Terri Sprague wrote:
Quite a few of us, even though we have internet satellite
connections, do not stay connected all the time. In my
opinion, that is a disaster waiting to happen because of
hackers, viruses, etc.
Why not switch to Linux or Mac OS and avoid the problem altogether?
The problem of hackers and viruses is specific to Microsoft's crap
products. As a rule of thumb, the less MS software you use, the safer
you are. If you are concerned about security, I recommend the following
steps:
Step 1: Ditch MS Internet Explorer and use Firefox or Opera.
Step 2: Ditch MS Outlook and use Mozilla Thunderbird.
Step 3: Ditch MS Office and use OpenOffice (done already?)
Step 4: Ditch MS Windows and use Linux.
Do as many of these steps as you can. Each step will go a long way
towards making your computer more secure. If you do them all, viruses
and hackers will be a problem of the past. My computer has never been
hacked or had a virus. Not since I owned my first computer (a 486).
Some people will suggest you use anti-virus software. Yes, this is
necessary if you use Windows. But AV software is fundamentally a
*reactive* measure. It tries to clean your computer after it's been
infected. It is much wiser to take *preventive* measures that help keep
your computer from being infected in the first place. If you do all the
steps above, you will no longer need AV software.
Another fundamental problem with AV is that there are some doubts over
how much you can trust them. Given their inability to detect the Sony
DRM software, although it infected as many computers as Slammer worm and
other similar ones. Here is a must-read article by Bruce Schneier (world
renowned security expert):
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,69601,00.html?tw=wn_story_page_prev2
Cheers,
Daniel.
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