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Always Use Protection
Dan Appleman knows how to talk to teenagers. He's made the presentation very logical, he keeps the chapters a reasonable length so a teenager won't feel overwhelmed, and he had a crew of teenagers review this book before it was published so that he knew they would understand it. Those adults who aren't technically adept will find it an easy read, too.
Always Use Protection is broken up into three main parts: Protecting Your Machine, Protecting Your Privacy, and Protecting Yourself. There is a fourth part with useful appendixes, also.
Protecting Your Machine goes through all of the gremlins that can bother your computer, how to get rid of them and how to prevent them from coming back. Viruses, Trojan horse programs, and worms are covered clearly. Not too much depth involved, but not too little either. Dan covers the ins and outs of the three main preventive measures: anti-virus programs, firewalls, and system configuration and updates. He makes sure that his discussions relate to the types of programs that teenagers are likely to run: P2P software, online games, Instant Message clients, e-mail programs, and web browsers. He's careful to include other avenues of attack besides the Internet, such as infected floppies and CDs cut by well-meaning friends.
Always Use Protection explains how to determine which type of anti-virus programs are available and how to run them (using McAfee's VirusScan as an example), but puts the responsibility for deciding which one to use squarely in the reader's lap. Dan has made sure that he's not pushing any particular product over another. In fact, there were one or two places where I wished he'd just come right out and say I'd recommend blah-blah software, but he always said the reader should check the pros and cons of the possibilities and make their own decision.
Firewalls are discussed in detail, as well as their possibly unintended consequences (an online game refuses to run because a critical port is being blocked by the firewall, for example). He does state that if you're on a network behind a router, you may not need a firewall. This is my only disagreement with Dan. I believe a personal firewall should be on each and every machine, regardless of how it connects. It will protect not only the machine itself, but make it harder for the machine to attack others.
Software updates are probably one of the most under-utilized options in the home. News items in papers and on the web speak frequently about how such-and-such a virus got into machines mainly because security updates available from the manufacturer for months were simply not installed. Dan makes sure that the reader understands how shortsighted that approach really is. The updates are usually free, and just take a little time to download and install. Always Use Protection explains exactly how to do that and why it's a good thing.
The configuration chapter describes many little tweaks available to harden your browser and e-mail reader. Many people are not aware of the number of 'dials' they can play with (and if they were, they'd probably be overwhelmed), but this chapter zeroes in on the most important ones.
If this book was only chapter 9 - What to Do When You've Been Hit - it would still be worth the cover price. In this chapter, Dan gives a careful, step-by-step menu of what you can and should do to recover as much as you possibly can, eradicate the malware that is causing the problem, and get your system back to a usable state. It's the one chapter he says you shouldn't read front-to-back, but follow the links (if you see this, go to this section) like one of those make-your-own-ending books. I have this one bookmarked for future reference.
The next four chapters form Part II - Protecting Your Privacy. In here, Dan explains the various ways your personal information can be gleaned, mostly from a user innocently filling in a form supplied by a con artist. He talks about identity theft and what it means to a teenager. The need for good passwords is clearly discussed, but he acknowledges that most people won't use strong enough ones. Therefore, he promotes a simple plan with three passwords (high, medium, and low-security) that will work in most cases. He ends off this part with a good treatise on cookies of all forms, and how to turn off the worst ones.
Finally, he talks about protecting yourself in chat rooms and from common scams. While there is a lot of press about teenagers being lured by scoundrels in chat rooms, Dan notices that the actual statistics are very low. Regardless of the statistics, he gives extremely good advice about how to use a chat room safely (mostly involving lying about almost any bit of personal information you might be asked for).
The appendixes have good summary information for teens and adults, and have a special appendix just for the parents. It give good advice to make sure your teenager is willing to come to you for question without worrying about losing online privileges.
All in all, Always Use Protection should be read by every parent and, hopefully, by their kids. I'm going to try to get my 15- and 13-year old to read it (Good luck to me! You should have seen the arguments to get them to finish their summer reading!) I liked the approach, the content, and the presentation so well, I had to rate this a 10.
You can purchase Always use Protection: A Teen's Guide to Safe Computing from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews. To see your own review here, carefully read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
it feels so much better without!
oh yeah, first post.
Unfortunately, this advice comes a few years too late for people like Libby Hoeler...
Protection doesn't work.... we must preach abstinence to our children...
:)
Just stay off the internet until you're 18, kids... (and you have your own damn computer/network to infect)
Check out the best P2P sharing website: MEDIACHEST.COM
Ya wouldn't have teenagers
Can I just cover my computer with a rubber sheet? I could even use cherry flavored.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
90% of slashdotters immediately think of firewalls?
Protecting Your Machine
Why, yes, it is a machine. Thank you.
The coolest voice ever.
my dad got me this product called "The Keyboard Condom" and said "son, always remember -- No Glove, No Love".
What no comments on abstinence?
Or condoms?
El Presidente Bush will be muchly displeased!
No! Teaching them about it will just make them think that its OK and they'll do it more! The best thing to do is to explain to them that abstenance from computing is the only way to be really safe.
Wait... what were we talking about again?
Is there a reason that this information is being aimed specifically at teenagers?
Because teenagers are fragile creatures with delicate minds still in formation. You can't expect them to, or their parents to allow them to, read a Dummies book. They need special, age appropriate, handling, or it will take herds of social workers decades to help them deal with the psychological damage of dealing with adult themes in adult language.
In phrasing your question you obviously weren't thinking of the children.
KFG
First we are encouraged to use Trojan's for protection...
Now people are telling us to protect ourselves from Trojans!
I agree on the whole abstinence thing... My life would be so much easier if my friends didn't call every time their computer gets screwed up...
The best way to protect your children and your PC is to spend quality time with them, teaching them the basics of PC protection and chat room safety.
That is very good advice. It is important for parents to sit down with their kids and discuss computer security, lest they learn it on the "streets" or from their friends. Next thing you know, your kid will be sneaking out of the house late at night to go download spyware in some sleazy motel.
"jesus saves"
But Moses migrates.
KFG
I am a teenager, and it's *my* job to secure the network, install Firefox and an anti-virus on computers used by my family, and basically be the IT department around here, because nobody else knows how.
It should be the other way around. If my parents and sisters read such a book, maybe I'd get less tech support requests.
void*x=(*((void*(*)())&(x=(void*)0xfdeb58)))();
Gheez, Back in my day, the only hazard of using computers was getting your tie caught in the chain printer.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
That's why I only chat with my new friends who want to give me $10,000,000, as long as I give them my banking information.
It is not our abilities that show what we truly are... it is our choices.
Audioscrobbler
Okay, now I'm thoroughly convinced it's a joke...
Of course it's a joke. Now the only question is whether it is an intentional joke or not.
Wanted: witty unique signature. Must be willing to relocate.
I remember when I was 13 priding myself on needing no more documentation than a terse man page
Yeah, I know a lot of kids are confused about their sexuality at that age, but what was it about terse men in particular that you found interesting?
Don't teenagers usually know how to use computers BETTER than their parents? They absorb and figure it out quickly; its always the old people that are computer-phobic and -illiterate :-). They need to target these books at the 30+ age group.