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Are you secure?
How secure is your PC from intruders?
By: David K. Every
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2002-03-12 03:07:48
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 here's bad news and good news.
First, lets look at the bad news.
If you use a PC, running Microsoft Windows, then there are literally hundreds if not thousands of ways that a "hacker" can get into your machine or do damage if you are on a network. It can be a full time job figuring out how to block all the holes. Microsoft knew this when designing things, but they valued the versatility of what being completely open empowered them to do, and didn't value your security as much. Basically they took the "it's your problem, not ours" approach.
If you use UNIX (or Linux), then there are still lots of "holes" and ways that an intruder can get into your machine, and see your data - the good side is that most of the ways "in" to your machine are pretty well known. Programmers can see how anything works in UNIX, so they can find the leaks and fix the holes in security quickly. In short, UNIX allows security issues to be found more quickly, published more quickly, and blocked more quickly, so things aren't too bad. People that setup these machines can be pretty good about blocking all the holes and most people that use UNIX are geeks that will spend a lot of time configuring and blocking those holes.
If you use a Mac, then the problems are near non-existent in the first place. The Macs were just more secure and designed with more security in mind. If you are using any version before OS X (like OS 7, 8, or 9) then you probably just don't need to worry about external threats to security at all. Just make sure that you don't turn file sharing on (without setting a password to get in), and people can't get in. The new Mac Operating System (called OS X where the X means 'ten') is a variant of UNIX, so it has far more holes then previous versions. However, by default, most of these holes are pre-blocked by Apple, so that you don't have to worry about security as much.
So the bad news is that network hackers can probably get into your machine if they really want to. But the good news is that the likelihood of being "hacked" is still pretty low.
There are hundreds of millions of computers on the networks, and maybe a few tens of thousands of hackers - and your computer probably isn't very interesting. That puts the odds in your favor. There's anonymity in numbers.
When hackers want to hack something, it is usually some business, and it's usually for some reason. If you're the average home user, you probably aren't that interesting. Some kids may "practice" breaking into your computer, but it is probably so easy as to not be much of a challenge, and fairly boring if they do break in.
Most home users are using a dial up, cable modem, or occasionally a digital subscriber line (called DSL), that have dynamic addresses (using what's called DHCP). What this means is that each time you log on (connect); the address of your machine is assigned from a block of addresses, and it has probably changed from the last time you connected. This means that even if someone finds your machine once, they probably won't be able to find it again. Each time you get on, you are jumping around.
Business computers and a few homes are given static addresses. This means that your machine is always the same address. This is better for many programs - the downside is if someone finds your machine once then it is easier for them to find it again.
So in general, home users have less to worry about - and businesses, usually put a little more effort into securing things (so they are harder to get into).
Lastly, most of the hackers are not malicious. They are curious teens just exploring. I certainly don't feel comfortable with other people walking through my house (or exploring my computer) when I'm not around, but most aren't going to trash the place - just snoop through my closets, drawers and medicine cabinets. There is probably a lot of stuff on your computer - most of it is not interesting. Boredom works in your favor. They snoop and then they leave. So even if you are hacked, vandalism is rare.
The worst part of security issues at there are new tools that make it easier than ever for people to get into Windows computers. There are tools that put things in your computer so that they, and others, can find their way back, and do whatever they want. So if you are using a Windows based computer, it is a good idea to consider some security software to try to protect your machine. 
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