About • Computer Security Tips

We do so much online now, and increasingly it’s no longer an option to opt-out of being online. Despairingly, every day reveals yet another data breach, passwords being stolen, and people being duped.

In this blog, “Computer Security Tips,” I will educate you on how you can keep your online data and accounts safe. These measures are specific and easy to follow. However, they can still be hard to make a habit of. Being secure online is not a matter of installing the right product or paying a lot for products. Staying safe and secure comes down to attitudes and habits. This is just like brushing your teeth twice a day, where you believe it is essential and then build up a habit of doing so.

Research shows that users’ attitude towards online security threats correlate with their adherence to proper security practices ¹ ². Hence I will strive to teach you the theory and practices and also give you clear reasons why these practices make a difference.

This blog is intended for non-computer-experts interested in keeping their online data and accounts safe but don’t have time for long-winded explanations or expensive software pitches. You don’t need to be a software engineer to benefit from this blog and stay safe online.

About me

I’m Asim Ihsan. I’ve worked as a software engineer at Amazon for six years, and in the software industry for twelve years. I’ve designed and worked on software systems that process sensitive data such as financial data for digital products and videos of people in Amazon Go. I also help other software engineers make secure systems on behalf of our customers. I’m passionate about computer security and computing in general.

The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and not necessarily those of my employer.

Footnotes

Faklaris, Cori et al. “A Self-Report Measure of End-User Security Attitudes (SA-6)." SOUPS @ USENIX Security Symposium (2019).
- This research paper comes with a survey of six questions, positive answers to which are correlated with users who have good online security practices.
  1. I seek out opportunities to learn about security measures that are relevant to me.
  2. I am extremely motivated to take all the steps needed to keep my online data and accounts safe.
  3. Generally, I diligently follow a routine about security practices.
  4. I often am interested in articles about security threats.
  5. I always pay attention to experts’ advice about the steps I need to take to keep my online data and accounts safe.
  6. I am extremely knowledgeable about all the steps needed to keep my online data and accounts safe.
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Zou, Yixin et al. "‘I’ve Got Nothing to Lose’": Consumers’ Risk Perceptions and Protective Actions after the Equifax Data Breach." SOUPS @ USENIX Security Symposium (2018). ↩︎