Читать книгу OMG, Click here to get scammed! - George Grachis - Страница 2

I’m an information security analyst for the Brevard Public School District in Viera Florida. My job is rather new and was brought on by the growth of the internet and the need to protect confidential and/or financial data in our connected world. I work with hundreds of adults and students every year who know computers and the internet well but they don’t necessarily know a lot about what it is to be a responsible cyber citizen. Are they to blame? Of course not. My father’s generation created the internet and never could have imagined in a thousand years that the internet would be become what it has become today. What? You never received any cyber security training? Guess what?—kids still don’t today.

As a professional who works in education I think it’s time for this to change. Our country’s future economic stability depends on it! Why am I writing this book? The answer is to share my knowledge and experience with each one of you. You may be a teacher, a student, a lawyer, a doctor or a landscaper, just to name a few occupations. You have at least one computer and you are doing a lot of cool things online. You just want to use the internet without being taken advantage of by cyber criminals.

You have probably encountered the term Malware, (Malicious Software) at some point. It’s sometimes called a Virus or a Worm depending on how it is transmitted and propagated within a computer system or network. Over time malware has become quite sophisticated. What started as a prank in the 1980’s is now a multibillion dollar cyber crime industry. Did you know that you can have all your personal data taken from your computer just by visiting a web site?

A few questions to think about: Should you really open that cute email and send it to 20 people? What was the motivation for sending it? Was it just the inspiring message or maybe the scenic pictures that you thought were so good? Can you identify an online Scam? Did you know that no computer is immune to cyber attacks? Neither is the Federal Government. In 2009 the $300 billion US joint strike fighter was compromised via the internet! And in 2006 UCLA lost 800,000 student and staff records to a cyber crime gang in another part of the world.

So where do you come in? What do you have to lose? So you say your bank eats it if your account gets drained. Well, first, if banks get hit so do all consumers that’s just how it works, any losses get passed onto consumers. It hurts our country too! Besides that, identity theft can take years to rectify and you are on your own for that. So back to being a responsible cyber citizen; we have all learned how to drive a car and hopefully we are responsible drivers, at least there is training and a test for drivers of automobiles. What about being a responsible cyber citizen? Can you actually cause our country and yourself to lose thousands of dollars just by not being aware of the dangers that lurk on the internet? Yes, and that’s another reason for writing this book.

This book is dedicated to everyone that is just trying to do a job on the internet, to be creative and productive or just to reach out to friends and family via email and social networking sites. I dedicate this book to you, to my family, all my friends, coworkers, and to all students. You might even be a technology expert who has to deal with the onslaught of spam and browser pop ups that users fall for time and again. You know better than most that technology can only do so much; we must also educate users. That’s the purpose of this book.

This book covers all the basics from how the internet was never designed for security and privacy to why social networking’s business model did not include it either. With social networks people are the product and security gets in the way. I will also cover the early, what I like to call the “tame” internet, the 1980s and beyond, the present and “untamed” internet, how our legal system can’t keep up with technology. Finally, I will provide a personal action plan to help you slow cybercrime. You can make a difference! Our nation’s economy and our children’s future depend on it!