Security is a state of mind. Basically it is a mindset forced upon us by the nature of the world about us. From birth (some say even before birth) we have been conditioned by circumstance, family, friends, society and experience to recognize and avoid or deal with the dangers about us. Our society provides us with tools to help in this process but most do not accept (or realize) that such tools are mostly reactive. It is the individual's responsibility to recognize the dangers and use the tools available for protection or retribution. If he (or she) does not do so, then seeks to blame the tool, society, or the world in general for the resultant distress, that person is in a form of denial. He, She, or It does not realize the greatest dangers come from a person's failure to take personal responsibility for actions and whatever results from those actions. Favorable results are accepted as just due. Unfavorable results are acknowledged as someone else's fault. This attitude seldom leads to a speedy or satisfactory resolution to a problem and never to ongoing resolution of similar problems. If you find it difficult or impossible to accurately assess yourself, try looking into a mirror and analyzing the entity looking back at you. Some of you might be surprised at your attitude toward that entity.

It is a sorry state of affairs, but still a fact, that the vast majority of dangers we face every day come from people. Either as individuals or in groups, they seek to prey on the rest of us. It makes no difference how they do it, or why, or what they seek. Most of us through education or life experience are prepared to recognize and avoid or cope with normal real life situations. For instance: very few of us would wander down any Ghetto side street at 2:00 AM in any major city without a squad of Delta Force Rangers along to protect our ASSets.

For some unknown reason, the same sense of danger is not present when we venture out on the Internet. All the normal dangers are present (except actual physical danger), plus many others not previously encountered, but somehow we fail to comprehend this.

THIS IS WRONG! IF YOU VENTURE ONTO THE INTERNET YOU (OR RATHER YOUR COMPUTER) WILL BE ATTACKED! IT WILL BE ATTACKED OVER AND OVER WITHOUT RESPITE! IF YOU DO NOT PUT PROTECTIONS IN PLACE YOUR COMPUTER WILL BE INFECTED OVER AND OVER! THIS IS NOT A POSSIBILITY IT IS AN ABSOLUTE FACT! I'D LIKE TO EXPLODE ANOTHER MYTH! A DIALUP CONNECTION DOES NOT PROTECT YOU! IT REDUCES THE NUMBER OF ATTACKS BUT SECURITY SPECIALIST STATE THAT IF YOU ARE ONLINE FOR TWENTY MINUTES WITHOUT PROTECTION YOU WILL BE INFECTED BY SOME KIND OF MALWARE!

In addition to the direct attacks referenced above many indirect attacks are made attempting to get you to take some action (even as little as a simple mouse click) that will give access to your computer. It's called social engineering (read: there's one born every minute). There is not much that can be done about innocence, gullibility or greed. These are basic ingredients of human nature as is the belief that free is good. These attitudes are not likely to change so I can only warn you and hope that those of you who know better don't pay to high a price learning to discriminate between good and bad (and maybe where is the hook on freebees).

CAG

PS -- Our user group is running a series of events on Internet security. Attend them and implement the recommended procedures. Use whatever programs you please but do as they recommend. This is one of those situations where you cannot run and you cannot hide. There truly is no place to hide or any place to run to.