Simple Solutions: Internet Problems
Ed Quillen’s column
in yesterday’s Denver Post contained the seed of a simple solution to a whole bunch of Internet problems. Titled
“Internet users need an upgrade,” the article starts by observing that 71% of respondents to a recent survey believe that Congress should pass some new laws to “keep the Internet safe.”
Ed says, “Clearly there’s a problem, and the law-enforcement approach isn’t working well….” He’s right on both counts, and also in the implications that we do not want Congress getting into the act– if a problem exists because laws aren’t being enforced, the solution can hardly be more laws!
A “user upgrade” is what we need, Ed suggests. After all, you have to pass a test to drive a car, or fly a plane, or carry a concealed handgun. He says you can’t practically administer tests to people before allowing them to surf the internet or do e-mail, “But we could arrange matters so that you had to pass before any law-enforcement agency would accept your complaints, and Internet service providers could require potential customers to pass a test before starting service.”
Ed provides a sample test– four multiple choice questions, with “no techie stuff, like knowing the difference between an IP and an ISP.” He thinks if you can anser the questions you should be able to avoid 90% of the hazards of the Internet. After the “test” he says:
In the meantime, if you want the answers to this test, just send me an e-mail with a major credit-card number and issuer, the security number on the back, your Social Security number, your home telephone number and mailing address, along with your mother’s maiden name. I’ll get right back to you. Honest.
A joke, obviously, but we did in fact have a problem with one of the questions. The question was ”
You’re really concerned about viruses, Trojan horses, spyware and malware infecting your computer. You should:
a) Subscribe to several anti-virus programs and run frequent updates.
b) Install a firewall and e-mail filtering.
c) Wipe your hard-drive and re-install Windows XP, along with all your software, at least once a month.
d) Switch to Linux or Mac OS X and get on with your life.
Another joke? The other questions were actually pretty good, representing a sensible approach to safe surfing. But the correct answer to the third question is either A and B, or possibly A, B, and D. Lots of people simply can’t change operating systems, and even if you can change to Linux you could still have problems.
That’s why we said Ed’s article had the seed of a simple solution. He’s on the right track, but possibly doesn’t even know it. Here’s an example of where the logic falls down. Law enforcement can’t deal with the spammers, hackers, and vandals. So let’s allow them to refuse a complaint from anybody who hasn’t passed Ed’s test. How does that have any effect on law enforcement’s ability to deal with the problems? He says “it would be nearly impossible to force people to pass the test before they started surfing and e-mailing” and then goes on to suggest that ISPs could do just that. Finally, he says that passing his simple test would take care of 90% of the problems. Maybe it would, but 90% is nowhere near good enough. Using Ed’s own analogy, would be happy flying with a pilot who has proved he can successfully land a plane nine times out of ten? It doesn’t matter if you have successfully avoided 10,000 specific attempts, if you let just one slip past your guard. Put it another way– you are 100% successful at avoiding all Internet threats, right up to the second when you make a mistake.
If you take the precautions that are hinted at in the test, you will have done just about everything that is practical, but of course there is always some risk. The only way to be 100% safe is to unplug your computer and put it in the closet. Just like the only way to be 100% sure you will never wreck your car is to lock it in your garage and hide the key.
Users certainly could use a little education, though. ISPs and browser publishers could both do a lot more to ensure that users understand the risks and what can be done to minimize them. Most of the warnings that you get from, say, IE, are obscure to say the least.
The basics should be covered in a “tutorial” program supplied with every copy of an operating system and/or browser, and with every new ISP account. At least a simple acknowledgment of it should be a prerequisite for
access to the more advanced and therefore more dangerous features of the service that is provided.
Ed Quillen and his wife Martha are publishers and editors of Colorado Central Magazine.
–SG
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