[ILUG] Security: Was Naive ADSL/WiFi questions (long (sorry!))?

[Josh Glover]

On 23/06/07, Michael Watterson <watty at eircom.net> wrote:

> It's more effort that I want any more, unless my day job is  security
> (which I'm glad it hasn't been for over 2 years), hence I use  mostly
> hosted  services.

Precisely. Most PC users are not and should not have to be security
experts. Yet connecting your PC to the Internet without some
precautions is guaranteed to get you pwned, and quick.

So that is why ISPs give you a NATing DSL modem; it is not a perfect
solution (Paul's feelings about NAT are well-known), but at least
incoming connexions are dropped by default .

Even us Unix types, who in general are a little safer because a) there
are not as many worms / viruses / malware apps targeting us, and b) we
tend to know a little more about security than Joe Home User,
generally cannot or do not want to expend the massive amount of time
it takes to stay current in security.

Everyone is better off if there are expert companies providing
security at the network layer. Best of all, it is probably your ISP
that is paying them to do it (though I suppose the cost almost always
trickles down).

-- 
Cheers,
Josh