One way to improve your computer security is to ditch your old computer and buy a new one with new software. Why? Because computer security is like the arms race. Hackers are working to discover new software vulnerabilities all the time. If they find a good one, they may exploit it, or sell it to somebody else. On the other side of the fence, software vendors are trying really hard to fix those vulnerabilities, and also other vulnerabilities they discover via their own internal testing. So, it’s like a cat and mouse game. It’s also like terrorists and the TSA. Pity the poor TSA worker who has to try to plug ALL the ports of entry that a terrorist could use to jump on a plane, while the terrorist only has to find ONE weakness, and exploit it. Computer security is just like that.
So, Microsoft, Apple, and the Linux folks are always coming up with new versions of their operating systems (Windows, OS X, various Linux distributions) that are more secure that the old versions of the software. So, if you want the latest in computer security protection– such as security sandboxes– you need to upgrade.
For Microsoft users, another good reason to update is the arrival of IE10. IE10 has some new security features that you should activate. But, you can only get IE10 on Windows 7 and Windows 8. If you’re running Windows XP or Windows Vista, you’re out of luck. Also, if you’re running Windows XP, your patch support will END on April 8, 2014. That is when Microsoft will officially stop supporting Windows XP. Any remaining vulnerabilities will not be patched, and at least one blog I’ve seen says that hackers are saving all their zero-day bugs until April 9th, so they can have a field day. Don’t wait. Bite the bullet, and upgrade. You need the new security features anyway.
What to do:
a) If you can’t upgrade your old computers, unplug them from the Internet, and use them to store your top-secret documents.
b) Make sure you upgrade or replace (preferably replace) Windows XP computers BEFORE April 9th, 2014.
c) Buy a new computer, and use that for your Internet browsing.
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