This week's featured article is all about the time of year we're heading into: shopping season!

Specifically, it's the holiday season in much of the world, and that means a lot of online shopping -- perhaps more than ever before.

And yet, some people avoid online shopping, out of fear. Fear that, in my opinion, is seriously misplaced.

Also this week:

Do you know what's installed on your machine? Does anyone? It turns out to be an incredibly difficult problem to solve.

Speaking of hard problems, they say you can't prove a negative -- which means you can't prove you haven't been hacked! But I have some things to look for.

If a little is good, more is better, right? Not when it comes to security software.

Have a great week, and to all who celebrate, a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Featured

Online Shopping: Just How Safe Is It?

As you might expect, I get many questions from computer users concerned about security. With regular news of identity theft, credit card fraud, and database hacking, many are understandably concerned about the security of their own information online, particularly when it comes to online shopping.

Some are so concerned they actively avoid online shopping for fear of having their payment information stolen.

In my opinion, they should be more concerned about the security of their information offline.

Continue Reading: Online Shopping: Just How Safe Is It?
https://askleo.com/2475

TunnelBear

Even though this is technically an advertisement, TunnelBear just happens to be the VPN I use to keep myself more secure when I'm away from home -- both on my laptop as well as on my mobile phone.

TunnelBear is having a "black Friday" sale, and it's on right now through December 2nd: one year for $49.99, which is 16% off the normal price.

As I mention in my Affiliate Links Disclosure, I don't recommend products lightly. I've been using TunnelBear for several years now, and am quite happy.

My only caveat? Be prepared for bear puns ... lots of bear puns.

Give TunnelBear a try.

This Week's Articles

How to Determine What's Installed on Your Machine

How do I get a list of all installed programs and applications on my machine? Information is all scattered and confusing.

If you're looking for a complete list, the answer is simple: you don't. “Scattered and confusing” doesn't even begin to cover it.

However, if you'll settle for most of what's installed on your machine, you can get pretty close.

Continue Reading: How to Determine What's Installed on Your Machine
https://askleo.com/2955

•

How Do I Tell If My Email Has Been Hacked?

I'm the moderator of a fairly large moderated email list. Recently, we've been getting a large number of phishing messages from people who don't know that their email has been hacked. I'd like to post a special message to the group telling everyone to check their email accounts, but how do they do that? In other words, if no one has specifically told them their address book has been compromised, they aren't going to realize that this is their problem and they're going to do nothing about it. Is there a way to tell? I'm getting very tired of informing them one by one and always including the link to your page on what to do if their email has been hacked.

It can be very difficult to detect that your email has been compromised, particularly if the hacker is being stealthy and you're not particularly tech savvy.

Most hackers try to leave as few traces as possible.

Continue Reading: How Do I Tell If My Email Has Been Hacked?
https://askleo.com/7769

•

Do I Need More than One Anti-malware Tool?

With regards to firewalls, anti-virus programs and anti-spyware programs: can I have more than one of each of these programs installed in my computer? For example, I run ZoneAlarm; does that mean I should I turn off Windows firewall?

The answer to this question used to be a very complex “yes”. It used to be that getting all the protection you need involved running multiple programs. And, as you might expect, running multiple programs, if done incorrectly, can result in problems.

Today, things are simpler.

Continue Reading: Do I Need More than One Anti-malware Tool?
https://askleo.com/2833

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