On one hand, having to protect their personal computers against attacks from strangers aggravates people to no end. People who don't even know you want to trash your computer and steal your data.
On the other hand, you regularly lock your home, office, and car, and you store your valuable papers in a fireproof vault or in a bank safety deposit box. Why should you believe the virtual world of computing is safer and nicer than the real world?
Computer security, and the time and expense users must go through to protect their computers and data, really stinks. But we spend even more time and money protecting ourselves from similar things in the real world. If you keep in mind that computer hackers are no more personally motivated than pickpockets, you may be able to deal with all this less emotionally.
In many cases, computer attacks are crimes of opportunity. Just like car thieves who find the keys inside an unlocked car, hackers find easy targets whenever possible. So when you look like an easy target and don't do the computer equivalent of locking your car and arming your car alarm, hackers will gleefully ruin your day. But when you have your computers locked and protected, hackers go to the next victim.
If I could just find a way to be calm and less annoyed about spam, I'd be in great shape.
How Miscreants Get Into Your Computer
Be careful
Protecting yourself
Downloaded files
Be careful
Protecting yourself
Web sites
Be careful
Protecting yourself
Physical Security Details
Traveling laptops
Disks from outside
Wired network security
Wireless network security
Keeping Things Out (Viruses, Worms, Trojans, Hackers)
Update your operating system
Update your Virus protection
Update your personal firewall
Keeping Things In (Your Information)
Router firewall settings
Desktop firewall settings
Note to online game players
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