User Education Sites

You have heard all your life that education is important, and that is especially true online. You can learn about how to better protect yourself by learning what the proverbial bad guys are trying to do to get your information. There are several good sites out there that try to educate the normal user on what threats to your information exist and how you can protect yourself. These newsletters attempt to take possibly technical information and make it readable to the normal internet user. Such sites (and their associated newsletters) are as follows:

US-CERT - The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) is a partnership between the Department of Homeland Security and the public and private sectors. This partnership has allowed a furthering of computer security both within the federal government and with home users as they publish threats, best practices, and other education materials. Two pages within the site have great links for educating yourself about the internet in general and the threats that have materialized. These sites are http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/index.html and http://www.us-cert.gov/nav/nt01/.

SANS Institute - This computer security think tank has a philosophy of educating both the technical and non-technical with securing the internet. The Ouch! newsletter is a security awareness document that shows you how to avoid phishing, viruses, and other malware (bad programs).

Knowledge is power. The more you educate yourself online, the better (and safer) your internet experience will be.