Computer Intruders

Piece originally published in Kenyon Today, Kenyon's online staff newsletter.

Your computer, left to its own devices, is considerably more secure than it was ten years ago. In the meantime the black hats have discovered that the most easily hacked piece of the picture is you. What to do?

Be password savvy. It's not as hard as it sounds—if nothing else, go long! A long password is almost always better than a short password, even those generated by scrying in your alphabet soup. Avoid the names of your kids, your dog, your parents, your spouse, and your sports teams, and you're golden. Oh, and put away that dictionary—antidisestablishmentarianism is long, but hackers own a Webster's, too. Pick a phrase instead.
Don't get hooked. Con men have taken to the Internet like fishermen to hip-waders. The people who really support your accounts never need to know your password. And no, you didn't really win the international lottery and that nice guy from Nigeria isn't really going to give you a million dollars to help him recovery his fortune. If it sounds too good to be true, it really is—even on the Internet.
Know how to protect your privacy. While control of your computer and accounts has value, the real gold-mine for the bad guys these days is you—your personally identifiable information. This is a subject worthy of books, but for some of the basics, there's this Bulletin sidebar from "Tangled in the Social Network."
Don't be a terminal-downloader. A long time ago a fellow by the name of Priam refused to listen to his security experts and acquired a rather large and suspiciously heavy hollow wooden horse. Immediately thereafter, his city was overrun by the enemy and burned to the ground.

Or, summarized: that free unicorn screen saver is probably just a way to get malicious code onto your computer.

Moral? Beware of Geeks bearing gifts.
Get yourself a Tech Buddy. You need white hats to fight black hats. Find someone who does serious computer work for a living (not your neighbor's kid who "plays with computers"), and don't be afraid to ask for advice. That free unicorn screen saver that fubar'd your box? Tech Buddies know where you can find legitimate free unicorns. But always be sure to show your appreciation, Tech Buddies are easily offended and greatly powerful. I hear we... uh, they like chocolate.