I've always been interested in what makes people tick. September 11, right after the bombing, I went online and did a search for "terrorists". I was stunned at the sites I found. I try to understand what makes people do the things they do and I can't conceive of anyone wanting to do this. When I went back that night and the next morning and did the same thing the sites did not work from the search engines. What the search engines did not do was to remove the url's from the descriptions of the sites. When I went to the URL's that I had kept, most of the sites, not all, were down...temporarily. When I first used computers at work, the term "hacker" was a compliment and meant someone who was especially adept with computer coding and who could make a computer do anything he wanted, within the capabilities of the time (early 80's.). Today's true hackers resent the fact that the term has changed into something derogatory. To most people 'hacker' means someone malicious and evil. A true hacker refers to those who write virus/worm/trojan code as "Crackers". I've been to a lot of hacker sites...some are wonderful for the information you can get. Some are deliberately malicious. Anyone can learn how to write a virus code and learn to send it out from these sites just as you can learn how to make a bomb on the terrorist sites. As with the terrorist sites, I don't understand the motivation. How could anyone deliberately set out to destroy/slowdown both personal and business computers and slow down the internet. I especially don't understand the motivation behind DDoS attacks. That's one reason I collected the links below. I would hate to have my computer used as a zombie to help attack someone....and I wouldn't even know it. Since I'm online so much, there is a very good chance it could be unless I take steps to protect it. Below are some links that might be helpful to prevent future problems. The About.com sites are particularly useful. They don't waste your time with words that mean nothing. They get right to the meat of the articles with information you should know along with some great links. Norbert sent me the first link and then sent me About.com's Anti-Virus Software newsletter. I get it every week anyway and it's a great way to keep up-to-date. Almost all the About.com websites offer weekly newsletters and they are a good way to stay on top of things. Linda Bee <A HREF="http://antivirus.about.com/library/blprevent.htm?once=true&"> Free Prevention Center</A> - Includes links to the Repair Center (at the top) and Recent Outbreaks (left-hand menu). There is also a sub-heading "Infected Attachments" in the left hand menu. http://antivirus.about.com/library/blprevent.htm?once=true& <A HREF="http://netsecurity.about.com/compute/netsecurity/mbody.htm">Internet/Network Security</A> http://netsecurity.about.com/compute/netsecurity/mbody.htm <A HREF="http://antivirus.about.com/library/weekly/aa112101a.htm">Aliz Virus</A> http://antivirus.about.com/library/weekly/aa112101a.htm Email viruses; Eudora's unique problem; instructions for preventing email viruses. <A HREF="http://antivirus.about.com/library/blemail.htm">Email Help Center</A> http://antivirus.about.com/library/blemail.htm Please go to the section entitled "Trojan Info" and read the article. It is startling. ICQ, greeting cards, pictures, passwords...all are covered. <A HREF="http://www.anti-trojan.org/">Anti-trojan.org: the anti trojan helpsite</A> http://www.anti-trojan.org/ Two people on the Vet's list mentioned port numbers being attacked. This is a list of common port numbers Trojans use. It is not up-to-date but there are hundreds listed. <A HREF="http://www.sans.org/newlook/resources/IDFAQ/oddports.htm">ID FAQ - What port numbers do well-known trojan horses use?</A> http://www.sans.org/newlook/resources/IDFAQ/oddports.htm This gets a little technical but is full of good info if you can wade through it. It not only identifies the top 20 but it will tell you what you can do about the vulnerabilities <A HREF="http://www.sans.org/top20.htm">SANS Resources - The Twenty Most Critical Internet Security Vulnerabilities (Updated)</A> http://www.sans.org/top20.htm <A HREF="http://www.hackfix.org/software/">Software</A> - Home Page http://www.hackfix.org/software/ <A HREF="http://www.hackfix.org/software/firewall_util.html">Software --> Firewall Utilities</A> http://www.hackfix.org/software/firewall_util.html There are over 130,000 port numbers a trojan could conceivably use to gain access to your computer. <A HREF="http://hackyourself.com:4000/startdemo.dyn">Hack Yourself Remote Computer Network Security Scan</A> http://hackyourself.com:4000/startdemo.dyn List of security links. Some are mainstream; other sites are off-the-wall. Go to the home page of this site and find the free "Quick Scan" to see how vulnerable you are to hackers. This is not the same as the "Leak Test" from Gibson Research. Users cannot use the Quick Scan if they are online from a proxy server. The company will not use 'Quick Scan from an email-only address such as Hotmail or Yahoo. You must be on a full-service provider network. <A HREF="http://www.hackerwhacker.com/hackerlinks.dyn">HACKER WHACKER Remote Computer Network Security Scan</A> http://www.hackerwhacker.com/hackerlinks.dyn Great site. Home of Buqtraq. Articles on internet security; Microsoft, UNIX and IDS pages; Virus page. <A HREF="http://www.securityfocus.com/virus">SecurityFocus</A> http://www.securityfocus.com/virus Includes Microsoft's Tech Support's phone # if you need help disabling the Content Advisor. Anyone running IE should bookmark this site. <A HREF="http://www.nwnetworks.com/iesecurity.htm">Internet Explorer Security Issues</A> http://www.nwnetworks.com/iesecurity.htm <A HREF="http://www.nwnetworks.com/iesc.html">Scott Schnoll's Internet Explorer Security Center</A> - Home Page for the above link. http://www.nwnetworks.com/iesc.html <A HREF="http://www.firewallguide.com/">Home PC Firewall Guide</A> http://www.firewallguide.com/ Clicking on 'Security Sites' in the left hand menu brings you to a link list of security sites. There is also a page with a list of commercial firewall companies..some of them make personal PC firewalls. The page includes the addresses and phone numbers for most of the companies. <A HREF="http://www.thegild.com/firewall/">Commercial Firewalls and Related FW Products</A> http://www.thegild.com/firewall/