tiremonkey2000
11-21-2006, 09:04 PM
Source:Yahoonews (http://news.yahoo.com/)
By Jon Swartz, USA TODAY
Mon Nov 20, 6:41 AM ET
SAN FRANCISCO - When Jud Fink decided to protect his PC, he treated it like a glorified science project.
With a zeal that would put TV's resident obsessive Monk to shame, Fink evaluated every conceivable software and hardware program to come up with the best options for security and ease of use.
During the weeks-long process, Fink, 52, who does regulatory-compliance work for a health insurer near Philadelphia, left no technology stone unturned.
He looked at three browsers and chose Opera because he judged it faster and more secure than Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. He appraised free and for-charge firewalls before opting for a hardware router.
Fink relies on e-mail services from Opera and FastMail, a local Internet service provider with advanced spam and virus-protection features. And he is thinking about adding the
Macintosh OS to his Intel-based PC. He occasionally uses
Linux,
Unix and a beta version of Windows Vista as secondary operating systems.
Oh, and he assiduously updates his system.
From all indications, Fink's approach has worked: He has never been victimized by a virus or spyware. Folks are so impressed with Fink's setup, they ask him for security tips.
"I've seen, and helped, lots of friends who are stuck in one of two situations: Either their computers are full of viruses and spyware, or they are unusable because they have so much (security) stuff and their systems slow to a crawl," he says.
Computing at home has never been so powerful - and treacherous. Just as millions of Americans are buying new PCs and signing up for blur-fast Internet connections, cybercrooks are hatching schemes to take control of their machines.
Consumers' 3 approaches
Americans, in turn, are beefing up their PC defenses to varying degrees. You might compare them to Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Consumers are taking three distinct paths to the way they manage computer security. There are those of the fortress mentality, ever-vigilant taskmasters who overload their machines with every newfangled device. There are those who have it just right, with the proper mix of hardware and software. And there are those who simply plug in their machines with a wing and a prayer.
"Most people give careful consideration to security on their car or house, but when it comes to computers, most are not well educated," says Ed Rose, 59, a safety trainer in Orlando who attentively guards his personal computer at home. "It is not just the contents of your computer that must be safeguarded, but the possibility of someone entering your system and causing malicious damage."
Wave upon wave of infectious programs are scouring the Internet, allowing hackers to hijack millions of PCs and turn them into so-called bots - mostly in homes, at small businesses and on college campuses. The bots heed the orders of cybercrooks to spread spam, phishing e-mail and other nasty things.
Full Story Here (http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20061120/tc_usatoday/asfaraspcsecuritygoldilocksgotitjustright)
By Jon Swartz, USA TODAY
Mon Nov 20, 6:41 AM ET
SAN FRANCISCO - When Jud Fink decided to protect his PC, he treated it like a glorified science project.
With a zeal that would put TV's resident obsessive Monk to shame, Fink evaluated every conceivable software and hardware program to come up with the best options for security and ease of use.
During the weeks-long process, Fink, 52, who does regulatory-compliance work for a health insurer near Philadelphia, left no technology stone unturned.
He looked at three browsers and chose Opera because he judged it faster and more secure than Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. He appraised free and for-charge firewalls before opting for a hardware router.
Fink relies on e-mail services from Opera and FastMail, a local Internet service provider with advanced spam and virus-protection features. And he is thinking about adding the
Macintosh OS to his Intel-based PC. He occasionally uses
Linux,
Unix and a beta version of Windows Vista as secondary operating systems.
Oh, and he assiduously updates his system.
From all indications, Fink's approach has worked: He has never been victimized by a virus or spyware. Folks are so impressed with Fink's setup, they ask him for security tips.
"I've seen, and helped, lots of friends who are stuck in one of two situations: Either their computers are full of viruses and spyware, or they are unusable because they have so much (security) stuff and their systems slow to a crawl," he says.
Computing at home has never been so powerful - and treacherous. Just as millions of Americans are buying new PCs and signing up for blur-fast Internet connections, cybercrooks are hatching schemes to take control of their machines.
Consumers' 3 approaches
Americans, in turn, are beefing up their PC defenses to varying degrees. You might compare them to Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Consumers are taking three distinct paths to the way they manage computer security. There are those of the fortress mentality, ever-vigilant taskmasters who overload their machines with every newfangled device. There are those who have it just right, with the proper mix of hardware and software. And there are those who simply plug in their machines with a wing and a prayer.
"Most people give careful consideration to security on their car or house, but when it comes to computers, most are not well educated," says Ed Rose, 59, a safety trainer in Orlando who attentively guards his personal computer at home. "It is not just the contents of your computer that must be safeguarded, but the possibility of someone entering your system and causing malicious damage."
Wave upon wave of infectious programs are scouring the Internet, allowing hackers to hijack millions of PCs and turn them into so-called bots - mostly in homes, at small businesses and on college campuses. The bots heed the orders of cybercrooks to spread spam, phishing e-mail and other nasty things.
Full Story Here (http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20061120/tc_usatoday/asfaraspcsecuritygoldilocksgotitjustright)