comes in from the internet. As I stated above the
    Windows operating system is very vulnerable to attack. I am always
    amazed how much junk get sucked into Windows machines as you surf the
    web. I have started with a clean Windows machine, surfed the web for
    a couple of hours, run the antivirus / antispyware software and wound
    up with several hundred suspect files. I have not seen this same type
    of harassment while using a Mac. If you decide to use a Windows based
    system make sure you purchase antivirus / antispyware software and
    update it and use it daily. 

    Just remember that when your computer is connected to the internet
    the odds of being attacked by a hacker are very small. This is
    especially true if you only turn on your modem when you want to
    connect to the internet. When a modem is turned off it is invisible
    to the internet. Each time you turn it on it requests an IP address
    your Internet Service Provider (ISP). The IP address that gets
    assigned is different each time you turn it on so a hacker is very
    unlikely to find you in the millions of IP addresses out there. Even
    if you leave the modem on all the time your ISP will change the
    address every few days so your chances are small that they will find
    you. 

    As a point of reference, my delightful wife keeps her Mac PowerBook
    computer on all the time. She is connected to the internet through
    the setup I have described above. She has two email addresses, one on
    Yahoo and the other on my system. She keeps her personal emails on
    the PowerBook and uses the Yahoo account when she is purchasing
    items, responding to advertisements, and filling out web forms. The
    Yahoo account gets tons of junk mail. Her other account gets very
    little. Her activities make me nervous but her system has not been
    infected in the past four or five years. 

    BTY - I also do enameling. 

Hope this helps.

Larrie


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