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Our publications offer the highest quality and are fully independent, user friendly and, more importantly, have the most up-to-date content possible. That's why our customers know that they can rely on the Papercut brand to deliver market leading and fully updated publications. Safe in the knowledge that with our help they are guaranteed to gain the very best foundation to build their knowledge, confidence and understanding of their new software and hardware.

Online Security for Beginners by Papercut Ltd

This guide book is the first and only choice if you are a new adopter and want to learn everything you'll need to get started to protect your online devices. This independent manual is crammed with helpful guides and step-by-step fully illustrated tutorials, written in plain easy to follow English. Over the pages of this new user guide you will clearly learn all you need to know about sfe set up, getting to grips with the more advanced features and discover a huge array of amazing tips. With this unofficial instruction manual at your side no problem will be unsolvable, no question unanswered as you learn, explore and enhance your user experience.

 
 

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Excerpt

Types of Security Risk

There are more security risks for your computer than just the common, run-of-the-mill virus. The amount of digital use the average person has over the course of a week has increased significantly in just a few years, and with it comes a legion of security related issues. This isn't a definitive list of the possible threats available for the Windows user but here are ten modern risks that you face every time you power up your PC.

01: Viruses

Viruses have been around for as long as computers. They've moved on from simply displaying the name of the coder on the monitor, a kind of virtual vandalism, and now can disable and wipe the data off a hard drive in mere seconds.

02: Ransomware

Earlier in the year the UK was gripped in the clutches of the WannaCry ransomware infection. This particular infection exploited a vulnerability in Windows, and quickly spread throughout the NHS and other organisations, locking and encrypting the data on a computer until money was sent to those who unleashed it to the world.

03: Worms

Although a worm is a type of virus, it behaves differently in that it's goal isn't to alter or destroy system files. Rather, it's designed to replicate itself continuously until all the resources and space on the system are consumed. A bit of a nightmare for the system administrator.

04: Trojans

The Trojan horse, as the name suggests, is a program that masquerades as a legitimate application but in actual fact contains code that allows a hacker remote access to your computer. Like the legend of the wooden horse the Greeks used to gain access to Troy, once inside your computer it opens and creates an opening for the hacker.

05: Spyware

Spyware invades computers usually through freeware or shareware downloads, which is why you should always download a program from a reputable source. The intent of spyware is to collect information about the user and report it back to those who wrote it.

06: Adware

Adware is very similar to spyware, in that one of its goals is to monitor the user. However, adware usually goes one step further and bombards the user with Internet pop-up advertising, usually when they open their browser or a new tab. The advertising can be tame, such as gardening equipment, or it can be extremely offensive.

07: Hacking

While Hollywood would have you visualise the lifestyle of a hacker as something that's quite alluring, in truth it's quite the opposite. The average user is generally under the radar where a hacker is concerned. They're mostly after the corporations, or famous people, but you can have your computer hacked by a neighbour, for example.

08: Social Engineering

A relatively modern term in the history of computer security, social engineering will have the user deceived into giving away personal information or allowing a scammer into their systems. The recent spate of calls from people claiming to be from the likes of Microsoft or a security firm are a prime example.

09: Phishing

Much in the same vein as social engineering, phishing is the act of obtaining sensitive information (bank details usually) about a user by being disguised as a trustworthy source. Phishing on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. is on the rise.

10: Rootkits

Rootkits are virus-like programs that are activated before the computer's anti-virus and security suites are started when booting Windows. They can change the way a security suite looks at files, allowing a virus to hide in plain sight and not be detected by the system's security measures.