16. home computer security

So, this is my entry on the article I chose for our in-class, group presentations. The article I chose is simply titled Home Internet Security, and is provided by CERT Software Engineering Institute Carnegie Mellon, specifically written by Lawrence R. Rogers. On the top of the page, there’s a nice little disclaimer notice letting us know that is article is a historical document, aka the information in it might be a little out-dated. So let’s pretend we’re back in, cirka 2002?

The article is very long and can seem like a daunting read, but makes up for it by using a very easy to understand analogy of the safety measures of ones home and how they’re comparable to computer safety. It also uses draws comparisons between how we treat real life threats like antrax in the mail, versus how one should approach potentially dangerous emails. The article is divided into nine sections, each detailing a tool/method for protecting your computer. Many of the sections end by giving the reader a rundown of an easy-to-remember acronym that will help them to make wise decisions that will help protect their computer.

The sections are as follows:

Task 1 – Install and Use Anti-Virus Programs Task 2 – Keep Your System Patched Task 3 – Use Care When Reading Email with Attachments Task 4 – Install and Use a Firewall Program Task 5 – Make Backups of Important Files and Folders Task 6 – Use Strong Passwords Task 7 – Use Care When Downloading and Installing Programs Task 8 – Install and Use a Hardware Firewall Task 9 – Install and Use a File Encryption Program and Access Controls

And so this, if I linked it properly and it shows up, is a short and simple Prezi I made, summing up/copy and pasting what I thought were the most important points in the article. I didn’t include the last two points, as our presentations were supposed to be short and I felt like the other seven sections were more easy to understand and easy to apply in real life.

http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf

home computer security on Prezi