Amateurs On Line

AP relays a story discussing weak internet security for home users.

Internet users at home are not nearly as safe online as they believe, according to a nationwide inspection by researchers. They found most consumers have no firewall protection, outdated antivirus software and dozens of spyware programs secretly running on their computers.

Now wait, I thought. I'm no programmer or hacker, but geez, firewalls and anti-virus programs, I though everybody knew about them. And I figured most people were somewhat aware of spyware.

One beleaguered home user in the government-backed study had more than 1,000 spyware programs running on his sluggish computer when researchers examined it.

OK, one guy with 1K spyware bugs. He's just the extreme and they're trying to make him seem the norm, I thought.

Bill Mines, a personal trainer in South Riding, Va., did not fare much better. His family's 3-year-old Dell computer was found infected with viruses and more than 600 pieces of spyware surreptitiously monitoring his online activities.

"I was blown away," Mines said. "I had a lot of viruses and other things I didn't know about. I had no idea things like this could happen."

OK, wait a minute...you had no idea about viruses?? Just what planet you from?

So then I just started scanning the article to see what other enlightening facts I could pick up...2/3 with anti-virus software that hadn't been updated in 7 days ( not a real big deal, especially for casual 'net surfers)...80% contained spyware (no quantity given, so again, not that big a deal)...2/3 running NO firewall...(WHAT??!? Who are these people?)

Then I went back and re-read the article; I KNEW I had missed something along the way. Then I found it...the sentence that brought it all into focus and explained everything:

The survey participants all were AOL subscribers selected in 22 cities and towns by an independent market analysis organization.

The Overcharged and Underserved: Amateur On Line subscribers! The place to go to pay a premium to make the internet twice as difficult as it needs to be.
Plus you can get dial-up service for about the same price as I'm paying for DSL!!

FYI...if you have a Windows-based computer on-line for 24 hours without a properly configured firewall, your machine has been compromised. No doubt about it.

Here's some advice...if you insist on continuing to use Windows operating systems (like XP, Me, 2000, 98, 98SE, etc.) you MUST run the following:
at least firewall software (preferably BlackIce) if not a firewall as part of a router; at least one (if not two or three) anti-virus programs and at least three (or more) anti-spyware programs (because most aren't able to detect each and every threat). I'll get Crispy23 over at "My Round Box" to post a list of his favorites/recommendations in the comments section; he and his FighterAce buds keep up on this stuff (by the way, if you're looking for a GREAT WWII fighter simulation game, check out Fighter Ace)

Your other option to counter viruses, trojans and spyware is to switch to a Linux-based operating system. This was my tactic of choice. I've been messing with Linux for about two years now. Part of that time I maintained Windows as a back-up. But about two months ago, I freed my computer from all traces of Microsoft. (I'm not one of those guys who hates Bill Gates; I just think Windows is overpriced and an inferior product. I can do everything I need to do on Linux, just as well as Windows did it, for little or no software costs.)
And the migration is not that difficult. Visit Distrowatch to begin learning and exploring the possibilities of Linux.