Older Means Wiser To Computer Security 181
An anonymous reader writes "Growing up in the digital age, 18 – 25s may appear to be a more tech-savvy generation, but that does not translate into safer computing and online practices. A new study reveals that they are the most at-risk group, and prone to cyber-attacks. That makes this group even more vulnerable to online security threats. Younger users tend to prioritize entertainment and community over security, perhaps due to overconfidence in their security knowledge. For example, they're more concerned about gaming or other social activities than their online security. They also have less sophisticated security software, and hence, have reported more security problems than other groups."
Computer illiteracy (Score:4, Interesting)
Do these sorts of "adults are computer illiterate" stories bother anyone else? It can't just be me. I've been hearing them since the 1970s, when I was kid. Back then, I was apparently a computer genius. In the 1980s, when I was a teenager, I suddenly became a dangerous computer hacker. In the 1990s, my computer skills were apparently starting to falter, as I had hit my 20s, and I was no longer hot shit. Still, I was a dot com millionaire, and that's got to count for something. In the 2000s and 2010s, I've become a doddering old fool who can't even click his mouse on an icon. Wait, "icon" might be a bit too complex. Let's just call it "the little picture on the TV part of the computer".
I can only imagine what doddering old fools my parents must be. I mean, they're almost retirement age. I bet they can't even figure out how to turn on their computer. Nevermind that they've been using Linux exclusively for over ten years now, without any tech support from me.
Re:Shocking... (Score:5, Interesting)
I was actually referring to bank accounts.
If you got access to my Huntington account today, at 31, you'd be able to transfer $1,000 to your shady Russian money-laundering operation, and I'd be screwed. If you got access to my account when I was in college you'd be lucky to get $300, and it would have been no skin off my ass because Daddy would have made it better.
Re:best antivirus / firewall for Windows? Linux? (Score:3, Interesting)
Security Essentials detects a lot of malware that you really don't care about and misses the really nasty stuff. It's considerably slower than either of the anti-virus toolkits I've mentioned elsewhere (Dr Web, Kaspersky). The most recent Flash is broken for Firefox, no date set for the fix, so keeping it up to date depends on what you use. Java isn't a big deal, provided it is only enabled for trusted sites. Java applications only have the same power as regular applications if signed, unsigned Java code is heavily restricted. If you restrict inbound and outbound connections to only authorized app/port combinations, there's nothing of significance Java can do.
Since most applications of any worth (Libre Office, for example, but well over 70% of what I run overall) has at least one Java component, you need Java. Using Jrockit is better than using the regular Java engines.
Re:Shocking... (Score:5, Interesting)
overconfident... arrogant... yup.. don't forget naive, and well, a lot of them are just plain dumb, too, and lack even basic common sense. including many that hold degrees, diplomas or certs (that often leads to the first and second parts.. overconfidence and arrogance) .
although on the other side, some folks that have been around awhile also think they know everything, know the absolute best way to do something, and are so set in their ways they dismiss better ideas simply because they do come from younger or less-experienced people or because they weren't the one to come up with it.