 2011 Anti-Malware *Picks*
Our best of the best for 2011
Navigate:
The Tourist
Staying out of the seedy side of town...
The DOH! Moment
Overcoming your Bart Simpson side...
Anonymityville Horror
Protecting your identity...
The BIG DAWGS
Anti- virus, anti- trojan, anti- spyware...
I am so confused!
Closing Windows
Using "other" programs will help
more than you think!
Locking Doors
Mmm...Firewall...Gooood!
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Section News:
032211: Our Anti-virus picks for 2011 are up already!
Introduction:
There is a bit of comparison between my house and my computer where security is concerned:
The little
western town I live in used to be a slice of Americana- Everybody knew everybody, and those you didn't know were raised with the
same country-western values. You didn't have to worry too much about
people stealing things, and you always left the doors open on hot summer
nights to let the breeze through. Sure, there's a Smith & Wesson in
close proximity, and the dog is big (and mean enough to those he
doesn't know), but those were just fail-safe features, far more
likely to be implemented upon a skunk or a raccoon in the garbage
than for use against a real human bean...
But my little town is growing exponentially. Too many city-folk
are moving here and bringing big-city problems along with them.
It isn't safe leaving the doors unlocked anymore.
*Sigh*. But
then, that's what doors are for, I guess.
The internet
(town) and your
computer (house) can be looked at in much the same way. When the
technology was young it was idyllic, at least from the point of
hazards. But as it grew, the crime-rate grew too. Things that
were "unheard of" are done all the time now. The care-free days are
over now, and one must take precautions, that much is obvious.
Furthermore, I don't
know about you, but I am fairly careful about who I invite into my
home. I try pretty hard to be hospitable and all, but there are
just some people I really wouldn't want to bring home to meet the wife
and kids. These are people I meet that are fine to be passing... Hail fellow, well met, and all that. But that
doesn't mean I want them in my living-room sucking down my ice tea and
eating all my Cheetos (puffy, of course, and slightly stale)... and
that's exactly why I don't invite them over.
In the same way, it wasn't a bad thing to reply
to anyone (let them in to your house) in the old days on the net (town). You knew many
of the people you were communicating with, and most abided by the
rules. But, the times have changed. many sleazy vendors are knocking at
your door (e-mail, IM), and there are all sorts of people doing any
number of awful things to anyone who is foolish or inexperienced
enough to wander into their sites. Times have changed, indeed.
By the same token, even though my little town is changing, and things
might be a bit different, there's no sense in run-away paranoia either.
I would find it uncomfortable and boring to lay prone beside my
overturned couch with my gun trained endlessly at the front door on the
off-chance that some bad guy might decide to break in.
I don't lock the
doors inside the house. I don't want to get up and unlock the door
between the kitchen and the living-room every time I send one of the
kids in to fetch me a soda. Why, that'd kinda ruin the whole purpose of having kids, wouldn't it? I
might as well just go get the dang soda myself.
Of course, there are exceptions. There's a door and a lock on the
bathroom, and my family would probably vote to keep those privacies in
place. Everyone would like at least nominal privacy while dressing
and etc, so there are locks on the bedroom doors too... But for the most part, the interior of my house is
reasonably open and easy to get around in.
There are some who will certainly disagree, but I think computers and
even local networks should be much the same way- Security is certainly
necessary. In fact, it should always be a primary concern; But the
rampant paranoia about security in computing is quite like the
couch/gun/prone thing, or locking every single door in your house, each
with a different key.
As with your house, there are sensible precautions to take- Locks on the doors and Windows, a Smith & Wesson, a big dog...
This article hopes to describe the happy medium, the right things to do for protection with the minimum amount of discomfort.
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(c)
F@t Guy Utilities 2005-2011
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