Do you (or your kids) have a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing program installed on your computer? There are many out there. Kazaa, Limewire, Bearshare, Shareza, Ares, etc. There is a serious privacy issue if the person who installed it does not know what they’re doing.

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Businesses and government agencies seem inept when it comes to protecting personal information, as the list of mishaps keeps getting longer. (more…)

xpy is a small free tool which disables the default threats of a Windows XP installation. Besides disabling Windows and some of its components to communicate with Microsoft servers, xpy improves privacy settings and your system security.

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Spyware and keystroke loggers have often been thought of as a Windows only problem, but Nicholas Raba, CEO of SecureMac.com and co-author of Maximum Security says many Apple Macintosh users may have a false sense of security. SecureMac has released MacScan which detects and removes Macintosh spyware, remote administration utilities and keystroke loggers. In a telephone interview, Raba talked to us about current and future Macintosh spyware and virus threats.

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Do you run Windows? Would you like to see if you’re exposed to the WMF backdoor vulnerability? Download Steve Gibson’s little KnockKnock program and it will let you know.

If you’re running Windows XP, you should have gotten notification of a patch available through the internal notification system. If you’ve installed it, then you’re protected. However, it’s good to still run this program to verify the backdoor is gone.

If you’re running other versions of Windows, you can download the update directly from the Microsoft web site. (more…)

Firewalls are programs or hardware that act as a buffer between your computer and the internet. This page will focus on the best software-based firewalls.

Sometimes software firewalls get a bad rap because they are “too noisy” with the alert boxes. While this can annoy the novice, the alerts simply mean the program is doing it’s job. Just about every software firewall eventually becomes more “quiet” after it learns and remembers which of your programs access the net regularly.

Now that you know the jist of how these programs work, here are the top free programs.

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If you aren’t good at remembering multiple passwords, then there are quite a few software solutions out there. Some of the good ones will even create passwords for you to use online. These are a few of the best free ones.

KeyWallet - KeyWallet is a useful and convenient desktop utility that� spares you the trouble of filling in your logins, passwords and other� personal data manually. With KeyWallet you can store your data in� “keys” and then simply drag-and-drop them anywhere. A key can contain� any personal information: logins, passwords, names, addresses etc.

Password Safe -� A tool that allows you to have a different password for� all the different programs and websites that you deal with, without� actually� having to remember all those usernames and passwords.

Secure Data Manager - The SDM application was created to help you manage� your passwords and other private information for web sites, computers, contacts, and other programs within one secure application. A fully functional, open source, free, password manager.