Good practices help protect your computers from cyber attacks
22 - 12 - 2002

Computer users should adopt proper and effective computing practices to protect their computers from cyber attacks, particularly during the high-risk festive seasons.

To raise public awareness and promote ethics on information security, the Government has set up the INFOSEC web site (www.infosec.gov.hk) which serves as a one-stop portal to facilitate the public's access to various information security related resources and updates.

"Information security is an important pillar to support the fast pace with which the e-business environment in Hong Kong needs to develop," said a spokesman for the Information Technology Services Department (ITSD) today (December 22).

In a highly interconnected information world, no individual or enterprise could be completely immune from cyber attacks and information security is everyone's business.

"Members of the public are encouraged to visit the INFOSEC web site to find out how they can protect themselves as well as share their responsibilities to help secure our information world," the spokesman said.

The web site is specially designed with different sections for various groups of computer users, including students and youngsters, parents and teachers, information technology professionals as well as small and medium enterprises.

This allows them to effectively obtain information relevant to their own focus.

The web site also carries information on computer crimes, related legislation in Hong Kong, contact list of relevant organisations and important news and events on computer security.

The web site is regularly updated to provide the latest information and news on information security, such as virus and security alerts, technology news and development, as well as upcoming events and activities.

Meanwhile, the ITSD spokesman reminded the public that festive seasons like the coming Christmas and New Year were high-risk periods of virus outbreaks and hackers' attacks. Viruses or malicious programs may be packaged as e-mails camouflaged as seasonal greetings.

While enterprises are strongly advised to protect their computer systems and networks, home users should also apply similar practices to protect their computers and information against damage or unauthorised access.

The spokesman said, "In fact, by adopting some basic principles and measures, we can effectively protect our computers from a lot of the common cyber attacks."

Some of the computing practices that one should "DO" and "NOT DO" include:

DOs

• Do install anti-virus software and scan personal computers (PCs) regularly using the latest virus signatures;
• Do scan all e-mail attachments, downloaded files, floppy disks and compact disks before use;
• Do keep PC operating systems and software up-to-date with the latest security updates and patches;
• Do perform on-line transactions only at reliable web sites that offer security protection, such as use of encryption, security socket layer (SSL) or security electronic transaction (SET) techniques;
• Do choose passwords that are difficult to be guessed by others and change them regularly;
• Do enable the password function for screen savers and power-on sequences; and
• Do disconnect your computer from the Internet when it is not in use.

DON'Ts

• Don't visit suspicious web sites;
• Don't download files from doubtful sources;
• Don't open or forward e-mails and e-mail attachments from unknown sources;
• Don't enable automatic processing of e-mail attachments;
• Don't disclose or submit personal information unnecessarily;
• Don't use system default passwords;
• Don't save login passwords into PCs; and
• Don't disclose Internet accounts and passwords to others or share with them.

Members of the public are welcome to visit the INFOSEC web site to obtain more information and to keep pace with the development and updates on information security.

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