In This Chapter

Dealing with permission warnings

Staying safe on the Internet

Avoiding phishing scams

Setting for children controls

Like driving a car, working with Windows is reasonably safe as long as you avoid bad neighborhoods, obey traffic signals, and don’t steer with your feet while looking out the sunroof.

But in the world of Windows and the Internet, there’s no easy way to recognize a bad neighborhood, find a traffic signal, or know what’s really official. Something that appears to be fun, innocent, or important — a friend’s e-mail, a downloaded program, or a message from a bank — may be a virus that infects your computer.

This chapter helps you recognize the bad streets in virtual neighborhoods and explains the steps you can take to protect yourself from harm and minimize any damage.

Understanding Those Annoying Permission Messages

After more than 20 years of development, Windows is still pretty naive. Sometimes when you run a program or try to change a setting on your PC, Windows can’t tell whether you’re doing the work or a virus is trying to move in behind your back.

The Windows solution? When Windows notices anybody (or anything) trying to change something that can potentially harm Windows or your PC, it darkens the screen and flashes a security message asking for permission, like the one shown in Figure 11-1.

If one of these security messages appears out of the blue, Windows may be warning you about a bit of nastiness trying to sneak in. So click No or Don’t Install to deny it permission. But if you’re trying to install a trusted program onto your PC and Windows puts up its boxing gloves, click Yes or Install instead. Windows drops its guard and lets you in.

If you don’t hold an Administrator account, however, you can’t simply approve the deed. You must track down an Administrator account holder and ask her to type her password.

Yes, a rather dimwitted security robot guards the front door to Windows, but it’s also an extra challenge for the people who write the viruses.

Avoiding Viruses with Windows Defender

When it comes to viruses, everything is suspect. Viruses travel not only through e-mail messages, programs, files, networks, and flash drives, but also in screen savers, themes, toolbars, and other Windows add-ons.

To combat the problem, Windows 10 includes Windows Defender, a free security and antivirus program.

Windows Defender scans everything that enters your computer, whether through downloads, e-mail, networks, messaging programs, flash drives, or discs. Unless you tell it not to, Windows Defender casts a watchful eye on your OneDrive files, as well.

When Windows Defender notices something evil trying to enter your computer, it lets you know with a message, as shown in Figure 11-2. Then Windows Defender quickly quarantines the virus before it has a chance to infect your computer.

Windows Defender automatically updates itself to recognize new viruses, and it constantly scans your PC for threats in the background. But if your PC acts strangely, tell Windows Defender to scan your PC immediately by following these steps:

1. Click the taskbar’s Windows Defender icon (shown in the margin) near the clock.

   Windows Defender appears.

2. Click the program’s Scan Now button.

   Windows Defender immediately performs a quick scan of your PC.

Even with Windows Defender watching your back, follow these rules to reduce your risk of infection:

• Open only attachments that you’re expecting. If you receive something unexpected from a friend, don’t open it. Instead, e-mail or phone that person to ask whether he or she really sent you something.

• Be wary of items arriving in e-mail that ask for a click. For example, if you receive a message saying somebody wants to be a Facebook friend, don’t click it. Instead, visit Facebook from your browser and look to see whether the person is listed on your “waiting to be friended” list. The more e-mailed links you can avoid, the safer you’ll be.
• If you receive an important-looking e-mail from a financial institution that asks you to click a link and type in your name and password, don’t do it. Instead, visit your financial institution’s website through your web browser and log in there. Chances are good that there’s nothing wrong with your account, and that e-mail was only trying to steal your username and password. (This type of scam is often called phishing, and I describe it further in the next section.)
• Updates for Windows Defender arrive automatically through Windows Update. Windows 10 keeps Windows Update running constantly, so you don’t need to worry about keeping Windows Defender updated.

• If you prefer running a third-party antivirus programs, you’re welcome to do so. It will turn off Windows Defender automatically as part of its install process. But don’t install two third-party antivirus programs, because they often quarrel.

Avoiding Phishing Scams

Eventually you’ll receive an e-mail from your bank, eBay, PayPal, or a similar website announcing a problem with your account. Invariably, the e-mail offers a handy link to click, saying that you must enter your username and password to set things in order.

Don’t do it, no matter how realistic the e-mail and website may appear. You’re seeing an ugly industry called phishing: Fraudsters send millions of these messages worldwide, hoping to convince a few frightened souls into typing their precious account name and password.

How do you tell the real e-mails from the fake ones? It’s easy, actually, because all these e-mails are fake. Finance-related sites may send you legitimate history statements, receipts, or confirmation notices, but they will never, ever e-mail you a link for you to click and enter your password.

If you’re suspicious, visit the company’s real website by typing the web address by hand into your web browser’s Address bar. Chances are good that the real site won’t list anything as being wrong with your account.

Both Internet Explorer and the new Microsoft Edge browser use Microsoft’s SmartScreen Filter technology that compares a website’s address with a list of known phishing sites. If it finds a match, the SmartScreen filter keeps you from entering, as shown in Figure 11-3. Should you ever spot that screen, close the web page by clicking the words Close This Tab listed on the warning message.

So, why can’t the authorities simply arrest those people responsible? Because Internet thieves are notoriously difficult to track down and prosecute. The reach of the Internet lets them work from any place in the world, hidden beneath a mass of networks.

• If you’ve already entered your name and password into a phishing site, take action immediately: Visit the real website and change your password. Then contact the company involved and ask it for help. It may be able to stop the thieves before they wrap their electronic fingers around your account.
• If you’ve entered credit card information, call the card’s issuer immediately. You can almost always find a toll-free, 24-hour phone number on the back of your credit card.

Setting Up for Children Controls

A feature much-welcomed by parents and much-booed by their children, Microsoft’s Family controls (formerly called Family Safety), offer several ways to monitor how children can access the computer as well as the Internet.

Rather than running as a program on your computer, Microsoft Family controls now work online through a Microsoft website. By tracking your children’s activity through their Microsoft account usage, you can monitor their online activity wherever they log into a Windows 10 PC or Windows 10 smartphone. The online, password-protected records stay online, where you can access them from your own PC, tablet, or smartphone.

Microsoft Family controls only work if you and your children have Microsoft accounts.

To set up Microsoft Family, follow these steps:

1. Add your children and any adults who want to monitor the children as Family Members when creating their user accounts.

   I describe how to add family members when creating user accounts in Chapter 14. If your other family members have their own computers, you should still add their Microsoft accounts as family members on your own computer. That links everyone as a family, allowing children to be monitored by any adults in your family.

   When you add family members to your PC’s list of user accounts, each member receives an e-mail inviting them to join your family network; when they accept, their accounts automatically appear on your computer.

2. Visit the Microsoft Family website, and click the name of the child you’d like to monitor.

   Open any browser and visit the website at https://familysafety.microsoft.com. The site opens to show your list of family members who have accepted their invitations. Click the name of a family member, and the website, shown in Figure 11-4, lets you set limits on that child’s computer behavior, as well as monitor his activity.

3. Turn on the categories you’d like to enforce, and set the limits.

   The Microsoft Family area contains a variety of categories that let you monitor or control different areas of behavior. Visit any of the categories described below, and each opens a new page with a toggle control at the top. Turn the toggle to either On and Off, then fine-tune the offered settings. (You can also turn categories Off to temporarily suspend monitoring in those areas.)

   The Microsoft Family website offers these categories, which apply whenever your child accesses a Windows 10 computer, phone, or small tablet:

   • Recent Activity: A haven for time-stressed parents, this offers a quick rundown of your child’s computer activity.
   • Web Browsing: A toggle switch here lets you block adult content, disable browsing in private, and turn on Bing’s SafeSearch to protect against viruses. You can also add sites to an Allow or Block list, and toggle whether downloads are allowed.
   • Apps & Games: Visit here for a toggle to block inappropriate apps and games for any age between 3 and 20.
   • Screen Time: A grid appears here for you to choose the exact hours your child is allowed to access the computer.

4. When you’re through, close the Microsoft Family window.

   Your changes take place immediately. When you’re through, just close your web browser.

Although the Microsoft Family controls work well, few things in the computer world are foolproof. If you’re worried about your children’s computer use, cast an occasional eye their way. Also, these controls only monitor your child when he logs in with his Microsoft account. If you spot an unfamiliar account created on the PC, it’s time to ask some questions.