am i safe
hi everyone leo notenboom here for
askleo.com
the question is a very simple one i did
all the things you said to do
am i safe now
i'm recording this answer because it is
an answer that i need to be able to
point people at frequently
it is not something that i just have a
plain answer for for reasons that will
become apparent in a moment but it is
such a common question a lot of people
end up feeling like they're at risk of
something say malware
and they've done whatever they can to
clean it up
so they wonder when all is said and done
are they safe
am i safe
well
the answer will in fact disappoint you
here's the problem
there is no such thing as safe on the
internet
there just isn't there is no
pinnacle of safety that says once you
reach this point nothing can happen
you can be safer you could be more safe
or less safe but there is no absolute
point at which you are done there is no
point at which you are safe
one of the problems
ultimately it's a logic problem
i can't prove that your machine isn't
infested with malware
i can't prove that my machine isn't
infested with malware you can't prove a
negative
we can do all of the things we're
supposed to do keeping our software up
to date running anti-malware scans doing
all the right things
but there's still no way to prove to
know
that we are absolutely safe because we
can't prove that there's still not
something that's made its way onto our
machine
even after addressing a problem that you
might have encountered
and you've done all of the right steps
to
clear up that problem remove that
malware change that privacy setting
whatever it is
there's still no way to know that there
isn't something lurking
now there are a couple of things
specifically
for me when it comes to me that go
beyond just not being able to prove
negative
and that's something that i have to
mention because it so often factors into
not only my answers but what happens
after
for example
following instructions matters it sounds
really silly it does
but following instructions
is really really important now i get it
the instructions have to be
understandable they have to be clear
they have to be unambiguous i try to do
that i really do try to do that
but
even so with the clearest instructions
possible they're pointless
if they're not followed carefully
so
when you ask are you safe after having
followed my instructions i don't know
that you actually followed my
instructions
now something else
i could be wrong
i'll freely admit it i could be wrong i
make mistakes even if i understand your
situation as best as i possibly can
there's still
a possibility that i could be wrong
i'm fallible
even if there were such a thing as
perfect safety and there isn't
i will not be so presumptuous as to
claim that i could lead you to it
it could be something else
i've often commented that computers and
the internet are also incredibly complex
that it's amazing they work at all it
really is sometimes it's a daily miracle
but given that things are as complex as
they are
it's silly to suggest that there might
not be something else lurking in amongst
all of that complexity
in the shadows that might compromise
your safety
so
is safety futile
no it's not that's not what i'm saying
at all
striving for safety being as safe as you
possibly can is critical
while there is no such thing as absolute
security
there's pretty close
you can get
close and that's the goal the closer you
are the less likely something bad is
going to happen to you
and that's why
i keep pointing to
the litany of things you're supposed to
do
keeping your software up to date running
up-to-date anti-malware tools and
security tools understanding what
phishing looks like knowing not to open
attachments that you weren't expecting
those kinds of things the kinds of
things that are covered in my article
internet safety seven things you need to
do to keep your computer safe on the
internet
it's probably my most important article
and this is why
because there is no such thing as
absolute safety you can only get close
and that article is all about the steps
you need to take to get as close as
possible
so the bottom line here is if you're
asking am i safe
you're asking the wrong question
the only possible answer to that is
no or i don't know there's no way for me
to know and in reality there's no way
for you to know if somebody ever tells
you that yes you are now safe
either they're lying or they don't
understand the complexity of the
situation now the questions that are
important for you to ask are things like
am i mostly safe am i 95 safe
am i safer than i was before especially
after you've eradicated some malware or
taken some steps
those are all realistic and valid
questions
am i as safe as i need to be
is probably the most important question
of all for updates for comments for
links related to this video and more
visit askleo.com
142-753 i'm leo notenboom and this is
askleo.com thanks for watching
you