AVERT Labs - Security begins at home

This blog entry discusses "little Johnnie and Susie" returning to school and the need to careful with the PC environment (e.g., web searches, email, Instant Messaging, etc) ... Indeed, parents have to teach their children well, and these good principles apply to everyone when it comes to Internet safety. 

AVERT Labs - Security begins at home
http://www.avertlabs.com/research/blog/?p=76

McAfee Security Tips
http://www.mcafee.com/us/threat_center/tips.html

AVERT Labs - Security and Children's Web Sites
http://www.avertlabs.com/research/blog/?p=22

QUOTE: There are two basic things which will have the biggest effect on the security of any desktop/laptop machine: 

(1) Application/OS vulnerabilities

No OS is completely immune from application or OS vulnerabilities. The response of the vendor is the biggest consideration and arguably at this point the major players aren’t leaving actively attacked holes open for extended periods of time. With a firewall and anti-virus software in place, the average user will be reasonably safe. (If your machine should be armored like Fort Knox, obviously “reasonably safe” won’t be sufficient, but that’s another story)

(2) Social engineering

So, what’s left at that point is social engineering. No amount of OS security or security products will prevent you from putting your home address, phone number, credit card information, etc. out on a website if you’re truly determined. Malware does not have to be prevalent to be dangerous - if you’re the only person in the world who got targeted and your machine is compromised in some way, it’s still a big deal to you personally. People still need to be aware and proceed carefully regardless of what kind of machine they’re using.