Online safety the focus of seminar
Cohoes library program outlines better cyberprotections
COHOES, N.Y. » The Cohoes Public Library hosted a presentation Monday Morning given by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County on how people can better protect themselves online.
Sarah McFadden, the Digital Literacy Resource Educator from the Cornell Cooperative Extension, distributed handouts on anti-virus software, displayed images of pop-ups and malware, and answered questions on protecting personal information while online.
McFadden highlighted the importance of strong passwords, emphasizing changing passwords often, and not re-using passwords. She gave several resources, such as eff.org/dice, which is a strong password generator, along with the website howsecureismypassword.net to check the strength of passwords that are already being used.
“There is a trade- off between what is convenient and what is secure,” McFadden said. She noted that creating in depth passwords and changing them often may not always be convenient, though it does keep personal information safe.
McFadden warned guests about the dangers of pop-ups and phishing emails. Using slides and photos taken from popular websites such as The Weather Channel and The Guardian, she showed how pop-up advertise- ments most often appear and look on the page of a website.
When it comes to emails, McFadden said to watch out for any emails requesting personal information, money, or offers that seem too good to be true.
“If it seems too good to be true, it is,” said McFadden, referring to phishing email scams. She told guests not to click on any links or attachments in these emails.
McFadden also explained how malware works and how to defend against it. She discussed adware, spyware, and scareware. Adware most often automatically displays, in the form of pop-ups. Spyware obtains information about another’s computer activities, and scareware tricks the user into buying or downloading dangerous software. Scareware often takes the shape of a false warning for a virus or another warning that scares the user into clicking on the malware.
A few guests asked for clarity on how malware appears on the screen, and McFadden used photos of popular scareware to show guests how the malware will display online.
McFadden told guests that she herself has been tricked by different kinds of malware before, especially by scareware.
“It’s good to develop a healthy paranoia about being on the Internet,” said McFadden.
One of the guests in attendance, Barbara Hildreth, was impressed with the presentation and found it very informative. She appreciated McFadden’s use of accessible language during the presentation.
“She didn’t use any extensive language,” said Hildreth. “She spoke in everyday language that I could understand.”
McFadden also distributed handouts with the names of two antivirus software programs. She talked about AVG anti-virus and avast! anti-virus, both of which are free and can be downloaded on computers, tablets, and phones.
Several guests approached McFadden after the presentation to ask questions and discuss specific concerns about the security of their personal information and of their software when searching online.
McFadden is the only Digital Literacy Resource Educator in the entire Cornell Cooperative Extension statewide system and regularly visits libraries and other community hubs to give computer education classes. She also has drop in hours every Tuesday at the Rensselaer Library from 1-3 p.m. where she gives one- on- one help with devices and answers additional questions about how to stay safe when online.