Computer Security and Why You Should Care

Seeing too many pizza commercials on TV yesterday, I finally succumbed to the advertisements and made a quick phone call to Dominos (advertising is indeed powerful). Usually when I call them, I’m on and off the phone in about 2 minutes. Not so today. I was put on hold for about 4 minutes. Very unusual. Afterwards, the employee gets on the phone, asks me for my order and then has to put me on hold again because the computer was slow. He apologized and finally said, “Ya know, computers are great, except when they’re not working.” True, but what about my pizza? Thankfully, my order was entered and I got my wonderful pizza while still trying to figure out how Sanjaya from American Idol made it as long as he did! Oh well. Some things we’ll never know. But I digress.

I use that example above because most of us use our computers with an expectation that everything will work fine. While we’re busy emailing co-workers or friends or enjoying the wonderful world of blogging, once we click that ’send’ button or that ‘publish’ button, we expect our information to be sent, in tact, to the recipient, with no problem. Right? Well, as we know, sometimes there are hiccups in the process and things just don’t go as we’d like.

This got me thinking about the use of computers in our lives and how many of us rely on them for our everyday activities. According to the Computer Industry Almanac, in 2005, there were 1.08 billion people online. Projections for 2010 are a staggering 1.8 billion. This means more people, more activity and an increasing need for more security. Security for what? Security from whom – you ask? We shall see.

But first, what is computer security? Computer security covers the areas of confidentiality (preventing the unauthorized disclosure of information); integrity (preventing the unauthorized modification of information); and availability (the preventing the unauthorized withholding of information or resources). There are other areas that we’ll cover, but for now, just think CIA. We’ll go into these areas in a little more detail soon.

Ok, so why should you care about computer security? Well, as you probably know, our dependence on the proper functioning of our computer systems is crucial to the maintenance of our society, to our everyday lives. Imagine what would happen if you can’t get money from your ATM, can’t get gas from the pump, or no cell phone service. That’s what I said, no cell phone. Imagine! Might you be a little miffed? Now, just imagine how you would feel if you weren’t able to do these activities for days? It’s happened before. Remember the blackouts in the midwest in 2003? I lived in Michigan during that time and I can tell ya’ it was quite a wake up call. What I think it taught us all was that computers affect every aspect of our lives and therefore we all have a vested interest in their security. Computer security isn’t just for geeks, we all have a role to play. Don’t worry, we’ll talk about how.

So, for now, let’s stand up and click our heels like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and say three times:
I care about and have a vested interest in computer security.
I care about and have a vested interest in computer security.
I care about and have a vested interest in computer security.
Ah, very good. Now exhale!