kiddy's corner

  SOFTWARE AND APPLICATIONS Understanding Patches What are patches? Similar to the way fabric patches are used to repair holes in clothing, software patches repair holes in software programs. Patches are updates that fix a particular problem or vulnerability within a program. Sometimes, instead of just releasing a patch, vendors will release an upgraded version of their software, although they may refer to the upgrade as a patch. How do you find out what patches you need to install? When patches are available, vendors usually put them on their websites for users to download. It is important to install a patch as soon as possible to protect your computer from attackers who would take advantage of the vulnerability. Attackers may target vulnerabilities for months or even years after patches are available. Some software will automatically check for updates, and many vendors offer users the option to receive automatic notification of updates through a mailing list. If these autom

  SAFE BROWSING Understanding Your Computer: Web Browsers How do web browsers work? A web browser is an application that finds and displays web pages. It coordinates communication between your computer and the web server where a particular website "lives." When you open your browser and type in a web address (URL) for a website, the browser submits a request to the server, or servers, that provide the content for that page. The browser then processes the code from the server (written in a language such as HTML, JavaScript, or XML) and loads any other elements (such as Flash, Java, or ActiveX) that are necessary to generate content for the page. After the browser has gathered and processed all of the components, it displays the complete, formatted web page. Every time you perform an action on the page, such as clicking buttons and following links, the browser continues the process of requesting, processing, and presenting content. How many browsers are there? There

  PRIVACY ISSUES How Anonymous Are You? What information is collected? When you visit a web site, a certain amount of information is automatically sent to the site. This information may include the following: •      IP address - Each computer on the internet is assigned a specific, unique IP (internet protocol) address. Your computer may have a static IP address or a dynamic IP address. If you have a static IP address, it never changes. However, some ISPs own a block of addresses and assign an open one each time you connect to the internet—this is a dynamic IP address. You can determine your computer's IP address at any given time by visiting www.showmyip.com •      domain name - The internet is divided into domains, and every user's account is associated with one of those domains. You can identify the domain by looking at the end of URL; for example, .edu indicates an educational institution, .gov indicates a government agency, .org refers to organization, and .com