From: cult hero (jerichodimensional.com)
Date: Sat May 15 1999 - 03:53:45 CDT

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Forwarded From: Traumatic Dog <wastezor.hut.fi>

Why I'm a Security Pessimist
URL: http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/adem2fpf/www.anchordesk.com/story/story_3377.html
Jesse Berst, Editorial Director
ZDNet AnchorDesk
Wednesday, May 12, 1999

We're still in the primitive days of the Internet. So we still expect some
security problems. And we assume they'll get better. Right? Wrong.

The security problem is getting worse. Headlines tell me Internet security
lapses are becoming more common. Even the White House isn't safe. Click for
more. And Melissa showed us viruses are growing more wily. We're all at the
mercy of corner-cutting software vendors, inexperienced e-tailers and smart-ass
programmers.

WHY YOU ARE MORE VULNERABLE

There's no single culprit. Much of it has to do with changing times:

As the Internet is more widely used, the potential for good and bad increases By
expanding networks, companies create more opportunity for security breaches As
competition gets more intense, vendors push products out the door faster As
product complexity increases, bugs are more likely As ecommerce explodes,
vendors are rushing to set up shop online

WHERE YOU ARE MOST VULNERABLE

Computer users are being impacted at work, at home, online:

The number of software bugs tracked in the BugNet database grew nearly 20-fold
in the past five years. The bug explosion costs employers millions of hours in
lost productivity The insidious Melissa virus, which infected over 100,000
computers in the U.S., was a nuisance; weeks later the destructive CIH virus
crashed more than half a million computers in South Korea and Turkey
E-businesses are unwittingly exposing private customer information, including
names, addresses and credit card info; last month 100 sites with improperly
installed shopping carts were identified

HOW TO LIMIT YOUR VULNERABILITY

You can't prevent bugs, viruses and inept e-tailers. But there are ways to
protect yourself.

Your computer. If events of recent months didn't persuade you to obtain
anti-virus software for your PC, maybe this quick click to free, five-star
anti-virus downloads will do the trick. Click for more. Bookmark the Help
Channel's Bug section for the latest bug alerts, patches and workarounds for
your software and hardware. Click for more.

Your company. PC Magazine Labs evaluated three families of antivirus products
that protect every major LAN component. Click for more. If your company conducts
business over the Internet, two major security holes you need to plug are DNS
spoofing and attacks on dial-up connections. Click for more.

Your personal information. Make sure before you relinquish any personal
information the Web site has the TRUSTe seal of approval and/or a privacy
statement you can live with. Click for more. Or become a stealth browser; the
Help Channel details how to maintain a low profile on the Web. Click for more.

For even more resources, visit the Security and Privacy Briefing Centers I've
linked in the sidebar.

And please use the TalkBack button to tell me if you agree things are getting
worse, not better. You're also welcome to join the discussion at my Berst Alerts
forum.

[snip..]

-o-
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