Optimal User-End Internet Security (Or, Rational Internet Browsing)

post by Arkanj3l · 2011-09-09T01:04:06.792Z · LW · GW · Legacy · 0 comments

Hacking and Cracking, Internet security, Cypherpunk. I find these topics fascinating as well as completely over my head.

Yet, there are still some things that can be said to a layman, especially by the ever-poignant Russel Monroe:

https://www.xkcd.com/936/

https://www.xkcd.com/792/

I'm guilty on both charges (reusing poorly formulated passwords, not stealing them).

These arguments may be just be the tip of the iceberg of a [much larger problem that needs optimizing](https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Social_engineering_%28security%29): Social Engineering, or [mainly how it can be used against our interests](http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Dark_arts) (to quip [Person 2](http://yudkowsky.net/singularity/aibox), "It doesn't matter how much security you put on the box.  Humans are not secure."). I get the feeling that I'm not managing my risks on the Internet as well as I should.

So the questions I beg are: In what ways do our cognitive biases come into play when we surf the Internet and interact with others? Of which of these biases can actively we protect against, and how?

I don't know how usefully I can contribute, but I hope that many on Less Wrong can.

0 comments

Comments sorted by top scores.