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Technology news and Jobs 
Fuzzy Logic Survey: consumers don’t understand online security
Fuzzy Logic Survey: consumers don’t understand online security | Survey: consumers don’t understand online security |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Tuesday, 02 October 2007 | |
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Page 3 of 3 First, the game, called ‘Anti-Phishing Phil’ , which has come about thanks to Carnegie Mellon University. Students have created a game to teach people about the dangers of phishing attacks by email and how to recognize suspect links in emails received from companies and individuals online. It's the first game of its type, and while effective, is primitive. It should prove to be just the start of greater initiatives to not only make people aware of the problem but give them the tools and training they need to learn how to become cyber street smart and protect themselvles. TrustDefender promises a range of capabilities. One is to uncover phishing attacks in real time, stopping you from being accidentally tricked, while also letting you be sure of the ownership of a website. TrustDefender’s makers say the software shows you the authenticity of the sites you are visiting, letting you be sure that the bank you are connecting to really is the bank – and not a phishing site, and that the entire service is connected to a Trust Network that allows users to rank sites on security. A well known site will be well rated and have lots of feedback – a new site has no rating and little, if any feedback at all, and will stand out like a sore thumb. TrustDefender’s offering is also unique in that the software offers banks, financial institutions, auction sites, and any other site that requires you to log in with a username and password the ability to not only verify that you are who you say you are when you connect, but also what the security status of your PC is, when using “TrustDefender Enterprise” at the business end during each transaction with every customer. Better still, TrustDefender's trump card is the promise that the software neutralizes any already installed and running malware, spyware, viruses, rootkits or other crimeware on every customer’s Windows XP computer (the current version does work with Vista but a proper Vista-compatible version is on the way) while they conduct their financial or other transactions, preventing these programs from stealing your information mid transaction, while also alterting customers to their presence, so they can get their existing or some new Internet security software to permanently remove it from their computer. TrustDefender says that this means customers can still safely connect to any online service even with an infected or compromised computer in safety, as their technology neutralizes the viruses and other threats for each session. TrustDefender say their also allows banks and other organizations to instantly apply different risk profiles if a previously uninfected user who normally makes small transactions suddenly has a rootkit and spyware and wants to make a $10,000 transaction. Currently companies don’t know what the security status of their customers’ PCs are. TrustDefender say they can do this in real time. I’ve seen other companies claim ‘end-point security’, which includes software such as ‘Sanctuary’, previously known as SecureWave, but that takes a different approach and is complementary to TrustDefender rather than competitive. Traditional security companies are still relying on blacklists, heuristics and other forms of detection technology to prevent known and unknown attacks, but TrustDefender’s approach is the most innovative so far in protecting your information from theft and attack even if your computer is infected by malware your existing Internet security software doesn’t yet know about or can’t yet remove. So, the picture is clear: people know the need for security, but just need help in getting the software onto their computers and keeping it updated, while checking out what other security solutions become available and using more security software if required. It’d be nice if there was one magic bullet piece of software that did it all. Mac owners would laugh and say to buy a Mac. But all computers need protection of some kind, even Macs need anti-spam software at the very least and come with an inbuilt firewall as part of Mac OS X which should always be turned on! Check the security status of your PC, and those in your household, and make sure everyone is checked for spyware and is running the most up-to-date protective programs, whether free or paid – chances are, someone in your household is out of date and potentially already infected.
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