Most experts writing about computer and Internet security focus on threats found 'out there' in the online sphere, or in the form of malicious hackers with malevolent intentions. The danger is that they will get to you or your computer, and steal or do damage. Most security measures focus on preventing such intrusions. But the greatest threat is not 'out there.' It's much closer than you think. Read on for the answer...
The Biggest Online Threat?
It's YOU, in fact.
You are human (no matter what your kids or ex-wife says), and have a human mind (or enough of one to get by). Nothing is more capable of causing, or is more likely to cause you trouble. Yet the mind is seldom the subject of information security articles. This is one of those rare reads.
“It ain't what you don’t know that gets you into trouble,” wrote Mark Twain. “it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” Almost every activity that a human performs, including most of what is supposed to be “knowledge work,” is done unconsciously; motions are gone through with blind faith that they will produce the same results they did last time. No attention is paid to what is right in front of you, in your hands.
That is why people click on links in emails that generally look like they’re from their bank; follow the instructions on what generally looks like their banks’ Web sites; and have their accounts emptied by bandits in some third-world country. Had you been paying attention, you would have noticed that your bank’s emails address you by name, not as “Dear Customer…” You would have remembered that your bank has told you, at the time you opened your account and many times since, that it will never ask you for your account password via email, and that you should always use a bookmark or type in the bank's web address. But busy people do not always pay attention.
Continue reading There’s not much more to the the blog post itself but there are lots of links to further information about regular malware, phishing etc.
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