Harley Hahn's Internet Insecurity [Paperback]

Harley Hahn (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0130334480 | ISBN-13: 978-0130334480 | Publication Date: October 12, 2001 | Edition: 1st

The Gartner Group predicts "mass victimization" by Internet crime by 2002! Now, there's an authoritative, practical guide to Internet security and privacy for every user, family, and business on the Web. In Internet Insecurity, Harley Hahn -- whose Internet books have sold more than 2,000,000 copies -- tells you the real deal about privacy and security on the Net. You'll learn what to fear, what not to fear, and exactly what to do about it. Harley Hahn brings his unique, irreverent perspective -- and his practical wisdom -- to every issue associated with Internet security and privacy. He covers email and workplace privacy, Web sites that spy on you, online stalkers, the myths associated with viruses, protecting your kids (and your credit cards), and much more. He answers the questions everyone's asking: How much crime really exists on the Internet? How can you avoid getting ripped off on the Web? Can you use the Net anonymously? From start to finish, Internet Insecurity helps you evaluate your risks realistically -- and shows you simple precautions that'll help you sleep well at night! For everyone concerned about Web security and privacy: individuals, families, and business professionals alike.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Harley has a degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Waterloo, Canada, and a graduate degree in computer science from the University of California at San Diego. Before becoming a professional writer and the author of more than two dozen books, Harley studied medicine at the University of Toronto. When Harleyis not writing, he reads a lot, paints, plays the piano and gives advice to anyone who will listen. Visit Harley at his Web site: www.harley.com

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

A Personal Note From Harley Hahn

During the twentieth century, the human race made so much progress that we came to believe that, given enough science and technology, we could control our own fate - if not as individuals, then at least collectively. What the Internet has shown us is that this assumption is false. As you will see in this book, we are influenced by strong forces that are far beyond our control.

The Internet is so complex, so powerful, so important and so new, that no one can truly explain what it is. Nobody knows why we built the Internet or what it really means to us. As a result, our society is awash in an enormous amount of misinformation.

Most of our worries and concerns about the Internet come from misconceptions and from our inability to understand our motivations clearly. It is my job to explain those misconceptions, and to put everything in perspective - to explain what is happening and why.

Have you noticed how much the world has changed since the mid-1990s when the Internet began to spread so widely? Have you also noticed how, in such a short time, the Internet has insinuated itself into every important aspect of our lives?

I do not want you worrying needlessly about things that are not really a problem. For example, regardless of what you might hear, you do not need to worry about computer viruses or about unknown perpetrators breaking into your system - not if you take a few simple precautions (which I will explain in Chapters 10 and 11).

There are far more important things I want you to think about: how the Internet affects your privacy, your security, your money, your relationships, your work, and your family.

In this book, I am going to explain a lot of ideas that other people don't want you to know: Why are companies so mean-spirited when it comes to treating people well? Why is government so ineffective when it comes to standing up to big business? Why do people love to pass on misinformation to their friends? Why do so many "experts" try to scare us?

I am also going to explain ideas that are crucial to using the Net well, but are mostly ignored in our popular culture. Do we have a biological need for privacy? What is money, and why is it important to us? Why do we need relationships, and what happens to them when we start using the Internet?

The Internet is a lot more than a global computer network. It is a permanent part of our everyday life and, if you and I are to use it well, we must first understand ourselves and our culture.

For this reason, I am going to talk about much more than technology and computers. I am going to discuss psychology, history, philosophy, science, money and relationships. Although these may seem like unrelated topics, I promise you that, by the time you finish reading this book, it will all come together.

I hope by now you understand that this is not a normal computer book, not by a long shot. Indeed, it is my hope that you will find this book to be unlike anything you have ever read.

If you buy this book, I will make you several promises: I promise to explain everything you need to know to use the Internet in a way that makes you and your family safe and comfortable. I promise to show you the best strategies for protecting yourself against the strong forces that control so much of our society.

And finally, I promise that, as long as you are reading this book, you will never be bored.

I want you to read this book for two reasons. First, it is interesting and useful. Second, by the time you finish, you will understand the world a lot better than you do now.

I promise.harley

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR; 1st edition (October 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130334480
• ISBN-13: 978-0130334480
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,273,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly informative with a soft, friendly tone., May 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Harley Hahn's Internet Insecurity (Paperback)

I found this book by accident while looking for another computer book. I flipped through it. It captured me so I decided to buy.

Even though I work on computers for a living, I still found several useful information from the book. Reading the last chapter which touched on the relationship issue, I wished the author had written the book several years ago. If I'd had the book then, I might have saved myself several regrets and become wiser without having to learn what I know now the hard way myself.

Other than a light touch of useful technical info, the author gives a very insightful perspective on the computer technology, esp. the internet world itself. I really, really enjoyed this book as I savored and immersed myself in the author deep thoughts and the extensive background info, which gave me a better understanding of how things've become.

I give this book 2 thumbs up and highly recommend it as a must read for anyone who'd love to broaden their mind and perspective.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Treat in Store For You, February 26, 2002

By 

Sandy (Panama City, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harley Hahn's Internet Insecurity (Paperback)

Along with the thoughts of previous reviewers, I find it difficult to come up with more adequate adjectives for this fine book. Such a wealth of information, based on extensive research!!
I was hardly prepared for the fascinating history, psychology, education, and thoroughly compelling subjects covered in this humorous, personal approach. It is not a book that you can put down and refer to periodically. It's a page turner from cover to cover.
If all who participate in activities on the web were to seriously consider the observations and suggestions provided within these pages, what a considerate, happy place the net would remain.
Hopefully, all responsible human beings will follow these guidelines.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful, not just scary, January 28, 2002

By 

John S. Weigle (Oxnard, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harley Hahn's Internet Insecurity (Paperback)

On the second page of his latest book, "Internet Insecurity," Harley Hahn says, "this is not a normal computer book, not by a long shot." And he keeps the promise.
The computer sections of bookstores are filled with volumes on hacking and computer safety, many of them written for people who run servers, networks and large computer operations or who are charged with tracking the hackers. Some of them seemingly just want to scare us into shutting down out computers and never accessing the Internet.
Hahn's book is neither of these. It's written so even beginners can understand it, and it follows through on another promise made on the first page:
"I do not want you worrying needlessly about things that are not really a problem. For example, regardless of what you might hear, you do not need to worry about computer viruses or about unknown perpetrators breaking into your system -- not if you take a few simple precautions ... There are far more important things I want you to think about: how the Internet affects your privacy, your security, your money, your relationships, your work and your family."
I cringed when I read that, but Hahn is well-respected, and I wanted to see what he had to say, so I bought the book. While I'm not going to give up my anti-virus software or my firewall, I understand where he's coming from and agree that -- if we all followed his advice -- we'd probably be safe. I'm just not sure that most people are willing to follow the advice he offers.
I'll come back to this, but first let's look at some other parts of the book, which covers such topics as business and the Internet, privacy (how much you can really expect and ways to keep as much as you can), Internet communication (e-mail and chatting) and privacy, viruses and protecting yourself against them, money and the Internet and your family and the Internet.
First, Hahn doesn't write about just technology. He discusses, as he puts it, "psychology, history, philosophy, science, money and relationships." And, yes, they really do all tie together and are related to the Internet.
For instance, it's not easy to understand privacy and what we think we know about it without understanding why we think we need it and knowing that, despite what you think, it's not guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. And it's difficult to grasp business practices until, as Hahn points out, we stop thinking of corporations as individuals rather than as ... well, corporations. Businesses do what they do to improve the bottom line. If that includes using personal information they gather about you to sell you more products, they will do so. They're even likely to sell that information to others to make even more money.
Summarizing such ideas in just a few words doesn't do them justice. Hahn builds his cases carefully and logically and gives you the information you need to protect yourself against what he sees as the real dangers.
The chapters on Internet communications and its effects on families are among the most important in the book -- because the subject seems to be considered so seldom. No one questions the value of e-mail, but, Hahn emphasizes that neither e-mail nor a chat room is true personal contact. In chat rooms especially, you don't know for sure that the person you're chatting with is who -- or what -- he or she says, or even if it's truly a he or a she.
It's dangerously easy, he says, to believe you truly know and have connected with someone simply because you've shared personal information via a keyboard and computer screen.
"...The Internet is important because it is capable of bringing great emotional forces into our relationships, forces which we were not designed to bear. These forces are strong and, if we are not careful, they may cause significant damage to the emotional fabric of our lives and to the lives of our loved ones," he writes.
"Does this mean that we should avoid having relationships that depend on the Net? In some cases, yes. Certain activities are nothing more than a breeding ground for unhappiness and only serve to distract us from what is really important in our lives."
Now, as for viruses, Hahn lists the kinds of attachments that can be dangerous to your computer, explains how to show full file names (Windows hides the extensions by default) so you can recognize them and then says not to open them if they arrive by e-mail. Simple? Reasonably so, if you have any experience at all with using Windows Explorer. Advice we all have the will power to follow? I'm not so sure.
Firewalls? Unless you're running a server or a business network, you don't need one, he says. Such programs are more intrusive than anti-virus programs, the false alarms they set off will "scare you silly, and if you really want to scare yourself silly, there are much better ways to do it."
I visited Hahn's Web site, signed up for his newsletter and left a comment that I enjoyed the book but was uncomfortable with his antivirus and firewall advice. I commented that I'd keep them because I'd rather "be a little safer" with my Norton AntiVirus and Zone Alarm.
To my surprise, he replied:
"Are you sure that it's not really that you would rather 'be a little safer' but that, perhaps, you would rather 'feel a little safer'? Remember, most people aren't technically apt, and AV and IF programs can cause them a *lot* of mysterious problems. ..."
Good point on the "feel a little safer." But, because I do need to get e-mail attachments as editor of The Outer Edge, I'll stick with the programs for a comfort zone.
Is the book worth the cost? If you're concerned about what problems you can have on the Internet and how to protect yourself against them, definitely.