Computer Security with a Sense of Humor

Tired of the same boring, hard to understand advice on protecting your computer from viruses, hackers, and other cyberpunk pests? Then you’ll love Michael Alexander’s Underground Guide to Computer Security.

Alexander (Managing Editor at Datamation and until recently Editor-in-Chief of InfoSecurity News) promises “slightly askew” advice on ways to protect your computer. Actually, it is off-center only in its delightful sense of humor.

The book covers everything from email—it’s not that private; many people along the electronic pathway can read what you write—to the “1,000 points of fright” you must brave on the Internet. Many of his security tips are common sense reminders, but a little refresher course cannot hurt.

He reminds us that most people leave the network doors to their data unprotected by choosing passwords which are easily guessed or broken. Alexander recommends longer (six to eight) and more complex ones (including upper and lower case, numerals, and symbols). He warns against sharing your password and disdains the Windows 3.1 screen saver password feature. “It doesn’t do squat. Simply rebooting the computer and restarting Windows is all anyone needs to go to get a peek at that résumé you’ve been working on when no one was looking.”

“Using a cell phone is not much different than yodeling to convey your private affairs from one mountaintop to another,” Alexander cautions in another chapter. He explains snoops can use a $99 radio scanner to eavesdrop on conversations. O. J. Simpson defense attorney Alan Dershowitz was overheard discussing the case while kicking back at his summer home on Martha’s Vineyard. Fortunately for him, the employees of the ambulance company who overheard him called to warn him.

For me, one of the best features of the book is the concise checklists which challenge the readers’ knowledge and whether they practice what Alexander champions. Try answering (honestly, now) the Risk Assessment Test. See if you follow the tips on his Computer Security Tipsheet.

Underground Guide provides an easy to read introduction for those who don’t understand computer security. Alternatively, it’s a great book to have on your bookshelf to lend to friends who don’t have a clue about it. You will smile as you read this book, despite the seriousness of its message.

Reviewed: The Underground Guide to Computer Security: Slightly Askew Advice on Protecting Your PC and What’s On It by Michael Alexander, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Paperback, 218 pages, $19.95, 1996.