We can only guarantee security between your browser and our servers. It is your responsibility to ensure that your computer and therefore the accounts that you access are not compromised.
Attack routes
Some common attacks include:
- Keyloggers - Record your keystrokes and send them to remote servers with the intention of harvesting private information such as usernames, passwords and bank account details.
- Trojans - Allow the attacker to access your computer to retrieve information as well as execute commands that could send spam email or perform attacks on other computers.
- Rootkits - Nested at the deepest level of the victims computer, rootkits are notoriously difficult to detect and remove. Often they are used to spawn new viruses such as the ones detailed above. If your antivirus regularly detects and removes new viruses this can be a sign that you have a rootkit on your computer. The recommended action in this case is to wipe your computer and re-install the operating system (i.e. Windows, OSX, Linux).
Precautions and advice
We recommend that you take the following security precautions to avoid unauthorised access to your computer and the IAAF CMS system:
- Install Anti-Virus software - There are many free options available such as Avast, AVG and ClamWin as well as commercial offerings such as Norton and McAffee. You should never use a computer without anti-virus installed.
- Install Anti-Malware software - Malware is software that has malicious intent but generally not as dangerous as Viruses. Most modern, up-to-date operating systems (OS) come pre-installed with anti-malware. Free software is available for older OSs.
- Install Network Firewall software - Control the flow of information between your computer and the internet. They can help protect against remote attacks that exploit vulnerabilities in the software installed on your computer. Again most recent OSs have firewalls built-in and free alternatives are available for older ones.
- Install Application Firewall software - Control the execution of code on your computer, Application Firewalls are an excellent "final line of defence" solution that protect you when the above applications fail to detect an attack. We recommend the free Comodo Firewall software.
- Never open unknown attachments - Email is the most common method of transmitting viruses. Be very sceptical of unexpected attachments, even from people you know. Never open attachments ending in .exe or .bat. Event PDFs and Word documents can contain viruses.
- Don't use illegally obtained software - Pirated software is also a common delivery method for attackers.
- Beware of sites that ask you to install software - Make sure you research any site that asks you to install software. Your search engine is a great starting point. Use the name of the site or the name of the software (if available) as your keywords and see what comes back. Adobe Flash Player is safe software but make sure you're downloading from the genuine Adobe site before installing.
Further reading
See the following links for more details: