Protect
Defend
AND
Mark. Sucker. Victim. Yeah, that’s you viewed through the monitor of
a cybercrook sitting somewhere in A-holevania or Trashcanistan.
Call us cynical or hard-edged, but we frankly believe that the
world is fi lled with hustlers, grifters, and crooks out to bamboozle
us at every turn.
Those suspicions are doubled for our digital lives. For no lon-
ger do bunko artists need to trick you into buying that iPad box with
a brick in it. Today, they can rip you off by auto pilot. With the dead-
liness and stealth of a UAV, these scumbags can steal your banking
credentials, clone your debit card, or infect your computer.
Scared yet? Good. Fear is one of best motivators to getting
people off of their lazy butts. It’s not all about fear, though. It’s also
about information. Knowledge that can empower you and help you
mount an effective defense against the multipronged attacks we all
face today. Do you know how to thoroughly fortify your PC and net-
work against enemy infi ltration? How about your smartphone? Can
you spot an ATM skimmer? What other potential threats should you
be aware of? We’ll give you all of the deets, along with the opinions
of two security experts.
Don’t worry about being too paranoid. From what we learned
in the course of writing this story, there’s really no such thing as
being overly vigilant when it comes to your digital security.For every freedom and convenience we enjoy in our digital lives,
there are countless cyber do-badders looking for ways to exploit
them. Fight back with these 32 ways to protect your digital life!
http://www.maximumpc.com|JAN 2011 |MAMAMAXIMXIMXIMXIMUUUUMMPPPCC| 23
BY THE MAXIMUMPC STAFFILLUSTRATION BY ADAM BENTON