Barzdukas said Microsoft also is working with Internet service providers and technology companies, but admitted that cyber-security has not yet saturated the mainstream market the way that a company like Jiffy Lube has for automobile maintenance.
Even without such an in-your-face strategy, moms don't get off scot-free. They shouldn't be required to secure a degree from the polytechnic or to distinguish a .vbs from a .dll, but they do need to know that surfing the Web is, personal responsibility-wise, akin to driving a car.
And nice as it would be to get the government in on the act, don't look to Uncle Sam for help. The Bush administration made a half-hearted attempt to convince the corporate world to strengthen
network security, but it would have been much more whole-hearted had the original version gone live -- the one that said, "This is not a suggestion, it's an order."
Now, even the private sector is looking to the government for more leadership. Earlier this month, a coalition representing several brand-name tech firms practically begged the White House and the Department of Homeland Security to place cyber-security a little more prominently on their radar screens.
The government's best bet may be to push for more laws that punish the bad guys. It passed a federal law to reduce spam e-mails, and Congress did its darnedest this year to cut down on spyware and other intrusive software.
So what do regular computer users do in the meantime? Dress your computer in layers, the same way Mom would do for you on a cold winter's day. When you head online in 2005, don't forget the (fully up-to-date) anti-virus software , the firewall, the spam filter, the this and the that -- all the inescapable necessities for the modern computer user.
As 2004 showed us (and 2003, 2002 etc. showed before), to ignore computer safety is to make you and your personal financial records vulnerable to a worldwide network of thieves. Doing nothing to protect yourself makes you part of the problem.
Mom's already learning. Just this week she got a message from the tech department at her workplace warning employees not to click on the links or open attachments that come in e-mail holiday greetings cards, even if they appear to be from someone she knows. "Do you know what I mean?" she asked with that hesitating tone that suggests she's still getting her security sea legs. "You know me, how absolutely basic my knowledge is of all this stuff."
I do know. Mom has taken a giant step toward safe computing. If she can do it, so can everyone else.
