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Security: A Futile Endeavor!

I have been writing on Internet security and its implications for almost 2 years. Never have my writings attracted mass attraction as I had earlier expected. I asked myself why. Why don't my writings create a stir that I want them to? Is there any shortcoming in me or are people plainly ignorant? Two years and I am still searching for the answer.

Never has been the fact that security has been looked down upon. In fact, it is one of the most lucrative fields. And a lot of people and money are invested in this. It's a multi-billion dollar industry. Just a search on any search engine will lead you to almost 10,00,000 results. So you can safely assume that what I am writing is not just going down the drains.

Human psychology happens to be my favorite pastime. I love studying the reactions of particular individual to different stimulus. So I observed the trends of netizens in various places - chatrooms, message boards, guest books, email, etc. Whoever the person was, I always asked him whether he is interested in his online privacy and security. And in most cases the reply was "What in hell is that!!". So slowly I began to think that I am onto a futile endeavor.

But just the other day, I got infected by a deadly virus known as Win95.MTX. The smarty virus prevents the infected pc from accessing antivirus sites. So no where you could find information which will help save your dearest pc. Then I realized that had someone been writing on such virus on websites, I would have been spared the trouble of formatting my hard disk. I am a sensible user and since I had all my important data backed up, it was not much of an ordeal.

Win95.MTX has a virus component and a worm component. It propagates using email. Also it infects some Win32 executables in specific directories. The virus also has the capability to block access to certain web sites. This may prevent users from downloading new virus definitions. 

If you get an email from anyone (even your closest confidant) and the subject matter or attached file name ends with " .doc.pif ", simply delete that file. Do NOT open it.  This file contains the deadly virus. 

To repair this virus, you can download Norton Anti-Virus tools from Symantec.com. Computer users are advised to keep updating their Anti-Virus software periodically to combat the new viruses that keep erupting everyday.

So what is the aim of writing all this? This is to justify my choice to write on a topic, though largely ignored, is of prime importance. Also I aim to reduce the ignorance that stops people from gathering the knowledge they need. To bring in a new enthusiasm in this supposedly boring field. I am here to make you all know that security is a subject people can be passionate about and still make it up as a lucrative career. So next time you find anyone mentioning security, don't frown off. It may make a lot of difference to your life-both online and offline.

Till next time, adieu.    

– Mayur Kamat
November 11, 2000

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