NEWSLETTER ON SECURITY

The first purpose of this Newsletter is to introduce you to a valuable resource for computer, Internet and personal technology matters. Walt Mossberg's Personal Technology column in the Wall Street Journal has guided readers since 1991. Newsweek magazine calls Mr. Mossberg "the most powerful arbiter of consumer tastes in the computer world today." Time magazine calls him "the most influential computer journalist." And Rolling Stone calls him "the most powerful columnist in technology." We have followed his columns for years and find that he is readable, free of agendas and that he tells it like it is. You may find out more about him and his columns at About Walt Mossberg.

The second purpose of this Newsletter is to bring to your attention Mossberg's recommendations on dealing with security flaws in Windows computers. Before we do that, we have a security recommendation of our own, and that is for you to log into your AccountManager at https://accounts.olympus.net, select Mail Security, then select 'Replace all HTML mail with a plain text version...'. This will reveal any hidden links in your email and tighten your email security. (The hidden links let others track what you look at whether you're on Windows or Macintosh computers.) Note that you can get to your AccountManager from our home page http://www.olympus.net

MOSSBERG'S COMMENTS (summarized from his September 16th, 2004 article):

1. Halting hackers: Use a software firewall program such as the free Zone Alarm
2. Curing viruses: Buy Norton AntiVirus (the stand-alone program, not the cumbersome security suite)
3. Stopping spyware: Buy Spy Sweeper for $30
4. Blocking spam: MailFrontier
5. Browsing safely: use Mozilla Firefox for web browsing instead of Explorer.
6. Being careful: Never download software from the Web unless you are certain you know what it is and that you want and need it.
7. Staying current: You should probably install Microsoft's new SP2 update

OlympusNet's COMMENTS:

1. Our own accurate spam filter blocks over a hundred thousand spams daily so you may not need the spam blocker.
2. Our staff has been using the Firefox browser for months and is pleased with it. It runs on Windows, Macs and Linux. It's free if downloaded. Those on dialup may buy the CD version for $14 from Mozilla.
3. We have found Ad-Aware and Spybot both available from NoAdware.net to be good, free spyware blockers.
4. If you have DSL, your modem makes it harder for outsiders to reach your computer.

If you're concerned about security, we suggest that you read Mossberg's September 16th article How to Protect Yourself From Vandals, Viruses If You Use Windows where he goes into the details and endorses the Macintosh as the more secure platform. You'll find in the sidebar his archives as well as a 'mailbox' where he prints questions and answers from his readers. We hope that you find Mossberg to be a useful resource.

We thank you for your business!

The Technical Support and Sales Staff of OlympusNet
Thomas Goldstein, Inka Luoma, Mike Lynn, Traci Meacham, Dorothy Shaw

Other staff members who thank you too are:
Kat Barrett and Kate Schumann - Finance
John Baxter, Michael Klatt - System Administration
Jeffrey Froman, Michael Klatt, Otto Smith - Software Development
Ned Schumann - Sales and Marketing