When it pays to be paranoid

If you remember those 1970’s era “Hang in There, Baby” posters, the phrase “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you” — of similar vintage — will probably ring a bell. But while that treacly picture of a kitten hanging onto a rope is now a laughable bit of nostalgia, the observation about paranoia is more relevant than ever.

In the Internet age, they are out to get you. Of course, there’s no single “they,” but rather countless “thems,” as Senior Contributing Editor Dan Tynan recounts in “Ten reasons to be paranoid.” Tynan knows the terrain well, having written Computer Privacy Annoyances two years ago. The personal data vulnerabilities and privacy invasions he recounts here, however, are far more than mere annoyances. “People really aren’t paranoid enough,” Tynan believes. “The idea that you can operate anonymously on the Net, that your data isn’t being collected and resold dozens of times a day, or that you have any rights to privacy at work are all symptoms of a dangerous naiveté.”

That naiveté can spell trouble. So can the mistaken belief that you have nothing to worry about if you haven’t done anything wrong. “They” don’t discriminate. There are plenty of instances of the FBI collecting data on entirely blameless individuals or of data brokers losing or misusing your personal data. Just last week, the California Public Employee’s Retirement System (CalPERS) sent out a brochure mass mailing that inadvertently included many retirees’ social security numbers. Oops!

Fortunately, you don’t have to abandon the conveniences of the Web, go off the grid, or don a tin-foil hat to protect yourself. You just need to take some common-sense precautions, which Tynan enumerates. He also provides a “Paranoia Meter” number, from 1 to 5, so you can decide how nervous you should be about any of these occurrences actually happening to you. If nothing else, Tynan will make you feel a bit less paranoid that you may be succumbing to paranoia.

Google turns up the heat on Microsoft

Microsoft may also be feeling a bit paranoid these days, with so many competitors trotting out lightweight office suites and taking aim at the MS Office cash cow. Executive Editor Eric Knorr recently noted that StarOffice, the Microsoft Office workalike from Sun Microsystems that used to sell for $70, is now part of the free Google Pack download. Plus, a lesser-know contender, Zoho Office Suite, is the first software-as-a-service provider to adopt Google Gears — a technology that lets developers create offline versions for browser-based apps.

“Just wait until Google Apps gets offline capability, too” Knorr says. “Google Docs & Spreadsheets may be somewhat toy-like now, but for collaborative purposes they’re great. And what’s to stop Google from pouring on more features year after year?”

Conventional wisdom suggests that Microsoft can rest easy for the time being. A recent report from the Burton Group, for instance, concludes that the Google tool set is too crude for sophisticated office environments and that enterprise architects who implement it could damage their careers.

More fodder for paranoia? You bet.