Essential Computer Security: Everyone's Guide to Email, Internet, and Wireless Security

Driving on the information highway, users face threats ranging from worms to scams. The Essential Computer Security: Everyone's Guide to Email, Internet, and Wireless Security can serve as the owner's manual for anyone serious about ensuring the security of their computer and the data contained therein. Many victims of identity theft could undoubtedly have protected themselves had they followed the basic rules outlined in the book. Essential Computer Security does not attempt to be an encyclopedic work covering the esoteric realms of computer security. Rather, author Tony Bradley takes a "just the facts" approach and covers the essentials, focusing on the two applications average consumers use most: e-mail and the Internet. In 12 lucid, easy-to-read chapters, Bradley covers all of the necessary topics end-users need to understand, from the basics of Microsoft Windows security to passwords, patching, malware, wireless, e-mail security, and more. The text does have a technical angle for readers who want that level of detail. Too few IT security books are written for the typical user. This work lives up to its title and fills an important need.

I found this book easy to read and have useful information about setting up Windows XP security.

When Tony asked me to write the foreword for this book, I considered it an great honor. We both share the strong belief that knowledge is a more powerful tool than any firewall, antivirus program or intrusion detection system could ever hope to be. That said, not all of us have the luxury of security guru at our fingertips to show us the ropes. This means that you sometimes need to take it upon yourself to understand and learn what needs to be done to keep your computer and network safe and secure. That is what this book was engineered to do, without any confusing jargon or talking down to the reader. Get it and read it and help make the Internet a more secure and safer place for all of us to enjoy. Douglas Schweitzer, Sc.D.

This book is a really compact overview of computer security for non-technical users. But, at the same time, it's technical. Not too technical, but technical enough to walk the reader through setting up a home firewall, a secure network (wired or wireless), and anti-spyware to name just a few. There's a lot of goodies in only 278 pages. A lot of books that have come out lately on home computer security are either too light to be of value, or focus more on identity theft and fraud prevention. These are important topics, but Tony sticks to bread-and-butter technical measures home users need to understand. There's real meat in here that goes into surprising detail that's easy to follow that I've haven't seen in other recent books. Tony does a good job of covering setting up Local Security policies on Windows machines, for example. This is something I've only seen in hardcore techie manuals that probably wouldn't normally be seen by most home users. There's a great chapter on disaster recovery, how to follow security bulletins from Microsoft and apply patches regularly. And, for the daring home use, even a chapter on setting up Linux. The case study for a small business is also well done and can provide valuable insight for a home user setting up their own network. Essential Computer Security is complete yet simple and achieves the goal of its title.

If you have ever wished that your company's IT staff had more time to help you understand why you should not open email from people you do not know or how an IP address relates to the DNS, this book is for you. If you have ever wanted a personal network security consultant always on-call to explain the workings of daily network security issues, this book will meet that need at a fraction of a percentage of the cost. The author sketches the general framework of a both wired and wireless networks. He then discusses in detail the risks associated with each application that uses those networks -- email, web browser, etc. In each case, his explanations are well-worded such that, by the end of any section, the reader feels like they grok the philosophy of security and has always known what the author just taught them. He does not obfuscate the content of the book in unexplained acronyms and unnecessary details but keeps his task of empowering the average user always in view. Aside from covering the basics of network dynamics and applications used by the average internet user, the book offers two other boons for small and medium business users. For those who are unsure what a computer firewall is and how to deploy one effectively, the author offers an in-depth discussion of the subject via a case study. In addition, for those who are frustrated with Windows security lapses, another chapter offers a comprehensive discussion of alternatives to Windows applications and offers counsel on how to migrate to Linux. Unlike other books, the author does not talk down to the reader but shares his extensive knowledge as a co-labourer in the reader's efforts. I wish I could have given this book to users when I worked for a major university -- but then I would have been out of a job! Simply put: This is one of the best computer security books for users that I have seen for several years.