'Internet safety' may be an oxymoron

To the short list of life's certainties--death and taxes--we can now add "Web threats."

Early indications are that there will be no quick fix for clickjacking, which enables a PC to be infected with malicious software simply by clicking a disguised link on a Web page. All browsers are equally vulnerable, and there appears to be no sure solution, at least in the short term. Even disabling JavaScript and other advanced Web features won't prevent an infection.

Does this mean you should cancel your broadband account and dig out the ham radio? I don't recommend it. In fact, reports such as these show the folly of believing that our Web browsing is ever completely safe. No hardware or software will ever be 100 percent secure.

Yes, keep your antivirus definitions up-to-date. Yes, use a firewall. Download and install Giorgio Maone's NoScript extension for Firefox (donation requested) to gain site-by-site control over the scripts that run in the browser.

But even these precautions are no substitute for common sense. Be careful about the sites you visit and the links you click. View your e-mail as plain text; Microsoft's support site provides instructions for doing so in Outlook 2003 and 2007. In Mozilla Thunderbird, simply click View, Message Body As, Plain Text.

Last, but definitely not least, every PC user must acknowledge that the day will dawn when their system crashes for good--whether due to a malware attack or (more likely) a hardware or software failure. Keep your data backed up. In addition to creating an image backup of your hard drive once or twice a year, using a program such as Acronis' $50 True Image Home (15-day free trial), use an online backup service to keep your important data files fresh.

[dascha1]

I believe you are using a "morphological" approach and not contradicting the true meaning of the phrase. Please understand that "Internet safety" has been devised, at least in the State of Virginia, as a means to help ensure minors are protected from the chaotic nature that can quickly run rampid on a personal computer connected to the Internetr.

[Lerianis]

Here is a better idea: as soon as sites are reported and CONFIRMED to be hosting malware.... the ISP's around the world are required to shut down those sites.

[sythara]

Big brother solutions don't always work.

[ashton314]

Please see http://www.blueridgenetworks.com/solutions/edgeguardsolo/
It will protect against clickjacking.

[sythara]

I don't understand why are so many people having all these problems with the internet and malware. How about just be smart at what you do and stop cisiting those pr0n sites from India and Russia. Rule of thumb is if you go into a webpage and it maximizes the browser window for you, then something else may be wrong.

Just be smart about what you do and run spybot (or its equivalents). Once in a while check out what loads when windows starts, and use programs such as ccleaner once a while. Make sure your updates are always done too, not just for windows but for any software that can interact with the internet.

And if you still cant keep the computer safe, then maybe you shouldnt be using it.

[Pete Bardo]

Ok, sythara. You're smarter than the average bear when it comes to keeping your computer safe. But sooner or later you're going to end up at the wrong place at the wrong time and you, too, will be infected!

Computer safety/security is an illusion. If you think you can keep your computer safe, then maybe you shouldn't be using it.

[sythara]

That is why I keep backups of all important things and when needed I reformat and start over. While I don't buy pre-made computers, most of the consumers do. And just about all consumer conputers come with a "restore" disk.

On top of that, most of the "infections" can be "cured" through use of appropriate software. I'm not talking about anti viruses which rarely are effective (in my experiene with computer support), I'm talking about plenty of volunters on dozens of forums who will gladly analyze 'highjackthis' logs for you and offer a solution.

And I guess keeping backups is the most important step one can take. That and having an isolated machine that never goes out to the internet :-)

[Groucho6]

Want security? Repeat after me: Get...a....Mac. That is all.