Ask HN: secure web behavior for your grand-parents

#1

Post by bengiuliano » Mon, Feb 15, 2010, 4:17 PM UTC

Hi there,

I am searching for resources about security basics for people who are not really web professionals. Say, the kind of people who mistake Read Write Web for Facebook :-)

Examples:

  - how to choose a good password
  - how to use the "little green bar" next to the URL to avoid phishing
  - ...

Do you have anything in mind? I googled a while, but there doesn't seem to be much of this, especially for non tech-savvy people.

Re: Ask HN: secure web behavior for your grand-parents

#2

Post by tdoggette » Mon, Feb 15, 2010, 4:23 PM UTC

A lot of what goes into a good online-security mindset is good understanding of some basic concepts that a lot of novice computer users lack.

One example is the fake alert popup. You and I know that it's just an image in a small web browser window that is designed to look like an OS's alert, but that's a pretty sophisticated thing to be able to figure out.

Re: Ask HN: secure web behavior for your grand-parents

#3

Post by nfnaaron » Mon, Feb 15, 2010, 5:33 PM UTC

I thought for a few minutes and didn't come up with much in the way of "if you're not a nerd, at least do these things."

One resource is AARP:

http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourmoney/scamalert/articles/

Not focused exclusively on what you're looking for, but there are some things in there.

Unless you do find the type of resource you're looking for, you may have to do the research and distill it yourself. You could create a page presenting that distillation.

Re: Ask HN: secure web behavior for your grand-parents

#4

Post by bengiuliano » Tue, Feb 16, 2010, 7:43 AM UTC

nfnaaron wrote: post #3

I thought for a few minutes and didn't come up with much in the way of "if you're not a nerd, at least do these things." One resource is AARP: http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourmoney/scamalert/articles/ Not focused exclusively on what you're looking for, but there are some things in there. Unless you do find the type of resource you're looking for, you may have to do the research and distill it yourself. You could create…

Thanks for the link, didn't know this site.

Yes, I'm thinking about setting up a page with some basic advice... TBC.

Re: Ask HN: secure web behavior for your grand-parents

#5

Post by bengiuliano » Tue, Feb 16, 2010, 7:51 AM UTC

tdoggette wrote: post #2

A lot of what goes into a good online-security mindset is good understanding of some basic concepts that a lot of novice computer users lack. One example is the fake alert popup. You and I know that it's just an image in a small web browser window that is designed to look like an OS's alert, but that's a pretty sophisticated thing to be able to figure out.

Agreed!