Practical Computer Security for Transgender Forum Readers

by Jamie Faye Fenton

Many Transgender Forum readers worry about security when accessing our service. When done right, this is a good thing: secrets are kept, the computer operates smoothly, bad things don't happen to ourselves and our loved ones. When done wrong, worry can become paranoia, and despite our intentions, our secrets leak.

So what are the sensible security precautions and policies and how does one make them work?

Security is not something you buy, rather it is an attitude, a form of awareness that you attain and practice.

A place to begin is with a "risk analysis". You draw up a list of things that could go wrong and the agents that could cause them. This list includes unforeseen natural events such as disasters and power failures, as well as man-made problems such as user errors, sneaky hackers, and snoopy fellow employees and family members.

Beside each item, estimate how likely the event is to happen and what the extent of the potential damage would be. Then go down the list and identify precautions you can take to minimize or mitigate the dangers involved. In some cases further research may be required. Some precautions are easy, others are not worth the time and trouble involved.

While the remainder of the article will focus on protecting the secret of one's transgender nature when using the computer, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of basic precautions against data loss, power failure, virus infection, and the like, that are essential for any computer user.

To protect one's transgender secret, list the people who "you don't want to find out" and the potential for damage. This could include family members, co-workers, employers, and the general public. For example, your wife may know and accept, but the other guys in your military unit would not. In such a circumstance, one should only visit Transgender Forum from home and take precautions about revealing any information to other subscribers that could link your identities. A TV who has not told his spouse but who works for a free-wheeling Silicon Valley startup company may choose to do the opposite.

Here is a incomplete list of possible risk situations and how one could deal with them. Each threat is assigned a danger level based on how likely it is to present a problem to a typical closeted TV. It is up to you to determine the applicability of each scenario to your circumstances.

Someone sees me visiting Transgender Forum [high]

Other people using my computer discover traces of my visit to Transgender Forum [high]

Eavesdroppers at my company or on the Internet detect me reading Transgender Forum. [medium]

(Note: The eavesdropping threat is greater at your company than on the Internet at large.)

Somebody else reads my e-mail messages. [high]

Other Transgender Forum subscribers "Out" me, on purpose or by accident. [medium]

Someone in the TG Forum chat area offends me. [medium]

My wife notices a check or a credit card charge used to pay for my TG Forum subscription. [medium]

Someone steals my user name and password and goes on a rampage. [low]

An evil hacker breaks into the Transgender Forum server machine, determines my identity, and attempts blackmail. [low]

A malevolent system administrator captures a record of my identity while I visit their transgender-oriented server and "Outs" me. [low]

Someone steals my credit card number on the Internet. [very low]

Remember the difference between being security minded and being paranoid has to do with realistically assessing the threats you face and taking the reasonable precautions necessary. You are still far more likely to get caught if your wife returns home unexpectedly or someone discovers your hidden cache of lingerie than by having your secret leak through your computer.


If you have any comments or suggestions regarding additional items for this article, please send them to Jamie at jamie@tgforum.com.

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