Ironworks Gaming Forum - Do people really know how to protect their computer?

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- - Do people really know how to protect their computer? (http://www.ironworksforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=77798)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4413155.stm

Quote:

The average home computer user is bamboozled by technology jargon which is used to warn people about the most serious security threats online.

Many are often left vulnerable because they have no idea what they are supposed to be protecting themselves against, a survey for AOL UK has found.

Confusing "geek speak" used by experts and media included "phishing", "rogue dialler", "Trojan" and "spyware".

Eighty-four percent did not know that phishing describes faked e-mail scams.

The most common phishing scam is one used to con people into handing over bank account details online.

A quarter said they knew what "spyware" was, although almost one in 10 of those thought it was a computer program that kept an eye on unfaithful partners.

"Some of the terms being bandied around are more suitable for a computer programmers' convention than for people who want to go online at home, " said Will Smith, AOL's net security expert.

"If internet users can't understand the language used to describe these risks, they are going to find it hard to protect themselves from being ripped off."

It is particuarly important that people know what threats there are to security online, and how they can easily protect themselves, as more people get high-speed net connections.

"Keylogging" is a particular threat that hit the headlines recently.

Computer criminals, who unsuccessfully attempted to steal money from Sumitomo Mitsui bank last month, used keylogging to record every key pressed on the bank's computers to get at sensitive passwords and other data.

Horse in my PC?

The "Do you speak geek?" report found that 83% people were worried about personal information getting into the wrong hands.

Yet, only 39% knew what a "Trojan" was when asked.

A Trojan is a malicious piece of software which installs itself on a person's computer without their knowledge.

One of the most common net security threats, it hides in the background and can trigger programs to run that steal personal information or details stored on that computer, for instance.

A surprising 16% had never heard of the term "spam" to describe unsolicited e-mail, even though 76% were worried about junk e-mails.

Twenty percent admitted they did not know what to do to protect themselves generally online.

"Eighty-four percent did not know that phishing describes faked e-mail scams."

So what if you don't know the geek term for it, as long as you can recognise one. :rolleyes:

"Twenty percent admitted they did not know what to do to protect themselves generally online."

Ah, that sounds more hopeful already. Seems it doesn't really matter if you know all the terms.

I agree some people are extremely clueless when it comes to these things (the family where I'm a nanny is a good example - popups and spyware all over the place). But then, if you will never find out there's a program on your PC transmitting your surfing habits, does it matter if it is? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Quote:

Originally posted by Melusine:
But then, if you will never find out there's a program on your PC transmitting your surfing habits, does it matter if it is? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

If your machine gets loaded up with spyware, to the point it affects the performance -- your machine runs like a dog, surfing the net takes forever -- would it matter to you?

Quote:

Originally posted by VulcanRider:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Melusine:
But then, if you will never find out there's a program on your PC transmitting your surfing habits, does it matter if it is? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

If your machine gets loaded up with spyware, to the point it affects the performance -- your machine runs like a dog, surfing the net takes forever -- would it matter to you? [/QUOTE]That's exactly what did happen to friends of mine. Their son surfs game sites and they didn't even have a virus protection program or firewall on their machine! It slowed up so badly that she finally called me and my husband (who put her machine together) to ask for help. When we got up to visit them we found tons of viruses on the thing and it took hours to clean it up.

We then had them put Antivirus software on, a firewall program and Spybot and Adaware.....but again, a few months later it's at the point where they can't even USE the computer it is so full of that junk! They just aren't savvy on this subject and even though we've tried to show them how to prevent alot of the junk from getting on their pc, it doesn't seem to be working... I think our next step is to preset times for the protection programs to run and hopefully keep some of it out.

I have to admit I am usually very savvy but even I don't know everything. I was not aware that my antiviral software had been sorting my e-mails Junk vs. Inbox. My wife who knows nothing about computers told me this one day when I said. "It says I have 5 new messages but there are only two in my inbox." Boy did I feel like a dumb, dumb, and a little embarrassed as well.

[ 04-06-2005, 04:43 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

Quote:

Eighty-four percent did not know that phishing describes faked e-mail scams.

I would consider myself to know a fair bit about protection for my computer, how to do it, what programs to use, which ports are most important and most sought after, I know how to prevent viruses, cure them and where to look for them, I have been doing this for years and yet it was only 4 days ago that I learnt what "Phishing" was, I highly doubt the average person will ever be protected, or have some know-how of how to do it.
I think PC retailers should have more security options when selling PC's, I know a few do (Dell offer antivirus software as extra, not a crappy OEM thing) but maybe they should "Suggest" to people that if if they don’t know enough about Protection, they should go and buy Zone alarm or something like that...

[ 04-06-2005, 05:03 PM: Message edited by: Hivetyrant ]

I think a better idea for the OEM manufacturers would be to offer a training class with all new computer purchases.

It can be taken at an extra cost but not only would it allow people to be more aware but it could cut down on the technical support calls to places like Dell & HP.

I do!

/me waves

Most people don't.

No, most people don't know enough about how to protect their computer. Of course, I take it one step further--if you don't take the time to learn how to protect your computer then you deserve to get loaded up with viruses, worms, spyware, etc. Computer protection is your choice; either you invest the time to learn to protect it or you don't.