Defending The Kingdom

Every so often, it helps to remind ourselves why security and privacy are important. In late 2006, Consumer Reports published its third annual State of the Net, which I think is an excellent summary and forceful reminder of why, exactly, security and privacy should be high priorities for everyone.

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It would be nice if there existed a straightforward security solution for every security problem in the world. Unfortunately, security is not that simple. Managing your security requires that you recognize an important point: security is not a switch that reads either “on” or “off”.

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In early November 2006, I wrote about how to foil keyloggers. The Vesik Method, outlined in the article, improves your level of security when you suspect a computer is harvesting your keystrokes but are in dire need of checking your bank account, email, or other sensitive service.

Because I’ve been travelling for the last 3 months in Asia, I have had access only to public computer terminals, mostly internet cafes. The majority of the computers I get to use are sputtering and coughing from infection, so I’m sure some are indeed logging my keystrokes. I’ve been using the Vesik Method to minimize the danger, so far with good results. None of my passwords appear to be compromised, despite entering them onto some of the most spyware-polluted computers I’ve seen.

Give it a try the next time you’re in the same situation.

Bruce Schneier easily disarms the argument that says security and civil liberties must always be traded one for one. That’s only true if security is an afterthought for whatever process or project is in question.

Security and privacy are not two sides of a teeter-totter. This association is simplistic and largely fallacious. It’s easy and fast, but less effective, to increase security by taking away liberty. However, the best ways to increase security are not at the expense of privacy and liberty. (continue reading…)

This story is a few days old, so Samsung may have, by this time, evicted the Trojan horse that has been squatting on its corporate website:

Samsung Electronics’ U.S. Web site is hosting a Trojan horse that logs keystrokes, disables antivirus applications and steals online banking access codes, according to Internet security company Websense.

This actually has very little to do with Samsung, and more to do with the state of internet security. I wouldn’t recommend halting your visits to Samsung’s website or any other website that shows up in the news for something like this. There will be many more of these stories to come.

Your strategy

Keeping records of companies that screw up is a losing proposition. Having said that, a public record is necessary because companies should be held accountable for their complacency, as this is probably the only way the situation will improve, but it’s not a useful strategy for you to combat security risks. (continue reading…)