Saving Your Software’s License Information

Nearly every time you purchase software — whether you get it from a retail store, have it shipped to you, or purchase a downloadable version — you have to deal with license codes (also called license keys) to make the product work. Sometimes license keys come on little stickers in the packaging, other times they are printed on the CD. They might be e-mailed to you, found on a Web page, or even read to you over the phone.

Regardless of how you get your license key and other activation information, you need to keep all this information for all your programs in a very safe place. If you’re a hobbyist, it may suffice to put hard copies in a folder in a desk drawer. But if you’re making your living using your computer, you had better make copies and keep them in a safety-deposit box or other seriously safe place.

Keeping Alternate E-Mail Accounts

It’s more or less inevitable: Over a period of time, many organizations are going to collect your e-mail address. And, sooner or later, after signing up for something and providing your e-mail address to this Web site or that Web site, your e-mail address is going to leak to or be purchased by a mass mailing operator (a nice term for a spammer).

I suggest you get another e-mail account. Use one for corresponding with friends and colleagues, and use another for “commercial” purposes where you have to share an e-mail address with a corporation or other organization.

Surfing the Web Safely

I’m sure that I sound like your mother when I tell you to surf wisely. As soon as you start to venture off the Internet’s main street into the dimly-lit back alleys, especially in the red-light district, you’ll find a different class of Web-site operator who resorts to dirty tricks like attempting to hijack your browser’s configuration settings or burying you in pop-up windows that won’t go away until you reboot.

Unless you do have to visit a potpourri of Web sites for (ahem) “research” purposes, I suggest you stay on the paved and well-lit parts of the Internet, where the Web sites have a somewhat better reputation and you’re less likely to get into trouble. Even on the Internet, you’ve got to stay in the nicer and more familiar parts of town. It’s especially in the cheesy parts of the Internet where your security and privacy settings work hard to protect you.

Sharing Personal Information Carefully

You need to be careful about sharing personal information about yourself online. By “personal information” I mean things like your name, date of birth, tax identification number, and bank and credit card numbers. While many sites keep very close tabs on this personal information, other sites don’t do such a hot job of protecting your information. And one of the other problems is that some of the unscrupulous Web site operators actually sell or give away your private information to others — often (you guessed it) to spammers. Unless you have no identity, you should seriously consider picking up a copy of Preventing Identity Theft for Dummies. And make sure you only purchase it from a truly legitimate Web site, or find it at a bookstore near you.

Adding Parental Internet Blockers

These blockers prevent persons from visiting (deliberately  or otherwise) Web sites containing particular content, such as porn, violence, hatred, casino gaming, and Barry Manilow.

The main purpose of these products is to protect children from accidentally or deliberately viewing content intended only for adults. They also prevent you from accidentally bumping into unpleasant sites: Try misspelling a Web site’s name and see where it takes you. On second thought, don’t try it.

Avoiding Spam

Spam is the common name used to describe junk e-mail, or unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE). Spam is, at the same time, big business for those who create and distribute it and a growing nuisance for its recipients.

By being careful how and where you share your e-mail address, you can help to keep your e-mail address away from spammers’ mailing lists. See the earlier section in this chapter, titled “Sharing Personal Information Carefully,” for information about the types of information to be leery of giving away. On the other side of the same coin, you can use a spam blocker to help eliminate the spam you already receive. If you’re serious about keeping your e-mail address out of the hands of spammers, or if you’re already drowning in a sea of spam, get hold of Fighting Spam For Dummies.

Blocking Spyware

Spyware is a wide-reaching term that describes software used to monitor your Internet usage patterns, as well as software that can attempt to change your Internet browser configuration, or even record keystrokes (Virginia, the hackers want your bank account and other online passwords). Most spyware is not malicious in the same way that viruses are, and spyware works differently than viruses do. For this reason, antivirus products do little, if anything, to protect you from spyware. Also, spyware is more of a privacy issue than it’s a security issue. Anti spyware software is used to prevent and/or remove spyware from your computer.