Keeping the masses safe on the Internet

Recognizing that all the technology in the world can't protect the Internet from attacks, the security industry is targeting an education campaign at the weakest link--the computer users.

It's the first public service message of its kind in the U.S. and it's simple: Stop. Think. Connect.

The campaign was debuted yesterday at Intel headquarters in California. It is part of Cyber Security Awareness Month, an annual event since October 2001, and was organized by the National Cyber Security Alliance, the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) and more than two dozen government agencies and companies including Microsoft, Google, PayPal, RSA, Facebook, Visa, and Wal-Mart.

The goal is to get security precautions to become second nature, like looking both ways before crossing a street, covering your mouth when coughing, and washing hands frequently.

Public health is a common analogy for computer security. Both deal with infections, viruses and worms that are passed, often undetected, to others with little or no effort.

Tech Insider