The Security Mentor

Remember when all the writers were calling the Internet the "information highway"? It's not a highway, it's a city. Specifically it's a big city, and you need to follow big-city rules to be safe.

You also read how the Internet "abolishes distance", but nobody talked about how that changes your safety. You keep safe in physical space by crossing the street to avoid suspicious people and living far from bad neighborhoods. Those bad neighborhoods, when distance gets "abolished", are suddenly right next door. The Internet's red light district is pouring through your mail slot in the daily spam, and bad people are constantly "twisting the doorknob" on your firewall to see if they can get in.

Big cities pay you back for their problems by offering culture, education, and entertainment. All of those are also right next door on the Internet. MIT publishes lecture notes and homework problems for their classes, for free. Project Gutenberg offers over 10,000 books online at no charge. Google gives access to a wealth of information which would have been unimaginable to the most sophisticated mid-century city slicker.

Like a city, the Internet brings the wonderful and the horrible within reach. Unlike a city, the Internet brings them both right next to you.

I know a New Yorker whose mother taught her "be alert, be aware, but never be afraid". It's good advice on the Internet too. Take simple, common-sense precautions and get out there and enjoy the treasures.