Book Review: Stop Cybercrime from Ruining Your Life
Sixty Secrets to Keep You Safe
By Cynthia James
At Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/
Everywhere I turn I find another story about online security or the latest hacked company. Up to now, I felt relatively smart about my online habits; mostly organized around the mantra “Be suspicious!”. But I had no way to evaluate my actual level of safety, or to be safer, until I got this book. Then I found out I am doing some things right but I could do more. And I also found out how quickly the cybercrime threat has grown. And what I could do to stay ahead of it.
The author gives us a list of steps to take and new habits, organized into groups, that make us much safer than we are now. And most importantly, she shows us that we must share these tips with everyone we know. Perhaps the most important idea in this book is that online safety is a community activity – just like it is in the real world. You cannot dissociate yourself from the people you share your online connection with. That is true whether it is your work group, your family, or strangers at a coffee shop. And if one group is compromised, that could roll into the other groups – or your whole life.
Topics include the well-intentioned organizations that collect and keep too much information about us; she shares how we can recognize them and organize them so as to limit the threat and damage. And also the limitations of the many organizations working to counter the threats; you have to follow simple rules because there is nothing the guards can do if you open the door and let the bad guys in yourself.
Most startling perhaps is that this is about more than just financial safety – some online badguys are a physical threat to you and your family. And there are some surprises in here for businesses too. It’s a scary list of companies, large and small, that have gone out of business because of hackers.
While there are suggestions for what to do if you have been hacked, this is mostly a book about how to not let the cow out of the barn to begin with. This is a good book full of practical suggestions and real world advice for individuals and families. A big surprise is how badly businesses need this information too.