Continuing a series considering the essential services the average person should expect from a computer, and some of the choices that are available. The intention is to outline the diversity of solutions and to build up a picture of what a well-functioning and reasonably up-to-date computer looks like. So far, the office suite, Internet and email have been covered. This week we turn to the dark side, and how to keep it away.
The very nature of what we use computers for makes them attractive targets for people who want to steal information or disrupt our lives. We store personal letters, emails and financial information. We constantly send and receive emails or visit websites through the internet connection. Many actually carry out financial transactions online eg. shopping and banking.
The bad guys can pretty much be sorted into two camps – vandals and thieves. Vandals get their kicks out of messing things up for the sake of it. These are the people who write viruses (such as the Nyxem or Kama Sutra (sic) viruses that were supposed to ravage the world a week ago but nothing happened in the end), who try to break into corporate networks just to prove they can. The good news is that vandals seem to be reducing in numbers.
Alas, thieves are rapidly growing in numbers instead. These are the people who write trojans (hidden programs that get into a computer and do things without anyone knowing), spyware (more hidden programs that monitor what you do, where you go on the Internet, who you email) and keyloggers (yet more hidden programs that record everything you type on your keyboard and send the results off to a website – including all your passwords). Thieves have now turned professional – they work for crime syndicates or sell their services (and all the computers they have broken into and gained control of, otherwise known as “botnets”) to the highest bidder.
The situation sounds grim, and it is. But fortunately it is relatively easy to keep out of harm's way. Vandals and thieves mostly depend on lazy, uncaring or ignorant people failing to put in place basic protection measures and then keep them up-to-date. Just regularly update your system (eg. Windows, Mac, Linux) using the built-in tools to do so and find anti-virus and anti-spyware applications that you like ; there are many for Windows users (some free, even good ones). Apple Mac and Linux users have much less to worry about, but as they grow in popularity are getting more and more attention from the bad guys, and in any case need to make sure that they aren't sending on infected files to Windows-using friends and business contacts.
The principle is one of deterrence – if your house has steel bars on the windows, and next door does not, it is likely the thieves will take the easier option and go next door. So it is with computer security – determined hackers will get in, but for the average person, they use automated tools (trojans, spyware, keyloggers) that go for the tens of thousands of easy pickings still to be found. Make sure you are not one of them.
