Straight Talk About Computer Security.
What, another computer security page? Who needs it? Aren't we tired of all that techie stuff that only geeks can comprehend? Virus my foot!
But seriously. Computer security is an important topic and those who neglect it will surely get themselves in trouble sooner or later. It could be a small problem like really slooooow Internet even though you shelled out hundreds of dollars for a fancy broadband connection. Or, it could be a big problem, like your identity being stolen and having to prove to the credit agencies that you never went on a shopping and gambling spree in Las Vegas.
On this website there will be no technical jargon. No computer geeks invited! Short, concise and to the point. Most of the time.
People constantly ask me why this computer security stuff is so complicated? Can't they just get rid of all those viruses and spyware once and for all? After all, who would want to hurt my computer, I just use it to read some emails and play solitaire?
OK, not so fast. Let's tackle these questions one by one. Why is computer security so complicated? Because computers are complicated. There is no single person who knows down to all the intricate details how a modern personal computer works. There's just too much to know. Moreover, a majority of this knowledge becomes obsolete in a matter of a few years. Just think about a personal computer circa 1990. A cheap cellphone now has largely more computing power and sophistication than that old clunker. And guess what, computers are getting even more complicated while you're reading this. When people make new things, they make mistakes. So, for the foreseeable future, computer security will remain a problem and will likely get worse before it gets better.
Next question. Can't they just get rid of all those viruses and spyware once and for all? In short, No. There is money to be made by both writing malware (viruses, spyware, rootkits, worms, etc.) and protecting from it. But it's not even a question of money. It's also technically impossible. Why it is impossible? I don't have a mathematical proof, put it makes sense intuitively. Besides, with computer security problems discovered practically every day, the proof is everywhere. In fact, it sometimes amazes me how few computer security mishaps we are experiencing all things considered.
And finally, the question that people ask me all the time: Who and why would want to hurt my computer? The answers is: Probably nobody. That is, nobody probably targets YOUR computer per se. What happens in most cases is the following: Certain people find ways to invade computers running certain software. They then scan the Internet to locate the vulnerable computers and make the move. They don't know or care that the computer belongs to you, a wonderful person who would never hurt anybody. All they know is that out of the millions of computers that they automatically scan, yours is vulnerable. So don't feel bad, it's only business for them.
Of course, you didn't have to read all that. What you do need to know is that when we talk about computer security, things are both simple and complex. The complex part is the details of how and why computers are vulnerable. The simple part is that the threat is real and is here to stay for a long time. Most people unfortunately don't understand this and they are the first to have security problems. Since you are reading this page, you are already in better shape than most computer users. So read this website, bookmark it, recommend it to your friends and visit it often.