Dan Appleman - How does a teenager differ from a software developer (when it comes to security?)
- Posted: Aug 16, 2004 at 4:40 PM
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Dan Appleman is a software developer. But he wrote a security book for teenagers. So, we thought it'd be interesting to ask him to compare the security needs of both.
We're talking, by the way, of a pre-Windows XP Service Pack 2 world (when it comes to getting infected by turning on a new machine). XPSP2's firewall will protect you from the virus threats we discuss.
If you don't have XPSP2, it took us a few minutes to get infected with the Blaster virus by hooking a new, unpatched machine, up to the Internet. So, remember to set up a firewall first, before turning on a new machine. (We use a wireless access point, which protects your machines enough due to its NAT capabilities).
We know you're sick of hearing it, but please visit www.microsoft.com/protect and follow the instructions there to protect your machines.
We're talking, by the way, of a pre-Windows XP Service Pack 2 world (when it comes to getting infected by turning on a new machine). XPSP2's firewall will protect you from the virus threats we discuss.
If you don't have XPSP2, it took us a few minutes to get infected with the Blaster virus by hooking a new, unpatched machine, up to the Internet. So, remember to set up a firewall first, before turning on a new machine. (We use a wireless access point, which protects your machines enough due to its NAT capabilities).
We know you're sick of hearing it, but please visit www.microsoft.com/protect and follow the instructions there to protect your machines.
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I think the biggest problem is adults in full time work that can afford a modern computer and a high speed internet connection (24~40).
No offence, I'm sure it is a very good book but I think the only reasoning for writing it is to plug an area of the market that is otherwise unplugged (under 20's).
Writer: "hmm, I want to write a book about computer security for normal people"
Editor: "You and 500 other writers"
Writer: "hmm"
Editor: "You could target a sub-group..? 50+?"
Writer: "Nope, they don't work computers... young adults, 20 or younger, target it at teens!"
Editor: "I'm liking it.. write me a demo chapter.."
Strictly speaking, the topic of this video is worms and not viruses:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_worm
A firewall will protect you from being attacked and infected by a worm. Viruses usually spread from files, require user intervention to execute them (or Outlook to automatically open emails/attachments for you like it used to), and cannot be stopped by firewalls.
Worms spread autonomously over a network, are self-replicating and do not require user intervention. Firewalls can stop worms from spreading by blocking traffic on vulnerable ports.
"...infected with the Blaster virus..."
Blaster is a worm, not a virus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaster_worm
You'll notice that Dan uses the general terms "infection/infected" and not virus/worm.
The irony that Dan is trying to teach people about security is not lost here.
Another thing to remember when talking about going to college is that it's very hostile environment. Lots of students with a high degree of knowledge and lots of free time. They just love to own your box.
I didn't mean to imply that you didn't know the difference, just that it was hard to tell from that clip whether you were talking about "viruses" or "worms" ... so it was an easy mistake for Scoble to make.
Yep, "anti-virus" programs remove worms as well. The term "virus" has gone through somewhat of a loosening in that respect, since people aren't aware of the technical details and think infection=virus.
Even thought they are both removed by anti-virus software, effective defense against infection from viruses and worms differs ... like how a firewall won't protect you against email viruses. A misunderstanding like that could give people that don't know the technical details of viruses/worms a false sense of security.
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