Hello, all, given the recent hacking of Pa Nderry Mbai's email
account and online newspaper, I have a few questions.


     Have the list managers taken any precautions to insure the
security of the list, and the names, email addresses, and other
personal information of the list members?  What security precautions
can ordinary people on this list take, in order to protect the
security of their own email accounts and personal information
contained in those accounts?


     Some of this might be common sense / second nature to the more
computer-savvy people on these forums.  However, for those of us who
are not as computer savvy, it might be a good idea to go over these
sorts of things, in order to minimize the chances of the same things
happening to us.



     The thing that occurs to me is that if people, whether they are
so-called "cyber-terrorists" of the Jammeh government, or some other
group of people, are willing to hack into people's accounts,
especially, as it seems, those who are outspoken against the Jammeh
government, then it seems that we really need to be on our guard and
try to protect ourselves against this sort of thing as best we can.
Because it seems that, as in the case of Pa Nderry Mbai, even a mere
association with the guy, i.e., just being on his email contact list,
can get you into trouble.



     It also occurs to me that this is, maybe?, not only meant to
perpetuate the climate of fear and intimidation in The Gambia itself,
but also outside of The Gambia as well.  However, unlike the poor
defenseless people living in The Gambia, we, here on the Net, can take
precautions, which can lessen the chances of any NIA thugs beating
down our cyber-doors and getting unauthorized info from us.


     I'd suggest that *everyone!* invest in a good antivirus and
firewall program, just to start with.  I know there are a couple of
free software options, namely AVG for antivirus and Zone Alarm, I
think it is, for firewall protection, however, I can't say how good
they are.


     Also, it's also a good idea to periodically change the passwords
to your email accounts or other online data, and it's also a good idea
to have different passwords for your different online accounts.  And
*never!* give out your password, to anyone!  Also, it's also a good
idea to not have the option checked, where you automatically get
signed into your accounts either, especially if you are using a shared
computer.  And also, if you are using a public or shared computer, to
make doubly sure you are signed out of any accounts you are working
in, before leaving that computer.


     That's all I could think of at the moment, and I'm asking for the
help of our computer-savvy list members to help me out here with
anything else I've not thought of which could help us in this.
Because even if you consider yourself a die-hard Jammeh supporter,
you're still not immune to his wrath, just ask Honorable Duta Camaso,
the now-expelled National Assembly member.



     I'm just trying to say that we all need to be vigilant, which we
should be anyway, but given recent events, we should be even more so
now.


Ginny







-- 
Visit my blog at:  http://quickgm28.blogs.com/ginnys_thoughts_and_thing/

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