Most folks who live in houses lock their doors. Most folks who send “snail mail” use envelopes instead of postcards. Yet, most home and small business users don’t secure their computers. So, what’s on yours? Financial records? Correspondence? Credit card and social security numbers? Customer lists? You bet they’re worth protecting. Are they easy to protect? With the right book, yes.
The right book is Have You Locked the Castle Gate? Without dumbing everything down, Brian Shea explains computer security in language mere mortals can understand — and act on. He’ll help you quickly set priorities; figure out what to rope off; and secure all your Web connections. There’s a full chapter on email security (turn off the “Read as HTML” feature in your mailreader: it’s asking for trouble); and another on malicious content (it’s not just viruses any more, and please don’t forward that email about some new virus without checking if it’s a hoax first)!

This stuff’s not hard to do once you know how. When the bad guys try your door and find it locked, chances are they’ll just harass someone else — someone who didn’t read this book.