Some of the users of BT Home Hub wireless routers seemed to have such security problems regularly that made BT broadband provider to issue a statement on how to protect their wirless network efficiently by taking some precautions.

The statement which is featured in digital-lifestyles.info seems to reassure the BT customers that BT Home Hub comes with security features that can provide secured internet connection for majoirty of the customers. However, BT has given a few instrutions to its customers that can foolproof their Hub when any such problem arises.

BT statement on Home Hub wireless security

“Customers with enquiries on how to further protect their network will be directed to www.bt.com/help/hub, which gives detail of a number of precautionary actions that can be taken to help increase their on-line security. These include:
Changing the default wireless key and the encryption type from WEP to WPA.
Changing the admin login password of the Hub Manager. Leaving the Hub switched-on at all times, including overnight to benefit from firmware updates as they become available.
Having AV and firewall software installed on all computers.
Being wary of unknown web sites and e-mails from unknown sources, including invalid security certificates.”

Online security levels that the customers are aware of or how far they seriously consider internet security is quite alarming as most of the internet users who regularly go online do not take sufficient measures to prevent from phishing, spam or virus attacks. Due to the increasingly insecure online conditions, less than one-tenths (8 %) of the customers could say they are totally safe from any sort of online attacks that includes malware or unauthorized access of their PCs.

John Bosnell of Point Topic says:
“78% of consumers have some form of anti-virus software and 53% have a firewall but this is actually a drop over the last 6 months. Our previous survey in the series returned 85% and 56% for users saying they have adopted those precautions,”

When you sign up to broadband, the ISPs usually provide you with some sort of anti-virus protection and spam filters. Most of this software will be a trial version or lacks advanced features that can cent percent protect your PCs from online threats. It is more than important that we should buy good security suite to become completely safe when we go online.

Interestingly, Windows Vista was vulnerable to fewer security flaws than Windows XP. The results were quite contrary to the general view that Mac is less susceptible to security flaws than Windows.

There is another view that the time that is taken by each OS to patch vulnerabilities is also crucial.

Mac has a significant advantage as the exploit codes are not many to exploit Mac OS while there are lots of exploit codes available that make Windows OS easy prey to security flaws.

If you are a Mac user, there are not many ISPs who offer Mac support when you take up broadband deal. Read our article on Mac broadband packages to find and compare Mac-compatible packages available in the UK.

IronPort Systems, the major email and internet security provider issued the Web Security Report 2008 that shows how spam has become an inevitable reality as most of the emails that circluate over the globe are spam (98%).

It is really hard to believe that only two percent of total emails (that are sent everyday)are legitimate. The report says over 120 billion spam are circulated worldwide everyday. Out of this staggering numbers, 20 billion spam emails have been attacking the users in the UK. Ofcourse, the USA is the country which receives the majority of spams sent everyday.

While the report says that the social networking sites are often targeted by the spammers to get personal information about the users, it also indicates nearly half of the organizations do not inform their customers over the risk factors involved in revealing their personal information.

How we can safeguard ourselves from spam messages then? IronPort offers following security tips:

• When you open spam email, you indirectly encourage the spammers. They know which spam mails you open, how many times etc. as these emails come with some email tracking software. So, don’t open any email that sounds suspicious.
• Spam messages usually have some links. Clicking any of them will lead to virus or spyware infection, so don’t click on any link. Sometimes, you may get phishing mails (fake messages) appearing as though they are from reputed business firms asking you to fill in your bank account details. In both cases, don’t hesitate to delete the messages.
• If you use spam filter, let it deal with spam. Any kind of response to spam will only lead to further spam, so never answer to a suspected email message.
• All spam emails have a single aim – aim to make you buy some thing by sending you all details which may sound attractive. If you purchase anything, there is not only a chance being cheated but you also contribute to the growth of spam in the internet. So, do your online shopping on only legitimate sites.
• Whenever you happen to shop online, it’d better use a separate email account for it. Always keep your main email account separate for far more important things in your life (personal and business).
• Many a times you need to use your credit cards for online transactions. There are one-time use credit cards available with many banks. Get one and use it while shopping online so that no one can use it later.
• The spam issues can be easily solved if your broadband provider offers good protection to your email accounts. So, your choice of the best broadband provider who provides anti-spam, anti-virus and parental controls can help you a lot. You can make use of our broadband comparison which can help you to choose the best broadband package with all security features.

According to survey taken by Yougov and Cloudmark, a provider solution to spam issues, more than one-fourths of the people surveyed (1960 adults) expressed that they should protect themselves from phishing attacks by being more alert and aware of these issues.

Twenty-three percent of the surveyed adults felt that their broadband service providers should have better spam filters on their email servers as they are responsible for the online security of their customers. Likewise, some people (17%) pointed their fingers towards the sender’s service provider or the email service provider as responsible for the phishing attacks.

However, Nigel Stevens of THUS felt that both users and the ISPs should assume responsibility and take steps to prevent email phishing attacks.
“Whilst awareness to the problem is essential, it is unrealistic to expect businesses to be able to secure themselves fully against such sophisticated criminal activities. The increasingly dynamic and transient nature of the latest threats requires a combination of desktop protection at the client level, and accurate message filtering from ISPs,”

Cloudmark, the anti-spam expert says that VoIP is more vulnerable to phishing attacks as the VoIP system comes with relatively lesser security features. Neil Cook of Cloudmark tells us how the deception takes place:
“If the recipient makes the call, it gets routed to a cheap VoIP answering system, which may have been set-up on a compromised host. The system captures the user ID and pincode to sell on to the highest bidder, who then has full access to your account. All the while the call seems very genuine. The reassurance of speaking to an individual rather than working online will lead to many instances of consumers falling foul to such threats.”