The Guide -Computer Security Primer-The Internet

Security: Internet

	Introduction
	Security in General
	Privacy
	Integrity
	Usability
	Can I Use Cryptographic Software?

Computer Security Primer-The Internet
by Bruce Gingery,

bgingery@gtcs.com

Introduction

This primer does not pretend to be a comprehensive work. It is intended to give the Internet newcomer an idea about what is and is not safe, while giving some general guidelines which make networked computer use somewhat safer.

As we put more and more information on computers, in effect, we display more and more of our lives on our computers. Things that were sealed in paper before, now are an electronic postcard, as we discuss in E-Mail things that we might even have considered too trivial for a personal letter in the past.

At the same time, we may use the computer as a tool to manage our finances which we would not normally discuss with others. Some keep a computerized diary, thinking of the privacy of the keyboard and screen. Others draft important business communications with a word processor, intended for only the eyes of the author and those to whom printed copies are distributed.

It is easy to believe, when sitting alone at the computer that we are indeed alone. Yet, when that computer is connected, even at times, to the internet, we are no longer alone, but in a crowd. It is that crowd and its implications that this article addresses.

Security in General