THE THINGS WE DO WRONG
"We" encompasses everyone from the end user, computer technician, to companies that we trust to keep our personal information secure. Let's start with Ebay...
When I read about the disastrous breach I went to their website to change my password, yet before and after login the large message I was expecting ["WARNING-WARNING-WILL-ROBINSON-CHANGE-YOUR-PASSWORD"] wasn't there.
Why not?
Later that night, the next day, and the day after that I expected an email from Ebay telling me that my information was leaked and to change my password immediately. It didn't show up for about a week - again, Why not?
If the cat [knowledge of a security breach] is out of the bag it doesn't do a company like Ebay any good by appearing as though they are sitting on their hands. It made me, as an Ebay user, feel like I'd been dealing with a company run by Chuck, his brother Buck, and their 3rd cousin "Bubba", and while I've yet to do it - I'm really thinking about closing my account.
Since then, other security researchers have found a variety of security related issues on their website including one which prompted one researcher to say "It wasn't JUST another security flaw, it was something any rookie would catch" [paraphrasing].
I feel better now, don't you?
UPDATE-UPDATE-UPDATE
If I had to guess [and I'm going to], at least 50% of my residential virus cleanup service calls would go away if only end-users [YOU] would keep up with your Adobe Flash, Reader, AIR, Oracle's "JAVA" updates [remember - not from a pop-up window, but directly from their website], and didn't let their anti-virus lapse.
"lately 25-30% of my residential calls have been because the online companies technician screwed up their computer..."
The updates are free, and buying a new anti-virus each year [or two years, if you have Trend micro] is certainly less expensive than a 1-2 hour virus clean up.
If you don't appear to have a crippling virus at the moment, it's also a good idea to have your favorite IT company/Technician come out once a year and go through your PC to do the updates, check your logs for any signs of impending doom [drive failure], and make sure that your computer is as tuned up as well as it can be.
Regarding the crop of these new online PC cleanup businesses - I can't speak for all of them, but lately 25-30% of my residential calls have been because the online companies technician screwed up their computer. As always, if you're not sure if a critical update is out there, you can check this Blog, or subscribe to it and have each post emailed to you -
'Nuff Said,
Brian
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