Controls are ineffective without user cooperation

Peter Galbavy peter.galbavy at knowtion.net
Sat Jul 17 14:06:22 UTC 2004


Stephen J. Wilcox wrote:
> 2) she "only uses the pc for web browsing, if it gets infected theres
> no harm that can be done"
>
> So how do you argue with that?

I think we have to learn to explain to the "normal" people, without scaring
them too much, that their PCs are part of a big online world whenever they
are online - which is almost always in the world of broadband - and that
even if they don't feel directly affected by Internet bourne viruses, their
PC can be turned to "evil" purposes without them knowing and that it is
their duty to behave properly in this online world.

Agreeing somewhat with Paul Vixie's earlier comment about learning to use
the right analogies or not using them I am still going to try - because when
we speak to these "normal" people, they need analogies to help them
understand.

So with that in mind; while you may not care while inside it if your car
develops a failt and belches smoke and pollution everywhere, you should care
because of those other folks on the road and roadside while you are driving
it past - not to mention the additional costs in fuel and oil and so on - or
in the PC sense, the whole machine can become sluggish and perform poorly
when not well maintained as well as causing others grief.

rgds,
--
Peter




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