Your ISP and your email client may be holding you back.

In my last MNOtes, I talked about taking full advantage of your website to keep your email address from ever changing. In today’s MNOtes, I want to discuss the painful truth about your ISP choices and the use of a good firewall and antivirus.

I want to lay out for you a good model for your home network. I know that there are a few IT people on MNO, chime in with any further support.
First let me tell you that I speak from corporate experience in a support position over a decade plus. Mostly for corporate attorneys who need a secure home system.

BASICS:
An ideal system will include a hi-speed modem, a router and a computer. Sounds easy. Now let’s get specific.
The modem is you connection to your ISP and connects to your home system with a CAT5/network cable. I would refrain from using a USB cable as the speed is better with the network cable. Next in line is a router. Please understand that this is a necessary front line of defense for your computer whether it be Mac or PC. From the router you would use a network cable to attach your computer.

A little closer look:
OK, next level of specifics. I will not get into which router or PC is better or whether you should buy instead of rent your modem. I will tell you that a secure router is almost everything you need. I said ALMOST. Here is a scenario I have worked with to help you get the best for the least. If you get the best settings for your router, you can get away with AVG free version and the Windows firewall to be secure. Read that again! A secured router, AVG free and Windows firewall. I ran my desktop as thin as possible for two years now to see the effects. To make it ultimately secure – a secured router, Norton or McAfee Antivirus and firewall. AND THEN…be careful where you go on the internet! Very important. It’s where you go after you have built your system that gets you in trouble.

ISP’s:
Now let’s take a closer look at your ISP. I have Comcast, I have used Comcast or Covad DSL as my ISP for years. If you use SBC Global, AOL or AT&T - with all due respect, please understand that the hackers of the world are watching you. The general consensus is that these ISP’s are purchased due to budget constraints. Most users who go at that point alone generally feel that is all they need and are not interested in purchasing anything else…like a router or antivirus software. They spent about a $1500 or more on a computer and now $30plus a month for internet access??? “That’s enough!”, is what they are thinking. So, they get hacked or they get a virus. This thought is based on lack of education about a secure system. So let me follow this up with the fact that a secure router will save you from most harm. A solid antivirus and firewall are further commitments to safe surfing. And this goes for Mac users too. I have seen the signs, you are not all that safe.

Email:
Lastly, let me discuss you email client. With your ISP, you get a handful of email addresses. That’s included with your contract. Generally, this option is secure. So, what about Gmail or Yahoo or AOL? The fact remains that these are web based clients. They are applications that sit on the web waiting for you to access it. Okay, I get that. But they are not secure. In fact corporate America is on its way to banning Yahoo at the work place. Mainly because of its widespread use and lack of spam/virus seeking tools. It was consider the reason why the last major virus took over so many computers in corporations. In the legal community these email apps are consider a breach of security and not tolerated.

Another item to point out is that you are limited to 25 outgoing emails with any provider. So email blasts about an upcoming show are considered spam and your emails will bounce back to you. I added a listserv client to my account on my website so that I can send a blast without limits.

In my next MNOtes: Facebook, MySpace and other band promotion.