Dr. Keen
Cyber Defender & Diagnostics Lab Technician
Dr. Keen is in charge of Diagnostics and has the equipment and knowledge to fix most computer related problems.
Abandoned by her computer hacker parents when she was a child, Dr. Keen focuses on helping others overcome the attacks of cyber criminals just like her parents.
You can't direct the wind but you can adjust the sails
- Anonymous
French fries
Interests:Inventing, watercolor, playing fetch with Scout
Scout
Cyber Defender & Dr. Keen's robot assistant
Scout is in charge of keeping the Cyber Defense Force's security measures up-to-date. His computer brain carries fixes to most security and computer problems that can be administered at any time.
Scout is always eager to help make Cyberspace a safe and fun place.
Memory chips
Interests:Fixing computers, making antidotes for malware, playing fetch
August 18 2008
Cyber Defense Tip: Share your Cyber Defense Knowledge
A few fortunate people can become Cadets at the Carnegie Cyber Academy and train with some of the greatest Cyber Defenders in the world. But not everyone knows about the Carnegie Cyber Academy and not everyone knows how important it is to be a Cyber Defender. In addition to defending themselves and their computers, a good Cyber Defender helps their entire community stay safe on the Internet.
Share what you learn during your training with your friends and family so that everyone will know how to protect themselves and their computers. Let people know about your cyber defense resources like this Web site and MySecureCyberspace.com. The more Cyber Defenders out there, the less damage cyber criminals and cyber villains can do!
posted by Dr. Keen
topic: Cyber Defense Tips
August 4 2008
Cyber Defense Threat: Pharming
Pharming is a type of Phishing scam. While Phishing attacks use an email with a link to a fake Web site to trick its victim into revealing their personal information, Pharming attacks do not require an email. Instead, victims are redirected to a fake Web site when they are trying to visit a safe one. The fake Web site prompts victims to enter their personal information such as a credit card number so cyber criminals can steal it.
Pharming is much harder to detect than Phishing because there is no suspicious email to alert the victim. It also allows the attacker to reach many victims at once because anyone who attempts to visit the real Web site during an attack will be redirected to the fake one. To protect yourself from Pharming attacks, always make sure that a Web site is secure before entering any information into it. You can also use anti-phishing or anti-pharming software when browsing the Web, they will warn you when you are viewing a suspicious Web site.
posted by Scout
topic: Cyber Defense Threat
July 28 2008
Cyber Defense Tip: Use a Pop-up Blocker
Pop-ups are Web browser windows that appear on top of another window, often to show advertisements. They can be very annoying and can really slow down your computer.
To help reduce the number of pop-ups you encounter, you can use a pop-up blocker. Pop-up blockers simply prevent pop-ups from displaying and can be a stand-alone piece of software, a plug-in for a Web browser, or built into your Web browser software. However, not all pop-ups are risky and not all are advertisements. Some legitimate sites do use pop-ups, so most pop-up blockers will let you know when they have blocked one and allow you to switch off the blocker for that pop-up or site if you need to.
If your computer is displaying pop-ups when you're not using your Web browser, it could be a sign that you have adware on your computer. Refer to Cyber Defense Tip: How to tell if your computer has malware to check for other symptoms and refer to Cyber Defense Tip: Defending your Computer from malware to learn how to protect your computer from adware.
posted by Dr. Keen
topic: Cyber Defense Tips
July 14 2008
Cyber Defense Threat: Cookies
Cookies are small text files that Web sites place on your computer to identify you and keep track of your preferences. This can make some sites easier to use because they will remember you when you return to the site, but cookies are also risky because they store information about you that cyber criminals might be able to find and exploit. Some Web sites can actually share cookies with other sites. These “foreign” or “third-party” cookies are especially risky because they may be sharing your information with a site that you’ve never heard of.
It’s okay to use cookies now and then. To protect yourself, you should use as few as possible and also remove them from your computer regularly. Many sites will try to set cookies automatically, so you can set your browser to warn you before you accept them or to not accept cookies from any Web sites. You can use your Web browser’s tools to remove any cookies you may have.
posted by Scout
topic: Cyber Defense Threat
June 26 2008
Bigger Job than I Thought
I've been digging through all of the layers of security. It's a bigger job than I thought. I've been layering on security like an onion ever since I started working at Diagnostics.
Never have I had the need to do a complete overhaul like this, and I also need to set up a separate system to prevent outside attacks while our internal security is down. I need Officer Ward's assistance in order to manage the job.
posted by Dr. Keen
topic: Diagnostics Updates
June 24 2008
Scout Wants Vacation Too
Scout here. Beep! Commander Omni says all the students are away on summer vacation. I asked her about it. She says they’ve gone away to have fun.
Scout wants to go away and have fun. Dr. Keen won't let Scout go though. Beep. She says Scout is needed to help re-install security. Scout doesn’t want to work. Scout wants to be free.
posted by Scout
topic: Miscellaneous
June 23 2008
Cyber Defense Tip: Check your computer's security regularly
It’s important to make sure all of your computer’s protection software stays up-to-date in order to keep up with new Cyber Defense threats. You can set up your software to automatically download and install updates and security patches as they are released.
But even if you use these automatic updates, it is also a good idea to check your computer's security a few times a year, just like going for a check-up at the doctor’s office. Make sure your security software (anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, etc.) is turned on and up-to-date and that your security settings for your computer and Web browser are set to Medium or High. You can also perform a more thorough scan for any malware that regular scans might miss and clean up your hard drive at this time to keep your computer running smoothly.
You should also regularly check through what your spam filter is catching to make sure that it is all spam and not actually valid emails. Oftentimes spam filters need to be trained to identify spam correctly.