Introductory Links from Defensive Computing Class by Michael Horowitz

Hard-drive checkup a good idea for PCs by Lou Dolinar in Newsday. May 7, 2006. Discusses DiskCheck from Passmark Software
Tips for avoiding 'smash and grab' by Lou Dolinar in Newsday. October 16, 2005. If someone can get physical access to your computer, they can learn all your passwords.
Online Crime Rises Dramatically, Report Says The Washington Post September 20, 2005
Counter-Espionage For Your PC July 27, 2005 by Larry Magid at CBS News
A Digital Crime Wave by Walter Mossberg in Smart Money. April 2005.
My Computer Meltdown by Lisa DiCarlo in Forbes magazine. February 24, 2005. A computer reporter gets hit with malware.
Going Online? Wear Your Galoshes by Robert MacMillan Washingtonpost.com December 16, 2004
Plague carriers: Most users unaware of PC infections October 25, 2004 CNET News.com. About 80 percent of users were infected with Spyware. One in five users had an active virus on their machines. Nearly three in five users do not know the difference between a firewall and antivirus software. The same survey was also reported by USA Today.
Blue Screen of Death Why your computer still crashes. By Paul Boutin in Slate September 30, 2004
How to Protect Yourself From Vandals, Viruses If You Use Windows by Walter Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal September 16, 2004
Are hackers using your PC to spew spam and steal? USA TODAY September 8, 2004
Going price for network of zombie PCs: $2,000-$3,000 USA TODAY September 8, 2004
What a Tangled Web I Wove - Computer Naivete Cost Me a Bundle And a Bit of Sanity By Kathleen Day in the Washington Post August 15, 2004. The author did not practice Defensive Computing and suffered a loss of $800 and 48 man-hours over nearly three weeks before her computer problems were resolved.
In The Cybersecurity Wars, The Good Guys Are Losing June 7, 2004 by Bob Evans in Information Week. Quoting: "The ugly truth is that these bad guys are getting better at their malicious tricks faster than we are able to devise ways to block them."
Lock attackers out of your PC By Brian Livingston June 3, 2004. An excellent, long and very thorough article
Internet attacks can hit your pocketbook The Globe and Mail of Canada. June 9, 2004. Your ISP may charge you thousands of dollars for bandwidth caused by a virus or worm on your computer. They might also suspend your account or your ability to send email.
'Sasser' Worm Tip of the PC Bug Invasion By Brian Krebs in the Washington Post May 12, 2004
The Spyware that loved me By John Borland of CNet April 8, 2004. What happens to a computer infested with malware.
PC Users Deserve A Free, Simple Service To Handle All Threats by Walter Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal. March 11, 2004
For Windows Users, 'Browser Hijacking' Is Only the Latest Threat by Rob Pegoraro in the Washington Post. February 29, 2004.
Broken Windows: Will Your PC Ever Be Secure? What can you do to protect yourself? PC World February 26, 2004
Geeks Put the Unsavvy on Alert: Learn or Log Off The New York Times February 5, 2004. As the MyDoom virus continues to disrupt business, the computer-savvy are becoming openly hostile toward the not-so-savvy who play into the hands of virus writers.
Hackers Steal From Pirates, to No Good End The New York Times December 8, 2003. About Trojan Horse programs that infect your computer
Top Five Myths About Safe Surfing PC Magazine November 19, 2003. Reasons that people think their computers are safe - but they are all false.
Don't make Fred's mistake: Protect PC from 'meanies' by Mike Himowitz November 13, 2003 in the Baltimore Sun. A good example of why you need Defensive Computing
Keep cool over computer hassles Nine out of 10 computer users are regularly annoyed by slow, crashing machines, while time wasted fixing problems makes it worse, say security experts Symantec. BBC News. October 23, 2003.
Do as I say, not as I do: Disaster strikes even the experts among us October 15, 2003 By Al Fasoldt
Regular Cleanup Is a Computer Must Summarizes my class in a nutshell. Newsday. September 23, 2003. Lou Dolinar
Security Begins at Home by Stephen Manes in the September 15, 2003 issue of Forbes magazine. An excellent article that mirrors this class.
Heart of Darkness, on a Desktop About programs running on people's computers that they did not know were there. Spyware, Adware and viruses. The New York Times By Katie Hafner September 4, 2003
Where Do We Go from Here? by Dan Gillmor August 31, 2003. About the sorry state of computing: viruses, spam, ISPs, Microsoft and more.
Dumb software for dumb people Windows is fertile ground for virus plagues, especially when users refuse to take proper care of their computers. By Farhad Manjoo in Salon. August 27, 2003.
As the Worm Turns: Lessons from Blaster Microsoft deserves some blame for the rapidly spreading Web virus -- but so do network administrators, ISPs, small businesses, and individual PC users. By Alex Salkever in Business Week magazine. August 26, 2003
Microsoft Windows: Insecure by Design The Washington Post August 24, 2003. Quoting: "In its default setup, Windows XP on the Internet amounts to a car parked in a bad part of town, with the doors unlocked, the key in the ignition and a Post-It note on the dashboard saying, Please don't steal this."
Unholy Matrimony: Spam and Virus Their common goal is subterfuge, and by combining their strategies, they could make today's junk e-mail look like a mere nuisance Business Week Magazine August 12, 2003
Nuclear plants warned of computer threat. Even (especially?) nuclear power plants have to worry about Windows computers linked to the Internet. USA Today. September 3, 2003.
Microsoft Windows: Insecure by Design By Rob Pegoraro in The Washington Post August 24, 2003
My trip to Windows hell...and back David Coursey, ZDnet. August 11, 2003. One persons story of a computer that kept freezing without warning. And a follow-up
The September 2003 issue of Consumer Reports magazine reports that one third of the time when you contact a software maker for technical support the problem remains unresolved. They blamed the situation on industry culture that turns out flawed software. When good software goes bad CNN August 8, 2003.
Should License Be Required to Go Online? The Associated Press September 12, 2003
License Computer Users By John C. Dvorak in PC Magazine. August 18, 2003. The rantings of someone sick and tired of computer mistakes by people with no training in how to use a computer. A virtual ad for this class.
Should computer users have to get an operator's license? by Al Fasoldt May 1, 2002. Mostly about the Klez worm/virus.
Acquitted Man Says Virus Put Pornography on Computer The New York Times August 11, 2003. by John Schwartz. A man's teenage son goes to some "iffy" web sites and they end up with many Trojan programs on their computer. The police arrest the man and his life is ruined because a Trojan program put child pornography pictures on his computer. (alternate link)
Are you prone to a Web attack? Most broadband users leave doors wide open for attack by Internet thieves and hackers, study finds. CNN.
June 4, 2003. Also Report: Most Broadband Users Lack Basic Security and Broadband Internet Use Has Its Risks, Study Finds and Report: Broadband Customers Not Playing It Safe from PC World magazine.
US man shoots laptop Frustration after it kept crashing. BBC News March 6, 2003
Owner takes out frustration with a sledgehammer A man in Wisconsin purchased a $2,600 Gateway computer and had problems with it. He returned it to the store five times and had someone come to his house to fix it four times. Eventually he took it back to the store with a large sledgehammer and pounded it to death in the middle of the store. April 3, 2002
PC Defense Takes an Antinet Install all the utilities you want--security is still a leaky mess. by Stephen Manes from the July 2003 issue of PC World magazine
Take the digital defense test to see your current level of Defensive Computing. ZDNet. September 25, 2002
High tech's missionaries of sloppiness December 2000. Salon Magazine. An excellent article that examines why computer hardware and software have so many bugs.
Top Ten PC Blunders. True and mortifying tales about computing disasters. June 2002
The Fog of XP PC Magazine By Lance Ulanoff August 6, 2003. Out of the blue Windows XP crashes and won't restart. Read how even computer experts struggle.
Web sites for looking up computer terminology: whatis.com webopedia techweb encyclopedia Computers: A to Z (Consumer Reports) ComputerUser.com High-Tech Dictionary

michael at michaelhorowitz.com		Last Updated: May 23, 2007
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