Straddling the line between public service and marketing, Microsoft and a handful of security companies are sponsoring a campaign to heighten consumer security awareness and have declared Jan. 15 "Personal Firewall Day." . . .. The campaign features a Web site hosted by TruSecure, the Virginia-based security company whose employee first came up with the idea for a consumer-oriented security day. The Web site sports vendor-neutral advice for home PC users on how to secure their systems. "If it becomes a perception that the Internet is a dangerous place to walk at night, that hurts us all," said Fred Felman, vice president of marketing for security software maker Zone Labs, which is a supporter of Personal Firewall Day. Paul Robertson, director of risk assessment with TruSecure and the original proponent of the idea, said that safer home systems mean a more secure Internet in general. "The zombies used for DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks and the proxy servers that help spammers are all on consumers' home machines," he said. "That's the biggest part of the security problem on the Internet." . Boost digital security by observing Cyber Shield Day, a movement encouraging individuals to safeguard their personal networks diligently.. Personal Firewall Day, Cyber Awareness, Home Security, Online Safety. . Anthony Pell
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