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Feature Presentation for the April general meeting
Rob MacCara - Computer Security
General Information
Newsletter Information
Meeting Schedule for the year
Our April meeting will have updated information on security issues
of internet connections as discussed in our March meeting. Followed
by a recap and update on digital cameras by Andy Cornwall.
Followed by a presentation/demonstration on digital security
surveillance by Rob MacCara. Here is a brief outline of the topic.
Todays retail and commercial marketplace security has changed somewhat
lately with the introduction of Digitally recorded video images to replace
older VCR recording devices. Instead of having a VCR and fast forwarding and
slow-moving through days of video, it's now possible to search through a
whole day of events in a matter of minutes. A manager can remotely (via the
internet, phone line or network connection) view his store, warehouse, donut
shop or what-have-you at anytime day or night.
My role in this is as the OEM or Original Equipment Manufacturer for a
company that markets these video systems. What I am going to do is to talk
about the computer side of the system and give a demo of how it works. Make
sure your hair is brushed and your teeth squeaky clean 'cause you'll be live
on-screen! See you at the meeting.
The HAPCC general meeting is on the last Sunday of each month.
Please note changer from forth to last Sunday of each month. The
next general meeting will be April 30th meeting time 7:00 - 9:00
pm. For this month we have official approval to use the
classroom facilities at CFB Halifax (Stad) for our regular
meetings. New Place! Building S-37 room B18.
Go in the main gates of Stad on Gottigen street and either
stop and ask the fellow in the gate house for directions or:
Proceed straight through the gates and down the little hill and
keep going straight till you come to a stop sign. Go past the
stop sign and down the little hill and turn right at the bottom
of the hill. The long building facing the soccer field is
Numbered S-37 and the sign out front says that it is the home of
the Naval Engineering School. You've reached the right place.
Find a parking spot and go in the far set of doors (South doors)
- Go Straight in the building and down the stairs to the next
level and turn right. The classroom we'll be using is B18 and it's
right next to the stairwell. The new facilities boasts a room
with 25 computers as well as a projection system that we can use.
See you all there at the next meeting!
In this issue
There was a fine turnout at the meeting this past Sunday. The subject of
Personal Internet Safety was the main topic with a couple of requests
arising from it which will be hopefully fulfilled here in the form of URLs.
You get an online scan of your system and to give you an idea of how 'open'
you are to the outside world, go to either (or both) of these sites:
Web trendsand
Gibson Research.
To get an idea of how well (or not well) your own system is covered, you
should have your system scanned by the above sites Prior to installing a
firewall and then again after it's installed.
The seemingly most attractive firewall is the ZoneAlarm product that can be
found here at Zonelabs.
I have taken a blurb from their help file and pasted it here:
ZoneAlarm
Easy Always-On Internet Security
ZoneAlarm provides essential security for any computer connected to the
Internet, especially those with always-on DSL or cable modem connections.
ZoneAlarm protects you from malicious programs, like Spyware and Trojan
horses, by allowing you to control your computer's Internet traffic and how
applications access the Internet.
ZoneAlarm's Dynamic Firewall can block attempts to connect to your computer
from the Internet. High Security Level makes your computer invisible from
the Internet so you won't be a target for hackers and intruders. Security
levels provide the most convenient way to configure the firewall, without
requiring you to program protocols and ports.
When an application on your computer tries to access the Internet, ZoneAlarm
makes sure it has your permission first. This ensures that a rogue program
will not sneak your important data out onto the Internet.
ZoneAlarm appears as a panel on your Windows desktop. You can also interact
with ZoneAlarm using the Desk Band Toolbar.
The upshot from the meeting was that if you are on the Internet, it is a
good idea to protect yourself and your computer from both outside vandals
and inside spy programs. ZoneAlarm as well as other personal firewalls are
available to help you achieve this.
Didn't anyone ever tell you that Beta is Latin for "it doesn't work yet?"
Chairperson David Potter
Vice-Chair Bill Marchant
Treasurer Rob MacCara
Web Librarian Thayne MacLean
Newsletter Editor Diane Smith
Membership Promotion Pat Conen
and the following members who assist in planning our monthly
meetings: Norman DeForest, Henry Hill, Ken Gilmour,and Colin Stuart.
The HAPCC has two kinds of
meetings. Firstly the regular Sunday night meeting which most
members attend regularly, secondly the monthly (approximately)
planning meeting which organizes the business of the Club,
including what happens on the Sundays. The planning meeting is
held on Monday, a week after the regular meeting in which all
members of the Club are urged to attend. At the planning meeting,
we discuss feature speakers for regular meetings, finances,
membership, training, and other computer related subjects.
....Bill Marchant
A word of thanks to guest speakers and the their web suites.
Our guest speaker at the March meeting was
Mr. David Baxter, Product Specialist at MT&T for the
MpoweredPc service. His multi-media presentation showed us how
far the service has come, and in which direction it is heading.
MpoweredPc was being officially launched on April 7, 1998 and it
promises to be a serious contender in the high-speed
internet/software on demand arena. More info can be found here:
Mpowered.
Once again, thank you to MT&T and David Baxter.
Our guest speaker in February, 1998 was Sgt. Bill
Cowper, Internet Communications Officer of the Halifax Regional
Municipality Police Department. He gave a history of how and when
the police department started using the Internet. They were the
first police department in Canada to be on the Internet. Sgt.
Cowper is continually receiving calls from all over the world
looking for assistance. The presentation showed how well the
department and the officers in the patrol cars are versed on
getting the criminals off the streets. If you would like to
check-out their web site the address is:
Halifax
Regional Police Service gives an
idea of what an "Internet Cybercop" is all about.
In this issue
Newsletter Articles.... We are almost
always in need of good articles. If anyone has something that
they feel would make a good article, an interesting story to
tell, or even a good meeting topic, please don't hesitate to pass
it on. Articles can be submitted in almost any format, ASCII
text, AMI Pro, MS Word, Windows Write, WordStar and of course
WordPerfect.
The news letter is mailed to all
paid up members and to anyone who has attended a meeting within
the past three months. Yearly membership dues are $15.00.
Club Mailing Address -
P.O. Box 29008, Halifax N.S., B3L 4T8.
In this issue
We decide the meeting dates for the
upcoming year at the last planning meeting of the season. The
dates for these are listed below. As in previous years, the
December meeting is moved to the early part of January due to
Christmas Eve being near the fourth Sunday of the month.
The planning meetings are normally held on the second Monday (8
days) after the general meeting. They are currently held at a
members home and the address is announced at the meeting prior to
the planning meeting. Anyone is welcome to assist in the planning
of future meetings or events.
Dates for the meetings starting in September are based on the
LAST Sunday in each month. Note that this is a change from
previously, when we met on the fourth Sunday.
April 30, May 28, June 25.
Note: There is no meeting in December. Remember also, we are now
using the LAST SUNDAY of the month, except for the exceptions as noted above.
Any changes to the scheduled dates will be announced where possible at the regular monthly meetings
and/or in this newsletter.
