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Community weekly poll: Which do you think is the biggest security threat?
- 3/14/06 3:13 PM
The White House is the seat of Supreme Authority
by MicroFace - 3/15/06 9:16 AM In reply to: Which do you think is the biggest security threat? by Marc Bennett
Since before Sept 11 our anonymity has slowly erroded, but now we have no anonymity. If we live in a large metroploitan area, cameras track nearly all the intersections, Hotels, stores and gas stations record and store our very precense, and now our last bastion of anonymity is being taken away as well.
So now our only source of anonymity, being left alone by the gigantic stangle hold of our government is only to not stick out like a sore thumb.
I for one applaud the librarian(s) who stood up the FBI unwarranted search and seizure, and will put my money up to defend them. I also applaud Google, and revile Yahoo, MSN etc who did not even bother to tell us poor unwashed masses that we were being tracked.
From now on I surf the web behind a proxy, and an anonymizer, and sweep my computer clean each and every night, just because I currently search for natural holositic remedies for myself and my friends.
I bring to my community, such ground breaking news as the Philadephia teens who engineered a car to run on soybean oil, but I could be prosecuted for disemminating that information since I have no affliation to a newspaper. I could be prosecuted for searching through various digital streams for ways to decode them, or ways in which other individuals are selling technology to transport unknown messages.
So am I paranoid ? Most likely but even this message is transported through several unknowing servers and sites using harvested e-mail addresses just because I have not trusted this government to protect me.
Rootkits are the biggest threat
by Alan Maughan - 3/15/06 10:13 AM In reply to: Which do you think is the biggest security threat? by Marc Bennett
Rootkits are the biggest problem. To think that you are safe and secure with the latest virus and adware software, and then discover that your entire operating system has been subverted by a rootkit is the biggest threat. With so much commerce happening on the web, with some businesses almost forcing you to transact on the web, the inability to be secure in your data transactions should send a cold chill down your back.
On: MS Virtual PC and Liberal Democrats
by kirk72552 - 3/15/06 11:22 AM In reply to: Which do you think is the biggest security threat? by Marc Bennett
Seems there are a lot of liberal Democrats on CNET. Sad.
Seriously: I have a somewhat different stratigy RE:internet security. I use MS Virtual PC online. When I log off, I save to my real OS what I want and discard changes. No viruses, spyware or anything else. The only disadvantage is the cost of Virtual and another OS. This does take some effort on your part and probobly will not appeal to liberal Democrats that want the government to take care of them.
It's like marriage
by Guido Muldoon - 3/15/06 11:24 AM In reply to: Which do you think is the biggest security threat? by Marc Bennett
The internet is the biggest threat to security. I suppose that's like saying marriage is the leading cause of divorce, but, whadda ya gonna do?
Get over yourselves it's spyware and not the government.
by Temple25 - 3/15/06 12:32 PM In reply to: Which do you think is the biggest security threat? by Marc Bennett
While I don't agree with government spying; I'm sure MOST folks don't really have anything personal on their systems that THEY would be interested in.....at least not financial and personal data that they cannot get by other methods. So you may have some ''questionable'' files...so what?! I seriously doubt that ''Joe FBI'' would be rushing into your house with guns blazing for your collection of ''The Hot Women of Brazil'' ...at least, I hope not 
As for phishing scams; they are usually easy to spot and avoidable. If, by now you're still foolish enough to send personal and financial info. to that ''investor from Ghana'' or any other entity that is unknown to you, you probably deserve to loose all your stuff.
No my friends, the number one threat is spyware spyware spyware!!!
Because of it's insidious nature, you ususally do not know how it was installed, where you picked it up, who placed it there and for what reason, how long it's been on your system and even exactly how it has been operating.
At least with most viruses, the effect is readilly apparent (especially for the more potent ones) and can be attacked an rendered harmless if not altogether removed; but, due to the subtlety of spyware, they can exist on a system for years before the effects or share numbers render a system unusable. Personally , ''unusable'' means ''a little slower than it ran this morning''; but I know of many a PC user who's systems had started to run at the speed of smell before they had to be informed of the existence of spyware.
Although I try to avoid spyware friendly browsers (READ Internet Explorer)and do not keep personal data on ANY system I still run the very excellent Ad-Ware SE Personal and Spybot S&D and find several of them per day. The question I have is what did they record and send between the time I got infected and when they were removed? It could be passwords, userids...etc. I have no idea. I also have no idea who gets that data and what they do with it.
What I don't understand is why the government does not legislate this. You cannot legally ''bug'' a persons house or property without a warrant (well, at least that's the way it's suppposed to be), you cannot install a video camera either, but apparently you can install a program that will record and send data back to it's master to millions of computers around the country/world.
To me this is far more dangerous than any virus or government intrusion.
Rediculous
by D-Baer - 3/15/06 3:01 PM In reply to: Which do you think is the biggest security threat? by Marc Bennett
First of all putt the White House in this poll is juvenile. It makes the rest of the data invalid no matter how you may feel about the present or prior occupant.
I voted spyware. Phishing is us falling for a scam when we should know better. Spyware and rootkits however can do real damage even when we do everything right. I, for one, will never forgive Sony!
Rootkits and spyware because
by Claptrap - 3/15/06 7:10 PM In reply to: Which do you think is the biggest security threat? by Marc Bennett
Rootkits can be installed into your system without your knowledge and most anti-virus programs don't detect it, so your average user is defenceless.
Spyware does not just monitor our browsing habits or steal passwords but are commonly used to transport viruses, keyloggers etc, bypassing security software.
And believe or not, many people put their trust on Windows Firewall or don't have firewall at all because ''it takes precious space on the hard disk and slows down the old workhorse'' It is also these people that ignore the the merest security options that are provided in browser options, because it is inconvenient! But they are the loudest to complain when their ID is stolen. Most of these people don't learn from their mistakes but think that it was just a freak accident and cannot happen to them twice. Believe me, I know people like that
Ignorance is no defence when you break the law and the same applies to online security. Even more so with online security, as enough information (even in TV, radio and newspaers/magazines) is given about the dangers and how to combat them.
Don't get me wrong, even the experienced can get their ID stolen, but you cannot blaim them (usually) for sheer laziness for their downfall.
Spyware and phising
by buzzy1400 - 3/15/06 9:20 PM In reply to: Which do you think is the biggest security threat? by Marc Bennett
A ''hat-trick'' of nasties that affect both the cyberliterate as well as those who are digital fools.
First, spyware is a huge problem across the user spectrum-from the home user to large enterprises. What was once see as only the purview of AOLsters or others at the bottom of the ISP barrel are now cutting into profits of even the largest firms. While some spy/adware owning firms believe what emeniates to the net is fair game-tough if you loose-these apps have gone far beyond malicious code-kiddies who an attitude and have become big biz. Just ask Microsoft! While users of there perpetual beta antispy app think they are protected, MS has removed from their database the definition of their own spy/ad apps. An ethical dilemma, but only money talks in th end. Why spyware plagues us all and in some cases come in forms at almost see reasonable, ALMOST is the key word, herein. It is totally unreasonable to be dropping persistant cookies into PC with the goal of gather info on the netsurfing habits of the unwitting cooking owner. Spyware spans a large spectrum and on the other side of it is pernicious keystroke-loggers or worse aimed at specific firms or people. No firm or individual is immune. The question is how much money is lost to those either data mining or worse. And, how about clean-up. Spyware is not the worst perp on my list.
Phised email continues to propigate for one reason-there is a fool born every minute and someone is filling in the blanks. On the other end is identity theft or other criminial actors. Between banks and Ebay they could clean this up fast. Oddly, they choose not to and it makes me wonder why.
The group who most often is taking we American's for a ride is the Bush administration. I cannot think of anything they have done well since taking office. In addition, trashing the common good is not in the constitution. 2008 cannot get here too soon. The sad thing is Bush came into office with a balance budget. In a short few years, he has run up more red ink than this nation has ever seen. Our kids, their kids and even their kids will be paying it off.
The fact that China owns the greatest percentage should scare us all to death. Bush would be a bad joke if he had not done such profound harm to America in five+ years. Lets hope the 44th President is 10X wiser and 10x more reasonable. We have big problems and the present administration has no interest in solving them. How to reach 2008 in a manner that is safe for all Americans will be tricky.
Blame misdirected
by olderposter - 3/16/06 4:43 AM In reply to: Spyware and phising by buzzy1400"First, spyware is a huge problem... What was once see as only the purview of AOLsters or others at the bottom of the ISP barrel ...."
Long ago those AOLers you talk about were just neophytes, both new to puters and the net, or kids showing off for their nerdy friends, or AOL account password phishers back when AOL time was expensive. The creeps you talk about were seasoned crooks spoofing an AOL address. It was just a diversion tactic. You can still see that today. Your blame myth is a result of the AOL urban legend.
White House
by invicbc - 3/15/06 10:30 PM In reply to: Which do you think is the biggest security threat? by Marc Bennett
What you have is a group of Power hungry People, they will stop at nothing to get what they want. To spy on your of your Country Citizen's is a disgrace. We the PEOPLE can not just live in our own happy little world an let this happen WE have to stand up and take action. When fight with the Government you have fight dirty and in the Public, it really helps when you tell the people not to tell the media
A sign on a busy street corner works really will. Tried, Tested and works really well.
Keystroke Monitors
by olderposter - 3/16/06 4:33 AM In reply to: Which do you think is the biggest security threat? by Marc Bennett
These things are hidden and are delivered often by merely surfing thru an infected website (most likely what I call an AMBUSH site). These things log your keystrokes, including passwords and personal info you might send to a legit secured server site (like your bank'w website) and then periodicaly and clandestinely return your keystrokes to a spy server where your data is farmed. Then the criminals will take whatever they can from you. Many spyware programs do not detect these loggers. You need to find a could that do and keep them up to date. A good firewall may help prevent the logger frtom transmitting your data back to the criminals, so you need one of those too. you know,if these criminals are from like Serbia or Myanmmar or hundreds of other places, even if some US agency finds out who they are, what are they you gonna do for you, go there and arrest them? Send Rambo after them?
third party data loses
by casahova - 3/16/06 10:49 AM In reply to: Which do you think is the biggest security threat? by Marc Bennett
Data Security Breaches Headlines
Please see
http://www.computerworld.com/news/special/pages/0,10911,3888,00.html
for detail on those that have our ID information and lose it through carelessness or insider theft. The ones that outrage me the most are third parties that we do not give our information to directly. I can be responsible for my own shortcomings but the disregard for the value of me ID by others is out of my hands. Write your legislators and ask for action and frame it in terms of national security.
whitehouse
by mradar - 3/16/06 7:02 PM In reply to: Which do you think is the biggest security threat? by Marc Bennett
the white house has hackers man they go all psycho and pwn your comps big time and its all a conspiracy to most ppl but to me..... o no i know man i know im the only person who knows this theyve called me crazy insane even but im not either im perferctly sane
at least thts wat the voices in my head told me
Welcome!
by bea581 - 3/16/06 9:57 PM In reply to: whitehouse by mradarYou should fit in just fine!!
The biggest threat
by pegpare - 3/17/06 11:47 AM In reply to: Which do you think is the biggest security threat? by Marc Bennett
Our president, and the Republican party. From Katrina, to the Ports sale, the deficit and the complete lack of ability to see the bigger picture, our president is completely lacking in many things, and that includes a correct evaluation of our security. He places people in powerful positions over our safety and security because of their ability to raise money for his party, and we suffer their incompetance, inaction. He then praises them for a job well done, as he did "Brownie" at FEMA after Katrina. After the Abramhoff bribery scandal, who do they choose to represent them as the Speaker of the House, third in line to the presidency? but a man, Boehne from Ohio that was the laison/author of the above scandal, !!, when Tom Delay from Texas, was indicted for the taint of that scandal. How can americans vote for this party????? Cheney wants us tortured, covers up for those who do, and now is making war noises toward Iran like he did iraq. Who do you think is the security threat?
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