Cybersecurity and You: Five Tips Every Consumer Should Know
Source: Security Focus
It's no accident that the Bush administration's cybersecurity plan begins with
an appeal to home users and small businesses, arguably the least computer
security-conscious group of Internet users.
"Home users are more likely to have a level of vulnerability they aren't aware
of," said Mark Uncapher, senior vice president and counsel for the Information
Technology Association of America.
None of the recommendations for home users and small businesses are new: They
have been prescribed for years as the most effective medicine against malicious
hackers. Yet they are prominent because Internet users continue to ignore them
at a high cost to themselves and other Internet users.
"Individual consumers fail to understand that by not exercising good and safe
practices on their computers they are potentially causing themselves to be a
pawn in a larger cyberattack against other users or against one of our critical
infrastructures," said Tatiana Gau, senior vice president of Integrity
Assurance at America Online.
In a survey of more than a 1,000 Internet users to be released today, AOL found
that most users are familiar with basic computer security practices but
generally fail to act on them.
