One of the most important aspects of security is education. Technology can help tremendously in security, but it can’t solve every problem. Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet solution… but there are toolkits- Guardian Angel Linux being one of them. If you outfit yourself with the proper tools, you will be better protected and capable of dealing with problems that arise. Remember though, the security playing field and game is ever changing, so education is key to keeping the bad guys at bay. A fully integrated environment that is simple to use allows use of powerful technologies that guard your valuables, but it is knowledge that allows you to use it all properly.
Social engineering and fraudulent actions continue to penetrate into peoples lives every day. The cyber-villains are continuously pounding at the firewalls and security mechanisms we put in place to protect ourselves. They even use gentle methods like email attachments (which you sometimes happily accept) as well as using exploits in applications, libraries, and websites. The bad guys use sophisticated technology too. They set up traps and scams and just wait for someone to make a mistake. The worst thing a person can do, is get lax in their view of security, but keeping a vigilant posture all the time can be quite tiring. The most common tasks of applying security patches, browser configurations, virus scans, spam filters, encryption, keeping up on news of new scams, are quite time consuming.
Make no mistake about it… every second, of every day, those who wish to do harm, try to overcome your defenses. It is what they do, it is their business and livelihood. Couple education, technology and an active plan to protect yourself. These are the ingredients to help keep your information and possessions safe. Education helps to keep you from doing things that can be exploited, helps you to have a better picture of the dangers and consequences of what negative actions are being planned against you, and helps you to recover in the event of a successful attack against you. Educating yourself about security is key to a safe digital-life experience.
The next few posts will be about Tor and understanding its use. Tor education is very important to understand since it helps to understand anonymous networking in general. Later posts will cover I2P, another similar technology that uses garlic routing.