 |
|
Dear IT Guy,
I am not the most computer savvy person. My friend just lectured me about the dangers of logging into my online banking on public computers. I told her she’s crazy, but I was wondering if there is anything I should be worried about.
ScaredofPCs
Scared, while computers shouldn’t be a big scary thing making funny noises and lurking underneath your desk you should still be wary of them. This is especially true when you are not going to be the only person using them. This is doubly, especially true when you are going to be putting super valuable banking information into them.
The reason that your computer is safer then say the computer at the mall or at Best Buy is because you are theoretically the only person that is touching your computer. By their very nature public systems can be accessed by anyone. Once someone with bad intentions can get their hands on a machine it would very easy for them to place any number of detrimental things on it.
First, and most simply, when you log into a secure site on a public machine, that information is on that machine somewhere. At the very least, make sure to erase the cookies/history on that machine before you leave it. Secondly, because a lot of people touch public machines, these machines could have any sort of viruses on them. One of the more dangerous things that this could include is key loggers. A key logger is a program that keeps track of every keystroke made on a computer. This includes the passwords to your bank account.
Here are some tips for using a public computer; First off, don’t ever save your logon information. Many social engineering websites and webmail will automatically keep you logged into the site that you are on. Always make sure to manually log out. Secondly, if you are sitting at work, or in the library and you have to go to the bathroom, make sure to either lock your machine or log out of what you were doing. Finally, if you can erase your tracks do so. Most browsers have ways to delete your temporary internet files and browsing history.
Hopefully we here at It’s Geektime have again shed light on all your PC problems. If you have any questions in the future please feel free to let us know. Finally, remember, when you’re scared and feeling technically unsure. Never fear, IT guy is here!!!
blog comments powered by Disqus
