Home Networking Annoyances

Chapter 7. Security Annoyances

Up until a few years ago, only technical publications announced the appearance of a new virus or other type of security threat. Today, Computer security has become such an important issue that the mainstream press regularly covers the topic. However, when the nightly television news reports on computer security, the information is almost always incorrect. Television news writers love hyperbole (fires are “infernos,” car accidents are “disasters,” flooded streets are “deluges,” and so on). As a result, the coverage of security threats is designed to scare you, not assist you. When you read your local newspaper, pay no attention to the computer security articles on the news pages. Instead, head for the computer columnist’s page.

Security is an important issue, and it’s true that a security breach is dangerous and scary. But you have plenty of tools at hand to help you secure all the computers on your network. In addition to security problems caused by viruses, worms, and hackers, most home networks have other security issues. For example, you might want to keep some files private, and exclude access by a remote user. However, what if the remote user is the file’s owner? How can you get to your own files from another computer if you’ve made them inaccessible across the network?

In this chapter, I’ll deal with general security annoyances for home networks, including the tasks you must perform to make sure your antivirus and firewall software protects you. ...