Internet Security is a task which we must all be concerned about and all participate in an ever ongoing fashion to ensure the safety of our computers and/or networks. Nobody's going to do it for you... Policing your network is your task and your task alone. If you don't want to take the responsibility of upkeeping the security, then you'll have to pay the consequences and take the blame because you didn't even lift a finger to try.
As the speed of technology is constantly turning out 10-fold CPU speed increases over just a couple of years span time (almost completed 1GHz CPUs just several years after debute of the 100MHz CPU); with such technological progress, encryption technologies which were thought to be virtually unbreakable several years ago can be broken within seconds today.
The best thing we can do is protect ourselves from the "known weaknesses" and hope we don't get hit with the unknown. The known is also on a constant increase and as such, we all need to be aware of all the methods of penetration which have been discovered so far and ensure that we are protected from the vulnerability of these.
However, the being aware of "ALL" that needs to be done is hard enough, and this doesn't even begin to mention patching all aspects of possible attack including DNS Servers, Firewalls, Proxy Servers, Routers, Switching Hubs, RAS, File Servers, PCs, Virus Checkers, Packet Shavers, VPN devices, etc. etc. etc.
Even the pros are having a hard time just trying to play catch up, so where does that leave the computer newbees and even the well versed amatures? VULNERABLE!!! PRONE TO ATTACK!!! It's like walking down the backstreets of any large city (New York, Los Angles, Miami) without a weapon of any type. The chances of getting mugged are just about as great as getting hacked into while attached to the internet.
Your standard breed of IT staff just can't cut it anymore. The task requires a very specialized security task force which are very scarce at present. Even if you had the bucks, getting the trained resources to manage the task is over-burdening even large corporations.
It's more or less like a loose big or loose small situation where there is just no way to win as the hackers are always several steps ahead. Even if you are on guard 24 hours a day, the best you can do is watch them as they hack into your system and then pull the plug when they get too close to sensitive information. And if you get that far, you'll probably be delegated to a permanent seat at NIST or one of the other government related internet security watch dog agencies as they themselves are scrambling to try and stay on top.
You just can't stay ahead of them. How does the old saying go... "If you can't beat them... join them!" And I think that's probably what the government is currently up to. It's sad, but welcome to the latest and greatest internet... full of dangers and lurking traps every which way you turn. If we don't destroy the internet before we can gain control over it, it might be a safe place to visit in the future. We must give our undivided attention and cooperate closely with others to ensure our own safety.
The movie "Net Force" maybe closer to reality than any of us want to even consider!!!