This is the Safari online edition of the printed book.

Is It Safe?

PROTECTING YOUR COMPUTER, YOUR BUSINESS, AND YOURSELF ONLINE

IDENTITY THEFT. DATA THEFT. INTERNET FRAUD. ONLINE

SURVEILLANCE. EMAIL SCAMS.

Hacks, attacks, and viruses. The Internet is a dangerous place. In years past, you could protect your computer from malicious activity by installing an antivirus program and activating a firewall utility. Unfortunately, that’s no longer good enough; the Internet has become a much darker place, plagued not only by rogue software but also by dangerous criminals and shadowy government agencies. Is It Safe? addresses the new generation of security threat. It presents information about each type of threat and then discusses ways to minimize and recover from those threats. Is It Safe? differs from other security books by focusing more on the social aspects of online security than purely the technical aspects. Yes, this book still covers topics such as antivirus programs and spam blockers, but it recognizes that today’s online security issues are more behavioral in nature–phishing schemes, email scams, and the like.

Are you being scammed? Learn how to spot the newest and most insidious computer security threats–fraudulent retailers, eBay scammers, online con artists, and the like.

Is your identity safe? Avoid being one of the nine million Americans each year who have their identities stolen. Today’s real Internet threats aren’t viruses and spam. Today’s real threat are thieves who steal your identity, rack up thousands on your credit card, open businesses under your name, commit crimes, and forever damage your reputation!

 Is Big Brother watching? Get the scoop on online tracking and surveillance. We examine just who might be tracking your online activities and why.

 Is your employer watching you? How to tell when you’re being monitored; and how to determine what is acceptable and what isn’t.

Michael Miller has written more than 80 nonfiction books over the past two decades. His best-selling books include Que’s YouTube 4 You, Googlepedia: The Ultimate Google Resource, iPodpedia: The Ultimate iPod and iTunes Resource, and Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Computer Basics. He has established a reputation for clearly explaining technical topics to nontechnical readers and for offering useful real-world advice about complicated topics.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 3 Ratings

Is It Safe? - 2008-10-09
Reviewer Rating:
Spam. Phishing. Identity theft. Sometimes it seems like wherever we turn someone is out to get our personal information for malicious purposes.

How real are the risks? Is it all media hype meant to make us all fearful? Are we unknowingly putting ourselves at risk? What do we need to do to protect ourselves?

Is It Safe? looks at the real risks when we go online. The book puts away a lot of myths about the dangers of the information age while explaining exactly what spyware, viruses, spam, phishing scams actually work. The author also looks at the most common ways that credit card fraud and identity theft are conducted.

I have to admit, I thought I was pretty computer savy but much of the information in this book surprised me. There's so much more to computer security than doing a virus or spyware scan every now and then.

Lack focus - 2009-05-26
Reviewer Rating:
I personally did not gain much from the book. The book covers a lot of topics but lack focus. It may be helpful to expose the audience to the wide coverage of the infosec industry. For the beginners, there are a lot of good "sub-headings". More than half the book basically consists of sub-headings and definitions. What is anti-virus software ? What is anti-spy software ? What is email fraud ? Noting that one couldn't find just Googling them. I am puzzled by some of the suggestions:

"Fingerprint identification on notebook... is biometric security... better than password to control access..." - sounds impressive, just tell The MythBusters guys.

On employee access control, the author has the following TIP,

"Remember to change access cards and codes on a regular basis, and to have all ex-employees surrender their cards when they leave the company. In fact, changing cards and codes when any authorized employee leaves may be a good idea."

Changing card and code whenever someone leaves, how practical is that ? BTW, access code is almost always link to the individual card.... soooo why do you need to change everyone's code ?

There are some useful lists in the book, such as the anonymizer and remailer. You can easily Google them, but it's still nice to have it in one place.

Protect your identity - 2009-01-04
Reviewer Rating:
Best book ever, recommended for anyone who wants to learn more about how to protect yourself on the computer and other threat

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Internet/Online

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Internet/Online > Personal Privacy
Internet/Online > Security